Compare: In the standard food pyramid based on a balanced diet prescribed by the World Health Organization (WHO), the proportion of carbohydrates can be as high as 60%.
As you know, practicing a protein diet is not safe, but where do you get energy? The answer lies in fat. You should not be afraid of them. The cholesterol horror that has made people fear in the 21st century is considered to be the interest of interested pharmaceutical companies. Correction is important: we are talking about the correct fats rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, not juicy kebabs, margarine and trans fats that are harmful to health.
What is ketosis? How does the keto diet work?
Principles of diet
The body uses carbohydrates as the main "fuel" for the brain. When the carbohydrates in the daily diet are drastically reduced below 20 grams, the glucose content will be greatly reduced-and there is not enough energy for normal operation and fat oxidation. In order to nourish the brain, the body begins to obtain alternative energy-ketosis. When the body begins to break down fat for energy to form a large number of ketone bodies, this condition will develop due to carbohydrate cell starvation. Under normal conditions, the concentration of ketone bodies in the blood is very low because they are replaced by glucose and the body does not need extra energy. During ketosis, the concentration of ketone bodies rises sharply.
Fasting for a few days can also achieve ketosis, but it is very harmful. The keto diet is an alternative to total fasting and can reduce damage to the body. Together with nutrition, we will continue to receive all the necessary substances, and will not suffer from hunger, only exclude carbohydrates and force the body to start breaking down fat.
The keto diet has a solid scientific foundation; she has shown excellent results in children and adults with epilepsy-until the seizure syndrome disappears after stopping the anticonvulsant. It is effective for people with certain autoimmune diseases and Alzheimer's disease, as well as people with cancer. The fact is that tumor cells feed on glucose, and according to research, they switch to a low-carbohydrate but high-fat diet that causes tumor progression to fade.
Observations of patients following this nutritional model show that, strangely, a person begins to feel a surge of energy, increased brain activity, and improved mood. The secret lies in the biochemical process: the body converts it into a new energy source-ketones formed during the breakdown of fats.
The first promoters of the keto diet were biohackers who wanted to be healthy and active to mature old age.
Hollywood stars joined them, and the keto diet craze swept the world. Just eat fat to remove excess fat.
However, only experienced nutritionists can prescribe a keto diet. Not a diet consultant, not an Insta food blogger, not a nutritionist or ketone expert. This food system has certain contraindications, such as diabetes, chronic pancreatitis, cholecystitis, familial hyperlipidemia, etc. In addition, complex adaptations of the body are common at the beginning of the diet and when switching to other energy sources.
The Keto Diet Food Pyramid
The main disadvantages of the keto diet:
- This is an unbalanced diet. When you completely eliminate carbohydrates, you will lose a lot of nutrients to your body.
- There may be a tendency for constipation. For organs in the gastrointestinal tract, this diet is useless at all.
- may produce an acetone smell from the body, urine and mouth. To minimize the odor, you should drink more than 2 liters of water a day to excrete more acetone. Excluding all carbohydrates, artificially triggers processes that are usually not so active, increasing the burden on the liver. This is very unhealthy.
The main benefits of the keto diet:
- Lose weight quickly. Excluding carbohydrates from the diet does not allow the body to use substances as usual: "reserve" fats and use carbohydrates as their main energy.
- Can’t continue to feel hungry like other diets. This means that blood sugar will not rise sharply (ketone bodies act as glucose).
- High-calorie foods are satisfying and help avoid crashes.
- Fat burns in the body and retains muscle.
People who prohibit this diet:
- pregnancy;
- Type 1 and type 2 diabetes patients;
- People suffering from endocrine diseases;
- Breastfeeding
Can a keto diet really lose weight?
Keto diet can promote weight loss, energetic, and make people fuller for longer. The secret of satiety and increased energy levels lies in the fact that most of the calories come from fat, which is rich in nutrients and slow in digestion. As a result, people on a keto diet consumed fewer calories because they did not experience longer hunger episodes. They no longer need to eat too much or frequently.
Its main goal is to keep people in a state of natural ketosis. A complete ketone adaptation usually takes about four to eight weeks. After this time, the level of glycogen (glucose stored in your muscles and liver) will decrease, excess water in the body will be released, muscle endurance will increase, and people will feel a burst of energy. When you first start eating low-carbohydrate foods on a ketogenic diet, you will need to monitor your ketosis. In this way, you will know exactly what you are doing right and wrong, and whether you need to change your diet. The simplest test is the ketone breath test. After a few days, you will feel a fruity, slightly acidic or even metallic taste in your mouth. what is the reason? In ketosis, your body synthesizes ketone bodies: acetone, acetoacetate and beta-hydroxybutyrate. Acetone is excreted in urine and breath, which is the cause of "keto respiration". Usually, after a few weeks, bad breath and bad breath will decrease.
Diet side effects
Reducing the ratio of carbohydrates will cause a drop in insulin levels in the blood. As a result, the kidneys will receive signals to release excess sodium. Between reducing sodium intake and flushing out excess sodium deposits, your body releases more baking soda than normal. As a result, the content of sodium and other electrolytes drops. When this happens, you may feel fatigue, headache, cough, runny nose, irritability and nausea. This situation is called ketoplash. It is important to understand that it is not caused by influenza viruses. Such a cold is neither dangerous nor contagious. In this case, the name only reflects the similarity of symptoms. When signs of discomfort appear, many people feel scared, think that the keto diet has a negative impact on their health, and start eating carbohydrates again. In fact, ketosis shows that your body is finally cleared of sugar, carbohydrates and industrial foods, and is rebuilding itself to use fat as an energy source. It usually lasts only a few days, which is the time needed to adapt. You can relieve the disease by adding more sodium and electrolytes to your diet and drinking more water.
In any case, before dieting, you need to consult a doctor and monitor your condition during this period: blood biochemistry, blood pressure, the state of the cardiovascular system and the organs of the gastrointestinal tract.
It is important to emphasize the following points: Everyone is different-with a special body structure, inherited physique, stress factors, physical activity levels and acquired eating habits, which have a huge impact on health.
Therefore, the ketogenic diet is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet plan designed to make the body enter a state of "ketosis" and burn stored fat. The celebrity keto diet designed for children with epilepsy has become popular in recent years.
However, a year ago, most media questioned the benefits and even safety of this weight correction method. The ketogenic diet is not the magic wand for weight loss. Avoiding carbohydrates can lead to unbalanced diet (you lose essential nutrients), headaches, weakness and chills. Keto diets can also cause lipotoxicity, which can result in inflammation of the liver and gallbladder and hit the stomach. In the long run, it can increase the risk of atherosclerosis and stroke.
Listen and study your body. Then, if you want, you can quickly reduce the excess weight by choosing the best weight correction method yourself.