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Demystifying Three Diets
The paleo, Atkins and keto dietary approaches all substantially alter a person’s macronutrient consumption, or total caloric intake. More specifically, the main thing that the three have in common is that they are trying to get the body to use fatty acids as a fuel source rather than glucose. The body has an affinity to use glucose as its main energy source. If one doesn’t consume enough carbohydrates, which break down into glucose, to run the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, it will switch to beta-oxidation of fatty acids, which means it uses fats or fatty acids as its main source of fuel.
Both the paleo and Atkins diets allow for more use of glucose because their recommended carbohydrate levels are above 10 percent. A carbohydrate intake level of 10 percent or higher still allows some of the body’s cells to utilize the TCA cycle. Although, at such a low level, cells cannot sustain the TCA cycle for very long throughout the day and will begin utilizing beta-oxidation of fatty acid as the body’s main energy source. The body then begins producing ketone bodies, which are compounds formed when it doesn’t have enough carbohydrates to burn for energy. Over time, without added carbohydrate intake, the body eventually goes into the metabolic state called ketosis.
The ketogenic diet, which was widely used in the 1920s and ’30s to reduce incidents of seizures, is now more commonly known as the keto diet. The keto diet’s low carbohydrate level forces the body to use fatty acids as its only source of fuel. If less than five percent of the calories a person consumes are from carbohydrates, the TCA cycle can’t maintain energy production using glucose and must rely on betaoxidation of fatty acids as its primary fuel source. This diet has such a low level of carbohydrates the body stays in ketosis.
People have seen results from these diets because when the body is being forced to use fat as its main energy source, weight
loss is often achieved. The trouble many people find with these diets are that they are very hard to maintain and sustain. Additionally, prolonged ketosis disturbs the body’s acid-base balance and can put a strain on multiple organs.
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