What is Keto?
Keto is the name of a diet process, where you follow a low-carb diet plan for weight loss or fat loss. It is also known as the ketogenic diet.
The thought is to get more calories from fats with a moderate amount of protein and less from carbohydrates. It is great for easy-to-digest carbs, such as sugar, soda, cakes, and white bread. Remember the goal is to consume good fat, not bad fat during the course of the keto diet.
It includes an alternate fuel (fats)that comes in various forms; like whole eggs, butter, coconut oil, cheese, etc. Many people are interested to find out if there’s any benefit from this method — many even have success with it as well!
What exactly happens during a keto diet?
When your body does not have enough carbohydrates to burn for energy, it burns fat instead of carbs and produces bodies called ketones, which can be used for fuel in the body.
Ketosis is the name you will find when searching for information on diabetes or weight loss. The normal amount of glucose in the blood comes from two sources;
- Insulin — this works by absorbing sugar (a molecule known as glycogen) from cells throughout the body through digestion, and;
- 2)Glucagon — produced by muscle within the muscle tissue we use on a daily basis.
Normally, our bodies obtain energy from carbohydrate foods through glucose production. But, when we lower our daily carb intake, our liver breaks down stored fats to produce energy, the energy produced in the form of molecules known as “ketones”.
Ketosis: Ketosis is a process that occurs when body fall short of carbohydrates (primary source of energy) to burn for energy and uses stored fat to produce energy by creating ketones (Scientific name=Acetone; molecular formula=C3-H6-O). The process normally happens inthe absence of glucose.
What are the Health Benefits of following a Ketogenic diet?
A ketogenic diet will not only improve your good cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar but also lower your appetite, increase weight loss and decrease triglyceride (a type of lipid (fat) found in the blood).
The immense health benefits of ketogenic and low-carb diets are well established in the nutrition science industry.
Disclaimer: The blog only aims at providing valuable information about keto diet in a simplified manner. We do not advice to follow any health-related process mentioned in this blog. We strongly advise to consult your nutritionist or doctor before taking any health-related decision or following any diet plan, especially the ones who have health issues like diabetes, blood pressure, heart problem, etc.
Is the keto diet scientifically proven?
It has been proven by several scientific studies and research that a high-fat diet is not bad for the body.
Low carb and high-fat diets were scientifically proven to decrease total cholesterol, triglyceride levels, LDL (Low-Density Lipoprotein), and VLDL (Very Low-Density Lipoprotein) levels, and increase HDL (High-Density Lipoprotein) levels. The benefits of eating low fat are generally considered as more than just being better or healthier.” (Diet Science) As you can see from this research on reducing your risk with fats, “High fat” should be avoided whenever possible
How many types of keto diets are there?
There are around 11 to 12 types of keto diets available out there to follow;
Though there are no fixed or specific number or types of keto diets to follow, still, there are several popular types of keto diets that exist today and they are as follows;
- The primary Strict Keto Diet basically used to treat epilepsy patients.
- Targeted Keto Diet (TKD)
- High- Protein Keto Diet (HPKD)
- Keto Cycling
- Lazy Keto Diet (LKD)
- Clean Keto Diet (CKD) that only involves organic foods.
- One of the most familiar one is Standard Keto Diet (SKD)
- Standard Low Fat Keto Diet
These are several known versions of the keto diet that people follow according to their needs.
Is keto good for the long run?
According to the NCBI, the current research demonstrates the benefits of a long-term ketogenic diet. It greatly decreased the patients’ body weight and body mass index. Furthermore, it reduced triglycerides, LDL cholesterol, and blood glucose while increasing HDL cholesterol. The findings reinforce the idea that transitioning to this low-calorie lifestyle seen in the Ketogenic Diet will safely minimize obesity in people.
As there is still ongoing research on the long-term effects of a keto diet, there are both positive as well as negative sides, results are still not confirmed. Most expert recommends 4 to 5 months maximum to be on a keto diet that too after consulting a professional as there is not much research available on the diet.
Conclusion: Keto diet is getting popular around the world due to its results and also proven good for health up to a limit as there’s still research going on. Hope you find this article informative and if you did then you can check more articles on this topic further.
It is still advisable to consult a dietician or any health professional before going for the ketogenic diet.