The Basics of Keto Diet

For most people, carbs, as a source of energy, is very effective. However, the body feels hungry even before it consumes the carbs, thus making one feel restless, grumpy, irritated, and hungry again.

This results in people consume more carbs just to get the energy back. And once they feel better, they soon become tired, hungry, and restless again. The extra carbs that are being consumed, instead of being an energy source, become excess, unhealthy body fats.

The keto diet breaks that kind of unhealthy cycle. Unlike the traditional diet plans that rely more on carbs, keto diet will limit your carb intake and rely more on healthy fats. That doesn’t mean you can’t have carbs anymore. You just need to push your body to go to ketosis.

Ketosis is a normal metabolic process in which our body uses our fats as a source of energy. In normal circumstances, when there are not enough carbs, the body will start to consume body fats. To elaborate, the body will break down the stored fats to get glucose (source of energy derived from carbs) from the triglycerides. Ketosis is a by-product of this process. In the ketosis process, it will release a decent amount of Ketones (acid in our blood, that if in high levels, can poison the body) to break down the fats and turn it into an energy source.

Fats are a really effective energy source. At first, you will feel tired and restless as your body gets a low level of carbs. But soon, you will feel your energy will start to rise again. The fats that you eat and those that are stored in your body will start to burn while making you feel good, full, and satisfied.

But you may ask yourself is a keto diet really the right choice for me? Well here is a checklist you can go through to see if you are the right candidate for this diet and if you are up to the types of challenges you may face on your journey.

● You have tried every other diet out there with little to no results, or you just were unhappy with it.
● Getting tired after meals or have afternoon crashes.
● You want to simplify your eating habits, grocery shopping, and cooking routines
● You feel like you are always hungry.
● If you have food allergies and finding a diet that helps those seems impossible
● Frequent bloating after eating meals

If you said yes to one or more of these issues, then a ketogenic diet and lifestyle is probably a very good diet choice for you. If you are skeptical about the diet, we advise you to consult a healthcare professional to help you choose what diet plan is best for you.

Now that we know about the science behind ketogenic fasting let’s look at the basics of it. The premise can be compared to other similar diets out there that involve high-protein and low-carbs. Take for example the Paleo diet, which is based on the same hunter-gatherer idea, however, high fats are not recommended, and neither are dairy or anything that could be considered "cultivated." Paleo, or Paleolithic, really only allows for basic proteins, nuts, fruits, and berries that could have been "gathered" in Paleolithic times. Then there is the well know Atkins diet, which follows the exact same premise as the keto diet, the only difference is in a keto diet you need to continue to consume protein in moderation to avoid leaving the state of ketosis, whereas in Atkins the need to stay in ketosis is only for a short two week period, known as phase 1.

The ketogenic diet plan has different categories. Each category has their own rules. You can choose what kind of keto diet you want. The categories are:

Keto Type 1: In this standard ketogenic diet plan (SKD), you have to consume moderate protein, low-carb, and high-fat foods.

Keto Type 2: Known as the Targeted Keto Diet (TKD), this diet plan will require you to add carbs to your diet during your work out.

Keto Type 3: Also called Cyclical Keto Diet (CKD), this is done by five keto days and two days for high-carb foods.

Keto Type 4: Similar to SKD, this keto diet plan requires you to consume high-protein foods in all aspects. This diet plan focuses more on protein.

Of these four keto diet plans, only high-protein keto diet (Keto type 4) and SKD were extensively studied. CKD and TKD are mostly for fitness-enthusiasts since both methods are more advanced.