A wholesome guide to Ketogenic diet
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Keto guide , Keto guidelines , Keto guide for beginners , Keto quick start guide.
The first thing that comes to our mind, whenever we think about eating a fatty meal is that it is in no way healthy. It can cause many health problems, increase our blood cholesterol and obviously increase our weight. What if we tell you that such negative perception regarding fats might not be true and fat consumption can actually help you lose weight and benefit you both physically and mentally. That is actually the basic idea of a ketogenic diet where your body burns fats instead of carbohydrates to gain energy.
A ketogenic diet is the ultimate answer to all your problems. Here, we will explain all the important things that you need to know about a ketogenic diet.
What is a Ketogenic Diet ?
It is based on the idea of cutting back on carbohydrates and consuming food, which is high in fat content and has an adequate amount of proteins. The idea behind is simply to train your body to burn fats instead of carbohydrates in order to attain energy.
Our body uses glucose, which is obtained by the breakdown of carbohydrates as the primary source of energy. But in case of the absence of carbohydrates, it turns to fats for gaining energy. The fats are broken down into fatty acids, which are then converted to ketones in the liver. Now these ketones produced are actually the preferred source of energy by some of the main organs of our body i.e. heart, brain, liver, and muscle. Generally, we consume foods that have a greater proportion of carbohydrates in them. But in a keto diet, we essentially put our body in a state of ketosis, when we consume high fat, moderate proteins and foods with lower carbohydrates in them. Our body then starts to burn fats instead of carbohydrates to provide energy to the body.
Benefits of Keto Diet
As you continue this diet, your body will eventually learn to burn fat as the primary source of energy, which will help you lose weight, give you a greater mental clarity and functionality, improve your blood glucose levels, lower blood pressure, improve the immune system, give you a beautiful and glowing skin, improve metabolic function and much more.
Gone are the days when the myths of low-fat diets prevailed. There is now a better understanding of how the human body works and ketogenic diet helps improve its functioning.
Which Foods Should be Consumed During the Keto Diet?
There is a wide variety of tasteful food that you can consume when on a keto diet, some of them are as follows:
Fats
As fats are going to be the primary component of your food, you need to know about the fats that are good for keto diet and ultimately your health. One of the best fats to consume during keto diet is MCT oil.
MCT i.e. Medium Chain Triglyceride is a type of saturated fat. Due to its small molecular structure, it is easy for the body to break it down and provide energy to it instantaneously. MCT oil does not go through our lymphatic system, unlike the other oils, instead, it is directly transported to the liver where it is metabolised and produces a significant number of ketones.
As ketones are a preferred brain fuel, when your brain uses them, it helps give a greater clarity and stability to your mind while giving you an energy boost. As MCT oil is quickly metabolised, therefore, it is less likely to be stored in the fat cells. This can help you in lowering your blood cholesterol levels and eventually help with any weight issues.
When a meal containing MCT oil is eaten, it causes a greater thermogenic effect i.e. a greater number of calories is burned down in the food. When the number of calories consumed is greater, the body uses them for energy rather than storing them. So, a greater number of calories in foods mean that fewer fats are stored in the body which helps reduce the overall fat levels in your body.
Proteins
As keto diet involves a moderate consumption of proteins, you need to make sure that they are a part of your diet in proper quantities. Too much protein consumption can lower the levels of ketones in your body and too less consumption will affect your muscle tissue negatively. Try to consume eggs, poultry, nuts, and cheese for your proteins. But be careful as some of these foods carry, carbohydrates in them so take care that you don’t over consume them when eating these foods.
Dairy
Dairy products should be consumed during the keto diet, such as goat cheese, cottage cheese, yogurt, and sour cream etc. Try to consume harder cheese as they generally have fewer carbohydrates in them.
Drinks
As far as the beverages are concerned, you can consume any as long as it has low sugar content in it. Water is generally the best drink to consume in a keto diet. If you are looking to give it a little flavor then squeeze lemon or add lime juice to it.