One of the latest popular diets is the ketogenic diet, which focuses on high fats, low carbs. A popular statement from supporters: by sticking to it, you may avoid diabetes and improve your fitness.
Is such a weight loss program suitable for you? Excess weight is bad for the joints and spine. It carries additional risks of disease or exacerbation of various forms of arthritis. Therefore, we can not pass by this fashionable way to lose weight. In this article, we will take a closer look at what the essence of keto diets is. And also, the risks and benefits of this diet.
The ketogenic diet for weight loss
Ketogenic (keto) diet is based on the principle of exclusion from the diet of carbohydrates, which are its main source of energy. As a result, you force the body to burn fat for energy. Thereby increasing weight loss.
When you consume foods that contain carbohydrates, the body turns these carbohydrates into glucose or blood sugar. Since glucose is the simplest form of energy for the body, it is always used for energy. Partially, it turns into fat accumulation.
The goal of a keto diet is to limit carbohydrate intake. Due to their lack of body fat splits for energy. When this happens, the fat is broken down in the liver, forming ketones. Ketones are byproducts of your metabolism. They are then used to feed the body in the absence of glucose.
How to follow a ketogenic diet?
How do you follow a ketogenic diet? There are several types of the keto diet. They all have a common mechanism. Need to reach the state of ketosis. To do this, you need to greatly reduce the number of carbohydrates consumed.
Today, the average man over the age of 20 consumes 47.4 percent of his daily calories from carbohydrates. And the average woman over the age of 20 consumes 49.6 percent of their daily calories from carbohydrates.
The classic ketogenic diet was originally used to treat convulsive disorders. 80 to 90 percent of calories were taken from it, from 5 to 15 percent from proteins and from 5 to 10 percent from carbohydrates.
Ketosis: the mechanism of burning fat
The ketogenic diet for weight loss is based on the idea that the introduction of the body into ketosis increases fat loss. Ketosis happens to be a normal metabolic procedure that use to occur when the body doesn’t have sufficient glucose for power. When these reserves are exhausted, the body begins to burn stocked up fat for energy in place of carbohydrates. This procedure makes acid called ketones. They accumulate in the body and can be used to produce energy.
How to understand if you are in ketosis?
To find out if you are in a state of ketosis, check your urine for ketones. To check, you can buy in a pharmacy test strips for the determination of ketones in the urine. If the ketone test is positive, you are in a state of ketosis. Ketosis is a way to help you lose weight naturally.
In diabetes, ketoacidosis may begin due to insulin deficiency. It also increases the concentration of ketones in the blood. Sometimes in this situation, there is confusion in understanding the process. The nutritional ketose associated with the ketogenic diet and diabetic ketoacidosis is very different.
What is the difference between ketosis and diabetic ketoacidosis?
For people with diabetes, a rapidly rising level of ketones in the blood can signal a critical situation that requires immediate medical attention. In the absence or insufficient amount of the hormone insulin, the body cannot use glucose as a fuel. Insulin helps deliver glucose to our cells and muscles for energy.
During a keto diet, the body resorts to burning stored fat for energy through the ketosis process, which leads to an increase in ketone concentration in the body.