KETOGENIC DIET FOR OBESITY-WEIGHT LOSS KETOGENIC diet is LOW carbohydrate and HIGH fat diet.
Grossly it needs eating more than 60% of diet as good FAT, less than 20% of carbohydrates and proteins in moderation (20 to 30%)
KETOGENIC diet was traditionally used in 1920’s to treat epilepsy. It is often considered as an Extreme diet by medical professionals. Most KETOGENIC experts recommend no more than 50gms of utilisable carbs a day to maintain the most effective state of Ketosis.
Ketosis shouldn’t be confused with Ketoacidosis.(high ketones with high blood sugar). Ketosis is normal metabolic state.
HERE IS THE METABOLIC PHENOMENON Human beings can use both glucose and ketones as primary fuel .Body chooses its primary fuel based on what we habitually eat. On a carbohydrates rich diet, the body will burn sugar and utilizes glucose. On a fat rich, low carb diet, it will burn primarily fat and utilizes ketones. Being in ketosis is completely normal metabolic state.
Energy from the fat is produced only when blood sugar and insulin levels are low. This happens only during fasting conditions or while on very low carbohydrates diet like Ketogenic diet.
MECHANISM OF KETOGENIC DIET When carbohydrate consumption is reduced, body starts finding alternative fuel source like Fat. The body starts burning fat for fuel. First it breaks down dietary fat and then stored body fat to release free fatty acids.
LOW CARB +HIGH FAT DIET(KETOGENIC DIET)= BURNING DIETARY FAT+BURNING STORED BODY FAT. These free fatty acids are burnt through process called beta oxidation or they move to liver where they get converted into ketone bodies (ketones).
There are three types of ketones 1) Beta-hydroxybutyrate
2) Aceto acetate
3) Acetone.
Ketones are the preferred fuel source for muscles, heart, liver and brain. This state of Ketosis makes consistent WEIGHT LOSS. Body takes up to 1 week to attain a state of Ketosis.
The body stores may be 2000 calories worth of GLUCOSE in the form of glycogen in muscles and liver. The average person stores 1, 50,000 calories worth of FAT on body at any given time. So burning fat delivers clean and higher energy compared to glucose.
WILL EATING FAT MAKE YOU FAT (Obese) or LOSE WEIGHT? If done correctly, eating fat will help you burn more fat. Eating healthy fat creates healthy leptin levels, which keeps appetite in check. And also dampen ghrelin, which is an appetite stimulant. In state of effective ketosis, there is a better control over appetite. Since there is less insulin due to low carbohydrates diet, it leads to less storage of fat. This can make weight loss easy.
SIDE EFFECTS OF KETOSIS: Some people may develop headache, brain fog, bad breath, and fatigue etc, usually all these side effects disappear after 2 weeks. In fact they are body's mechanism to self regulate.
ADVANTAGES OF KETOGENIC DIET 1) Helps in effective weight loss 2) Helps in prevention, treatment and reversal of type 2 Diabetes. (Most cases) 3)Used in treatment of Neuro degenerative disorders and in Alzheimer’s diseases. 4) Helps in prevention of cancers. 5) Reduces High cholesterol levels 6) Helps in living longer.
FINAL REMARKS: 1) Keto diet works well with intermittent fasting. It is easy to attain Ketosis if intermittent fasting is practiced along with low carb Keto diet. 2) It is one of the recent diet trends for resistant weight loss. 3) It is not easy to follow Keto diet for long time as we are adopted to grain based carbohydrates diet. 4) I personally advice to follow Keto diet cyclically along with low carbohydrate diet and intermittent fasting. In next posting, I will explain about Indian ketogenic diet. www.drvishwanath.com #ketogenic #Diet #obesity #Ketones #Weightloss