A Day of Eating on the Ketogenic Diet

Today’s generation is obsessed with fitness and is crazy about all sorts of diets and fitness regimes. The newest and trendiest buzz to hit the diet world is the Ketogenic diet. The Keto diet has created a sensation among the entire fitness world. With such buzz comes confusion and chaos and this article will help you have some insight into the world of the ketogenic diet. What is the ketogenic diet? Well, many people have their version of it. So, to jump-start your fitness regime you need to have a thorough understanding of it. The ketogenic diet includes high-fat and low-carb that excite you to dive into all the indulgencing fat you want without being left “hangry” and even is great to boost athletic performance.

Before being the lost Alice in wonderland and diving right into the hole of a keto diet, let’s explore and understand more about what this diet has for you and how can you make the best out of it.

The world of Ketogenic Diet

A ketogenic diet makes your life easier by depleting your body of carbohydrates (a primary source of energy) and forcing the body to burn fat for fuel increasing the chances of speedy weight loss. Consuming a less intake of carbohydrates in diet the fat gets converted into fatty acids and ketone bodies by the liver. The ketone passes into the brain and replaces glucose as an energy source.

Generally, carbohydrates foods are converted into glucose transporting around the body being an important factor for fueling brain function. The occurrence of epileptic seizures ultimately lowers with an eminent level of ketone bodies in the blood (a metabolic state called ketosis).

Glucose is the simplest form of energy used by the body before it turns into stored fats. Therefore, the keto diet helps to break down fat for energy more efficiently by restricting carbohydrates intake, producing ketones, a by-product of metabolism that is used to fuel the body in the absence of glucose.

Ketogenic diets are also proved to be beneficial to fight diabetes, cancer, epilepsy, and Alzheimer’s disease. It can also help in losing weight and the diet is filling slashing your hunger down without cribbing about counting your calories and being unhappy about it.

You can also measure the level of ketosis in your body in simply three ways:

1. Urine test

2. Breath test

3. Blood test

The general period to reach ketosis is 2-4 days. However, some may require a little more time, a week, or maybe longer.

There are several ketogenic diet regimes, however, the standard diet includes 70%-80% fat, 20%protein, and less than 10% carbs.

What are the types of the ketogenic diet?

• A standard ketogenic diet (SKD): A very low carb, moderate protein, and high-fat diet, usually containing 70% of fat, 20% of protein, and only 10% of carbs.
• A cyclical ketogenic diet (CKD): it is basically having a periodic regime where higher-carb refeeds, like 5 ketogenic days followed by 2 high carb days.
• A targeted ketogenic diet (TKD): in this diet, you are allowed to add carbs around workouts.
• High protein ketogenic diet: This diet follows a standard keto diet but being an exception, it contains more protein making it a ratio of 60% fat, 35% protein, and 5% carbs.

Research shows that only standard and the high protein keto diet is explored vividly whereas cyclical or targeted ketogenic diets are more popular among bodybuilders or athletes.

Let’s get some insight into what ketosis is.

What is Ketosis?

Ketosis is a metabolic state where your body works with fat for fuel in place of carbohydrates.

The depletion of carbohydrates in your body reduces the only source of energy for the cells that is glucose. That’s when ketosis happens which helps to break down fat in your body.

A general ketogenic diet involves 20-50 grams of carbs per day and the rest can include proteins like meat, fish, eggs, nuts, and healthy oils. The consumption of protein should also be kept in a

moderate amount as it has the ability to convert into glucose with higher consumption, slowing down the process of a keto diet.

Intermittent fasting has also created some buzz where you only eat at a certain point of time for like 8 hours per day and the rest depends on your fasting. It is believed that intermittent fasting helps to pace up the ketosis transition.

Apart from the different ways to measure ketosis (discussed above), a sudden rise in thirst, dry mouth, frequent urination, and decreased hunger or appetite.

Is it healthy to have a cheat day?

Diet plans are made to maintain a healthy lifestyle but including a cheat day will hurt nobody. It is important to have a cheat day once a week, so you don’t get bored with your monotonous diet plan and stay motivated to continue it.

Having a cheat day is indeed important to maintain a balance as sometimes having a strict diet can impact our mental health.

Enjoy and indulge in your favorite food but make sure you only have one cheat day in a week. You must control your impulses and not waste the efforts that you are putting into keeping your body healthy.

At the present time, you have loads of options to dive right into a food coma by having a keto cheat day that will satisfy your tastebuds without making you guilty about it.

Foods that need to be avoided while planning your Ketogenic meal:

• Grains
• Sugar
• Rice
• Potatoes
• LeguCandy
• Juice
• Alcohol
• Some fruits

Proteins should also be consumed in a moderate amount as consuming more than what your body requires, some of its amino acids will get converted into glucose via a process called gluconeogenesis. It can create problems for the body from going into full-blown ketosis. Also, the healthy guaranteed cookies may not be healthy as it contains processed sugar.

Food that sholud be eaten while planning Your Ketogenic meal:

• Meat
• Fatty Fish
• Eggs
• Butter And Cream
• Cheese
• Nuts And Seeds
• Healthy Oils
• Avocados
• Low Carb Veggies
• Condiments
• Dark chocolate and cocoa powder
• Unsweetened tea and coffee
• Shirataki noodles
• Olives
• Berries
• Plain Greek yogurt and cottage cheese

Healthy keto snacks

Hunger can strike with no knock on the door and the urge is only difficult to resist. Don’t worry dear munchkins, as below are some super delicious options that you can munch and indulge yourself:

• Fatty meat or fish
• Cheese
• A handful of nuts or seeds
• Keto sushi bites
• Olives
• One or two hard-boiled or deviled eggs
• Keto-friendly snack bars
• 90% dark chocolate
• Full-fat Greek yogurt mixed with nut butter and cocoa powder
• Bell peppers and guacamole
• Strawberries and plain cottage cheese
• Celery with salsa and guacamole
• Beef jerky
• Smaller portions of leftover meals
• Fat bombs

Side effects that can be worked upon

Experts claim that a ketogenic diet is super beneficial for healthy people. However, with some benefits comes the side effects that take time for your body to adapt.

• Poor Energy and Mental Function
• Increased Hunger
• Sleep Issues
• Nausea
• Digestive Discomfort
• Decreased Exercise Performance

A smart solution can be before eliminating carbs, include a daily low carb intake in your diet.

There’s some sketchy evidence of these effects often referred to as the keto flu which includes symptoms like diarrhea, constipation, and vomiting A little extra salt can help you diminish the water and mineral imbalance, however, if taken in larger portions then it may lead to deficient in water and minerals in your body.

What are the health benefits of the keto diet?

The ketogenic diet is originated to treat neurological diseases like epilepsy, however, with time it got its craze in the world of fitness. It is known to be best for various health conditions:

• Heart disease- Helps to improve body fat, HDL (good) cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and blood sugar.
• Cancer- Chances are there to slow down the growth of the tumor with the diet as an extra option.
• Alzheimer’s disease- It is beneficial in improving the symptoms and slows down the chain.
• Epilepsy- Experts claim a significant decline of seizures among children with a keto diet plan.
• Parkinson’s disease- research claims to be beneficial for the disease, however, more study is required.
• Polycystic ovary syndrome- The key role of polycystic ovary syndrome is to increase insulin levels which can be lowered down with the keto diet.
• Brain injuries- Traumatic experience and injuries can be improved with this diet regime.

What risk factors should be kept in mind?

Everything you do in life comes with pros and cons and it’s totally up to you whether you want to go with the flow or draw a line. Some risk factors involve:

1. Low Protein in The Blood
2. Extra Fat in The Liver
3. Kidney Stones
4. Micronutrient Deficiencies

· A type of medication called sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors for type 2 diabetes can higher the risk for diabetic ketoacidosis, which can lead to blood acidity.

Supplement for ketogenic diet:

Usually, the requirement of supplements is unnecessary, however, some people find it effective.

• MCT Oil- It basically provides energy by increasing the ketone level. Can be added to yogurt or drinks.
• Minerals- It helps in mineral imbalance when there is a shift in water and mineral balance in our body.
• Caffeine- Caffeine is a great source of energy, performance, and fat loss.
• Exogenous ketones- Helps in increasing the level of the ketone.
• Creatine- This supplement works best when combined with the keto diet and exercise.
• Whey- A great source of protein intake. If you are a gym freak, half a spoon can provide a sufficient amount of protein.

The up-roaring buzz is something that one can look into as it is not only beneficial for weight loss but also has its charms with many health concerns. A regular intake and diligent keto diet regime can help you stand out in a crowd and feed your soul with all the happiness that comes with a healthy body.

The diet is blessed with all sorts of nutritional quality proving many delicious meals without being boring. Providentially there are not any serious side effects and is beneficial to all homo sapiens