The ketogenic diet, widely known as the keto diet, is a low carb, high protein diet that reduces weight and provides several health advantages. The Keto diet offers health protection against diabetes, cancer, epilepsy, and Alzheimer’s disease. If you’re willing to start the ketogenic diet; to minimize your weight, risks to cancer, or reduce acne on your skin, then there are certain foods that you should avoid. These include high carb foods like sugars, beer, and starch, etc.
To help you maintain a successful ketogenic diet, we’ve summarized the top six things you should know before starting the diet. Keep reading to find out!
1. Reduce the intake of Carbs
A keto diet recommends a ratio of 4:1 of fats to carbs in your daily diet. It implies that you will need a significant shift from your daily calorie intake. Ideally, you will have to slash down your daily carb intake to around 40 to 50 grams per day. You need to avoid the consumption of beer, starch, and sugar.
2. You Should Be Ready to Endure the Side Effects
Note that in the ketogenic diet, you will eat more fat volumes as opposed to fats. This eating plan may help you to get into ketosis, a condition where your body will begin to burn fats for fuel instead of burning the carbs.
During ketosis, your liver will produce ketone bodies like acetone, which emits terrible smells sometimes. It can be so strong that people around you may begin to complain of bad breath. Therefore, try some efficient methods for reducing bad breath.
Your body may also release the ketosis with the sweat and may lead to the development of unpleasant body odors.
You may also suffer constipation, heart palpitations, and leg cramps, etc., among other possible side effects.
3. Monitor Your Cholesterol Levels
Remember that the keto ‘rule’ demands that you consume high-fat volumes. It may often lead to a dangerous increase in cholesterol and triglyceride levels, which increases the risks of heart disease or stroke, etc. It’s therefore prudent that you go for regular cholesterol checks to maintain them at safe levels.
4. You Might Have To Prepare Your Meals
When you’re on a ketogenic diet, you may face challenges choosing the kind of foods to eat. As you need to keep off foods that contain high amounts of starch and sugar, you have to avoid consuming packed foods. As a result, cooking your food becomes the only best approach to keeping your diet.
5. Expect To Feel Some Level Of Frailness
When you get into a ketogenic diet, your body will begin to go through a wide range of physiological adaptations, including increased fat breakdowns, reduced insulin levels, etc. The subsequent reduction of body energy happens as your body begins to rely on glycogen as fuel.
You will get over this feeling of weakness within a short period.
6. You Must Supplement Your Diet With Vitamins
When on this diet, there are many mineral and vitamin deficiencies you’re likely to suffer if you don’t watch your diet. For this reason, you will need to supplement your diet with vitamins like magnesium, potassium, and sodium, etc., which are known as electrolytes. The role of these electrolytes in your body is to manage blood volume, pressure, muscles, and nerves. The low-carb, high protein, the high fat rule makes you lose a lot of water, which also ‘washes away’ the electrolytes.
Therefore, you will need supplements to replenish the lost electrolytes and keep your body healthy and safe from — side effects that come with keto flu.
Types of Ketogenic Diets
There are several kinds of ketogenic diets. Among them, the following four have become well-accepted.
1. Standard Keto Diet is a high-fat diet where you can take 20 to 50-gram carb and 40 to 60-gram protein. There is no limit in fat consumption. You can eat non-starchy vegetables that contain a tiny amount of carbohydrates. Maintaining these types of diet reduces weight, boosts blood glucose control and heart health.
2. People generally embrace a High Protein Keto Diet to trim down their weight. You have to consume 35% protein, 60% fat, and 5% carbohydrates to maintain this diet.
3. Athletes regularly follow the Cyclical Ketogenic Diet. Due to workouts, a significant amount of glycogen emits from their muscles, and they need higher carb in their body to refill that loss. So, in CKD, they maintain five ketogenic days with two higher carb days within a week.
4. A Targeted Ketogenic Diet allows you to consume carbohydrates only when you work out. People who regularly exercise usually follow this diet.
The Benefits of a Keto Diet
The ketogenic diet has a wide range of benefits. It’s endorsed by most certified dieticians because;
• Reduces acne
Highly refined carbs and sugar influences the gut bacteria and may cause random fluctuations in blood sugar. This condition may affect your skin and lead to the development of acne. By ditching this lifestyle, you reduce your system’s carbohydrates, thereby slashing the odds of getting acne.
• Boosts the health of women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)
PCOS is a condition related to the endocrine disc, leading to enlarged ovaries with yeasts. Women with this condition are at higher risks of suffering deteriorated health when they stick to high-carb diets.
According to recent research reports, women with PCOS on a ketogenic diet experience; a higher weight loss rate, better hormonal balance, and boosted fasting hormones, among other benefits.
• Increased weight loss
When on a ketogenic diet, your body takes a considerable amount of time to convert fats into energy compared to the amount of time it takes to convert carbs. It can help you lose weight quickly. Besides, the ketogenic diet is high in proteins, so you’re more likely not to feel hungry more often, as it’s familiar with other weight-loss diets.
• Slashes down the risk of cancer
If you undergo chemotherapy radiation when on keto, it may help defeat the cancer cells. It is because it may cause a wave of oxidative stress to the cancer cells. As keto reduces high blood pressure levels, it may also reduce insulin effects, familiar with some cancer forms.
The ketogenic diet demands a lot of self-discipline. It is because it involves many restrictions that you have to maintain to achieve the desired results. But still, you need to keep checking on your cholesterol levels lest it impacts your health negatively.
If you have any queries on keto, be sure to get in contact with a certified dietician. He/she will guide you through the entire process so you don’t miss anything.
