The ketogenic diet has been gaining momentum these past few years, with an increasing number of people jumping on to the bandwagon. Enticing to many as a fast way to lose weight, it carries a multitude of misconceptions that make people wary of starting it. A seemingly complex diet, it’s actually quite simple and easy to adopt as a new lifestyle.
What is Keto Diet and Ketosis?
Keto diet is a low carb, moderate protein, and high-fat diet that enables the body to burn fat faster and more efficiently. Sharing a lot of similarities with Atkins’s diet, the Keto diet essentially guides your body into a state of ketosis. This state occurs when the carbohydrate supply of the body is drastically reduced, encouraging the body to turn to fats as its source of energy. It’s not just touted as being good for losing weight; Keto diet has been proven to carry with it an impressive array of health benefits for people with diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and PCOS.
It takes some time for the body to get into a state of ketosis. Typically, the daily carbohydrate limit needs to be maintained between 20-50 grams. A way to speed up that process is to practice intermittent fasting. The egg diet is also a great way to enable your body to enter ketosis faster. Urine, breath, and blood tests are available to monitor your body’s level of ketosis.
Dietary Restrictions and Allowances
Certain foods need to be avoided if you are on Keto. Basically, anything with a high carb content goes into the definitely-not pile; that includes a lot of fruits (excluding small portions of berries), all sugary foods, cereals, rice, pasta, beans, or legumes. Moreover, you also have to avoid unhealthy fats including vegetable oils, and certain vegetables including high-carb potatoes and carrots. Also to be avoided are low-fat foods like low-fat mayonnaise, low-fat cheese, or low-fat condiments.
However, it’s not all dire news for those thinking of starting the now-famous diet! You can enjoy a lot of Keto compliant foods like red meat, steak, bacon, sausage, and unprocessed hard cheese (like mozzarella, cheddar, goat, and cream cheese). You can also enjoy fish, eggs and low carb veggies like green vegetables, tomatoes, onions, and peppers, etc. Coconut flour, almond flour, and flaxseed flour are alternate flours that can be used to mimic foods to suit your high carb preferences. Plus you no longer have to cry for pizza, as Keto fans have developed a recipe for an extremely satisfying fathead crust that carries with it the deliciousness of the pizza without the carbs affecting your waistline. Konjac noodles are another godsend, carrying zero carbohydrates and enabling the pasta enthusiasts to adopt the Keto diet without any regrets.
