The ketogenic diet is more commonly known as keto that focuses on controlling macronutrients. It is a type of food the body needs in large amounts because there are three macronutrients through which the body derives the energy necessary for life. The keto diet is all about eating fewer carbs with more fat as well as by keeping the protein consumption in the moderate range. There is a great need to know that the keto plan for women is a little bit different than men. However, the general guidelines include 60% to 75% of the calories from fat, 15% to 30% from protein as well as 5% to 10% from carbohydrates.
There is great need to know that the diet is called ketogenic because when the intake of carbohydrates is reduced and fat is increased. It allows the body enters into a metabolic state of ketosis. However, when you consume the standard diet that is heavy on carbohydrates, your body burns glucose for fuel, and all the carbs enter the body are turned into glucose.
However, when the body enters into the state of ketosis, glucose depletion takes place where the body turns to fat for energy. Dietary fat that is stored in your body is converted into ketones. It can also be used for energy purpose by most tissues in the body.
Keto-Adaptation
It is crucial to understand, after a few days on a keto diet, the body becomes efficient at burning fat for fuel instead of carbs. In this way, the body switch from using glucose for energy to primarily using fat and this process is known as keto-adaptation.
The body is always using a mix of glucose and fat for energy purpose. If you consume zero carbohydrates, the liver manufactures glucose through gluconeogenesis. However, in a non-keto-adapted state, it reaches for glucose first. In keto-adaptation, the body and brain begin the process of adapting for using ketones for fuel, and the process takes about three days for most people.
When your body adapts, it continues to make subtle changes, the longer you stay on this diet. However, keto dieters like athletes as well as those who regularly engage in vigorous workouts can find it difficult in order to keep up with the average level of performance for the first few weeks or even months.
Health Benefits of the Keto Diet
Low-carb diets have also been controversial for decades. However, in most scientific studies, it has been proven to be both healthy as well as beneficial.
It Lowers the Risk of Heart Disease
Despite decades of research, there is no evidence that natural and saturated fats present in foods such as eggs, cheese, butter, coconut oil is harmful. Consuming dietary fat can be useful for the heart. On the other hand, high-carbohydrate diets were linked with an increase in heart disease. There is a great need to know that eating a low-carb, high-fat diet does not seem to have any long-term adverse effects on the heart. Visit here to compare this diet plan with the Atkins diet.
It Reduces Triglycerides
Triglycerides are fat found in the blood as well as high levels have also been linked with increased risk of disease and stroke. Consuming dietary fat does not raise triglycerides, but high carbs do. It has also been found that they also lead to greater stimulation of the production of fatty acids in the body.
It Improves Cholesterol
According to scientific evidence, it is reported that high cholesterol levels cannot lead to heart disease as well as standard practice is to consider it a risk factor. It is fascinating to know that the keto diet has also been consistently demonstrated in order to improve overall cholesterol.
However, one of the efficient ways to increase good HDL cholesterol is to eat fat, and the keto diet provides plenty of that. Now, it has been confirmed that the keto diet leads to dramatic increases in HDL levels. Along with this, the low-fat diets lead to moderate increases, or even declines, in HDL.