Ketogenic diet: The incredible benefits and what to watch out for

Ketosis and ketogenic diet have been extensively studied and have been shown to have significant benefits for health and weight loss.

The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate, and moderate-protein diet. This puts your body in a state of ketosis. When your diet lacks carbohydrates but is high in fat, your liver creates ketones. These are substances produced when the body breaks down fat for energy. The process of ketosis metabolizes fat to provide energy, which means you burn fat rather than carbohydrates to get energy. As a result, you may lose pounds from fat burning as your body is in fat-burning mode.

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Health Benefits of Ketogenic Diet

1. Weight Loss: A ketogenic diet can help you lose weight quickly and efficiently by burning fat for energy instead of carbohydrates.
2. Improved Insulin Sensitivity: By reducing the number of carbohydrates in your diet, you can improve your insulin sensitivity and reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
3. Increased Energy: The high fat content in a ketogenic diet can provide a steady source of energy and keep you feeling fuller for longer periods of time.
4. Better Mental Focus and Clarity: By reducing inflammation in the brain, the ketogenic diet can improve cognitive function and reduce symptoms of brain-related disorders, such as epilepsy, Alzheimer’s, and depression.
5. Lower Inflammation: The anti-inflammatory effects of a ketogenic diet can help reduce the risk of chronic diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, and arthritis.
6. Better Physical Performance: By switching to a fat-based energy source, a ketogenic diet can help improve physical performance, particularly in high-intensity workouts.
7. Better Control Over Hunger: The high fat and protein content in a ketogenic diet can help regulate hunger and cravings, making it easier to stick to your diet and maintain a healthy weight.

Ketogenic Diet: What foods Are Allowed

Here’s a list of some of the foods you can include in your diet:

1. Meat and Poultry: Choose fatty cuts of meat, such as steak, ground beef, and chicken thighs, and avoid leaner cuts like chicken breasts, which are higher in protein and lower in fat.
2. Fatty Fish: Fatty fish, such as salmon, mackerel, and sardines, are high in omega-3 fatty acids, which are beneficial for heart health.
3. Eggs: Eggs are a great source of protein and healthy fats and can be cooked in a variety of ways, from scrambled to boiled to fried.
4. Low-Carb Vegetables: Vegetables like leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower, and zucchini are low in carbohydrates and high in fiber, making them a great choice for a ketogenic diet.
5. Nuts and Seeds: Nuts and seeds, such as almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, and chia seeds, are high in healthy fats and low in carbohydrates.
6. Avocado: Avocados are a good source of healthy monounsaturated fats and can be used in a variety of dishes, from guacamole to smoothies.
7. Dairy Products: Choose full-fat dairy products, such as cheese, heavy cream, and full-fat yogurt, over low-fat or fat-free varieties, which are typically higher in carbohydrates.
8. Coconut Oil: Coconut oil is a healthy fat that is high in medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs), which can help increase ketone production.

These are just a few examples of the types of foods you can include in a ketogenic diet. Keep in mind that it’s important to avoid processed foods and sugar, as these can kick you out of ketosis and undermine your efforts to reach your goals.

The Best Foods to Eat on a Ketogenic Diet

In this video, Dr David Jockers discusses some of the best foods to eat on a ketogenic diet.

Ketogenic diet: What to watch out

Ketosis is generally considered to be safe for most people. However, it can lead to some side effects, especially at first.

Ketosis is a natural part of metabolism. It happens either when your carbohydrate intake is very low (as in a diet), or when you haven’t eaten for a long time.

Both of these conditions lead to reduced levels of insulin in the blood, which “obliges” the body to release fat from your fat cells to find the energy it lacks from the diet. When this happens, the liver fills with fat, which turns much of it into ketones.

During ketosis, many parts of your body burn ketones for energy instead of carbohydrates. This includes a large part of the brain.

However, this is not the case immediately. The body and brain need time to “adapt” to the new state of pumping energy through fat and keto burning, instead of carbohydrates.

Ketogenic diet: Possible side effects

During this adjustment phase, you may experience some temporary side effects, such as:

Ketosis Flu

When ketosis first starts in the body, you may experience a number of negative symptoms. These are often described as “low-carb flu”, or “ketosis flu”, because they resemble the symptoms of the flu.

These may include:

• Headache
• Fatigue
• Brain fog
• Increased hunger
• Poor sleep quality
• Nausea
• Reduced physical performance

These problems may discourage people from continuing to follow the diet, even before they start seeing its benefits in the body and in their health. However, the “low-carb flu” usually passes within a few days.

Unpleasant breathing

One of the most common undesirable side effects in ketosis is unpleasant breathing. It is caused by a type of ketone called acetone, which is a byproduct of fat metabolism.

Acetone levels in the blood are elevated during ketosis. As a result, your body attempts to get rid of some of them through exhalation.

Occasionally, sweat and urine may also start to smell strange. Acetone has a characteristic smell, it is the chemical that gives the well-known “acetone” (polish remover), its strong odor.

As a rule, unpleasant breathing in ketosis subsides within a few weeks.

Muscle cramps in the legs

During ketosis, some people may experience leg cramps. These are usually associated with dehydration and loss of minerals because ketosis causes a decrease in the body’s water weight.

Glycogen, the form of glucose storage in the muscles and liver, binds water. This is eliminated from the body when carbohydrate intake decreases and is one of the main reasons why you lose weight quickly in the first week of a diet that is very low in carbohydrates.

Problems in digestion

Any dietary change can sometimes lead to digestive problems. This also applies to the ketogenic diet with constipation being the most common side effect at first.

The most likely explanation for this is that you do not consume enough fiber and do not drink enough fluids.

Some people may also have diarrhea, but this is less common.

If you have made drastic changes to your diet in order to put your body in a ketosis process, it is more likely that you will have similar digestive symptoms at first. However, these digestion problems usually pass within a few weeks.

Increased heart rate

Some people also experience increased heart rate as a side effect of ketosis. This can occur during the first few weeks on the ketogenic diet.

Dehydration is a common cause, as well as low salt intake and increased coffee consumption.

If the problem doesn’t stop, you may need to increase your carbohydrate intake.

Other side effects of a ketogenic diet

• Ketoacidosis: There is little chance of developing ketoacidosis (a serious condition that occurs in uncontrolled diabetes) in breastfeeding women. This is most likely caused by a diet very low in carbohydrates. However, it is extremely rare.
• Kidney stones: Although unusual, some children with epilepsy develop kidney stones on a ketogenic diet.
• Increased cholesterol levels: In some people total and “bad” (LDL) cholesterol increases.

The 10 Biggest Ketogenic Diet Mistakes

In this video, Dr. Jockers explains the top 10 biggest ketogenic diet mistakes people make.

Bottom Line

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