Since many people dream of losing weight without intense physical load, we decided to find out the solution. Pay attention to a keto diet.
Marcelo Campos reports on health.harvard.edu:
A recent study conducted by one of the American universities disclosed the keto diet, the most famous of which is the Atkins diet. It helps to lose extra pounds faster than doing sports.
In pursuit of harmony and fashion, we sometimes resort to radical measures, such as the keto diet. Kim Kardashian, Halle Berry, Megan Fox popularised this system of fast weight loss in the West.
The principle of allowing one to eat “fatter and more” and at the same time not starving, seems attractive to many. We will tell you what the essence of this diet is, what happens to the body, and what you need to prepare for.
What is a keto diet?
Keto-diet, also ketogenic or ketone is a low-carb diet with the advantage of fat and moderate protein content in the diet. The question immediately arises:
Where does the body then take energy from?
Essentially, keto is a low-carb diet with high-fat content and moderate protein content. Initially, it was used in the treatment of childhood epilepsy, and now it is increasingly attributed to diabetics. Such a diet causes the body to use fats as the primary source of energy instead of carbohydrates.
Rachel Hosie reports on insider.com: Halle Berry about keto in her life
So, not long ago in the show LIVE With Kelly and Ryan, Halle Berry said all about keto in her life. A diet with plenty of healthy fats, a moderate level of protein and low carbohydrate content make her body burn fat, not carbs for energy.
The ketogenic diet is a rejection of sugar, fast carbohydrates. Nothing white, – said the actress. Instead, Holly fills her food with healthy fats, such as avocado, coconut oil, and other oils, including ghee and butter.
Usually, our body receives energy from carbohydrates, turning them into glucose. However, in the case of a shortage of carbs, it begins to expend fats, extracting the necessary energy from them. The athletes engaged in disciplines that require special endurance, such as marathon runners or triathletes use a ketogenic diet to be fit.
According to studies:
The ketogenic diet contributes to the suppression of the production of the hormone ghrelin, which makes us feel hungry.
The peculiarity of the ketogenic diet is that thanks to this nutritional system, a person loses weight due to the loss of fat. That is, unlike most popular diets, muscle mass in people who observe this principle of nutrition remains the same.
The history of the ketogenic diet
An increase in ketone bodies in the blood reduces the number of epileptic seizures. It was for this purpose that the ketogenic diet was originally developed as early as the 20s of the last century. And in the process of its application, it was noticed that reduces not only the number of seizures but also subcutaneous fat.
As a result:
The medication controlled seizures: the doctors began prescribing anticonvulsants for people with epilepsy. The diet was prescribed less and less. But because of effective fat burning, this nutritional strategy got a chance to live in the field of dietetics.
The Atkins diet is widely known in the West, but it has a significant difference from the ketogenic nutrition system. That is the ratio to carbohydrates and the amount of protein. In Atkins, it is more loyal, and the number of proteins more. Keto severely limits the “coals” to 20-30 grams per day and impairs proteins.
Otherwise, the liver begins to process them into glucose, and the state of ketosis does not occur.
- In the late 1990s, Jim Abrahams directed the “Do No Harm” melodrama. It is based on the experience of his son’s struggle with epilepsy. The situation was complicated by the fact that the side effects of the drugs did not allow the boy to live normally, the keto-diet was the solution.
Meryl Streep played one of the main roles in this film and supported the work of the Foundation for Epileptics, founded by Abrahams, but the star of such a diet did not follow.
Proteins, fats, carbohydrates
The main “battery” on the ketone diet is fats, of which 75% of the diet consists. Then follow proteins – 20%. And finally, carbohydrates, whose amount is 5% of the total mass of products.
How to calculate the amount of fat, protein, and carbohydrates?
It’s straightforward: for 1 kg of your weight should be 1 g of protein. Suppose if your weight is 90 kg, then you need 90 g of protein. Fats, respectively, should be 3.75 times more, that is, about 340 g, and 4 times fewer carbohydrates – about 23 g.
Do you know how to calculate body fat percentage?
If not, then move faster through the link. For a successful weight loss, you need to know not only the amount of fat in the products but also directly in your body.
What you can and can not eat
As we have said, this diet almost eliminates carbohydrates. And the basis of the diet consists of foods high in fat, as well as those containing protein.
To navigate in what is possible and impossible with the ketogenic diet is quite simple. The lists of prohibitions and permissions are small, but the product groups are quite extensive.
- Allowed: meat and poultry, fish, eggs, dairy and dairy products, nuts, vegetables for salads, mushrooms.
- Forbidden: cereals, pasta, sugar, fruit, pastries, sweet vegetables (potatoes, beets, carrots).
If keto-diet is accompanied by physical exertion, then regular carbohydrate “loads” (once every 1-2 weeks) or the use of fast carbohydrates before exercise are allowed. But in this case, you need to calculate the permissible amount of “forbidden” food, which will not interrupt the process of ketosis.
- Vegetable oil and butter (ketogenic diet experts especially recommend coconut)
- The nuts
- Eggs
- Any meat, including pork; bird; eggs; seafood, including fish
- Mushrooms
- Green vegetables with high fibre content, contributing to digestion; small tomatoes
- Non-Fat Dairy Products Except Milk
- Any flour products
- Processed meat products (sausage, sausages) due to their sugar content
- Vegetables high in sugar and carbohydrates, such as corn and potatoes
- Fruits and dried fruits (only a few berries are allowed)
- Any alcohol containing sugar and cereals
- Confectionery (cakes, chocolate, marshmallows, waffles);
- Bakery products (bread, long loaf);
- Cereals (rice, buckwheat, oatmeal, millet, barley);
- Sugar;
- Sweet fruits (bananas, grapes, mango, persimmon);
- Vegetables that are high in carbohydrates (potatoes, yams, corn, onions, garlic);
- Carbonated drinks.
Fortunately, the list of recommended products on Keto is much longer, and there are quite a lot of pleasant and tasty products in it. Among them are also:
- Meat is the main source of protein and vitamins. It can be poultry, beef, rabbit, and pork.
- Fish is a source of proteins and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Sea fatty fish – preferably, it helps balance the diet.
- Seafood – protein, and nutrients. You can eat oysters, mussels, shrimp, squid, crabs.
- Eggs – protein, vitamins, and minerals.
- Nuts – a useful snack between main meals (almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, pistachios – no more than 30 grams per day).
- Low-fat dairy products – a source of calcium, vitamins, and minerals (kefir, yogurt, cottage cheese, cheese and skim milk).
- Vegetables – low-calorie foods rich in fibre. The most useful: green lettuce, spinach, radishes, cucumbers, zucchini, and cabbage.
- Fruits – you can eat unsweetened fruits – apples, berries, grapefruits, oranges.
There are a lot of recipes for cooking “ketogenic” dishes, which means that you can eat tasty and rather diverse, so if you calmly tolerate the absence of prohibited foods in your diet, then you will not get bored with the diet.
In addition:
You can find out how much protein, fat, and carbohydrates are in a particular product. To do this, just find the table of calorie foods on the Internet, or download a special application-calculator caloric content of your food.
Phychology of keto diet
The mechanism is based on changes in energy exchange processes. Minimizing carbohydrates in the diet or their complete exclusion deprives the body of the main source of energy – glucose.
- No glucose – there is no need to produce the hormone insulin, which is the transporter of glucose into the cells of the body.
- No insulin – no feeling of hunger. When the body ceases to receive energy, it turns to its fat reserves, which set aside for a “rainy day.” This process is called ketosis (occurs after about 7 days of the diet).
James McIntosh describes the process of ketosis on medicalnewstoday.com:
The liver breaks down fats into fatty acids, ketone bodies, etc., which are converted by the body into energy. In addition to the fact that nutrition is already low-calorie, the body also has to spend more calories to convert fat into energy than to process carbohydrates into glucose.
The result – a modified mechanics of energy, new fuel, an unprecedented rate of burning fat.
- If you stick to the standard version of the ketone diet (not for the purpose of athletic “drying”), then you should not burden the body with serious physical exertion. Reshaping the internal processes and so serious stress, the additional pressure in the form of sports can aggravate your condition.
- Drink plenty of water. It will help control the number of ketone bodies, by their elimination by the urogenital system.
- Kefir in different sources is allowed, it is prohibited. But since ketogenic nutrition often causes digestive problems, it is better to include kefir in the diet. It will normalize the digestive processes.
- Be sure to take a complex of vitamins, because of the specific nutrition they will be in short supply.
- The recommended time keto-diet – no more than 2-3 months.
- Keto nutrition cannot be treated as a normal diet – I read what you can, what you can not, and “sat down”. The absence of carbohydrates provokes serious changes in the body so that they do not lead to negative consequences; you first need to pass tests, conduct a multi-step calculation of the number of nutrients. Therefore, we recommend following the keto-diet under the supervision of a physician.
Features of the diet
The main advantage of the ketogenic diet is fast weight loss due to the “dissolving” of fat without harming the muscle tissue. You do not have to go hungry – this diet allows you to snack on permitted foods, and you also don’t have to completely abandon fried foods.
- A ketogenic diet does not imply principles of separate nutrition – meat can be eaten with any permitted product, be it mushrooms or eggs.
- Unlike most diets, ketogenic does not require the abandonment of salt, which, in addition to giving food flavor, will help restore the balance of electrolytes.
- The diet is not suitable for very long-term use; it can not be made a lifestyle because of imbalance.
- Despite the lack of recommendations on calorie foods, it is not necessary to gain 5,000 kcal per day. In this case, the diet will not bring the desired effect.
- The diet does not limit the time of eating the standard 18:00 – you can eat at any time, but, of course, within reasonable limits.
- The main difficulty of the diet – the rejection of carbohydrates. So if you can not imagine life without potatoes, pasta or fruit, then it is unlikely to suit you. During the diet, a smell of acetone may appear from the mouth – a temporary side effect from the formation of ketones in the body.
Therefore, it is very important to observe the drinking regime and drink at least 8 glasses of water a day. If you can not drink clean water per day in such quantities, a good alternative would be drinking ginger water for weight loss.
Contraindications to the keto diet
There are no special contraindications.
But coaches and many nutritionists (among them – Jillian Michaels, author of numerous weight loss programs), say that Keto does not help to lose weight. Only people with diabetes can maintain their weight with the help of a ketogenic diet because it helps to control insulin levels.
For everyone else:
Such a plan may not work exactly for weight loss. But the energy will really be more. True, there is one BUT: Keto implies a complete rejection of sugar, which is why you may have depressed states and a bad mood. At least while adapting to keto.
Disadvantages of the keto-diet
Before moving on to non-ketone fuel, the body consumes the available glucose. The period when it ends, but the switching has not yet happened, accompanied by weakness, fatigue, nausea. Some note a worsening of mood, a depressive state.
The smell of acetone from the mouth, from the body. On the one hand, the appearance of such a plume indicates that ketosis has been successfully launched, and on the other, it can cause inconvenience.
The brain, the most important organ of the body, can successfully work on keto-bodies without carbohydrates. The danger of keto-diets lies elsewhere:
Foods containing carbohydrates usually contain other important nutrients (fibre, vitamins, and minerals). Refusal from fruits, vegetables, and grains leads to a drastic depletion of the diet since meat and animal products do not contain a number of vitamins and minerals.
If you are interested in weight loss exactly in this period, do not worry – this healthy diet for overweight pregnancy is absolutely safe for you!
Expert comments
The so-called keto-diet for weight loss really became a “by-product” of one of the food systems developed for children with epilepsy. Its essence is close to complete rejection of carbohydrates, compensated by increased consumption of fats with a small amount of proteins. The body, devoid of sources of carbohydrates, is forced to process fat into substances that serve as an energy source – ketones.
As a result, fat is not stored, the total caloric content of food decreases, and body weight almost always drops. Forced to make a reservation, losing weight – this is only a side effect. The main thing in the diet is ketosis, that is, an increase in the level of ketone bodies in the blood, which leads to a decrease in the frequency of epileptic seizures.
Actually, ketosis leads to a number of desirable and undesirable consequences. One of the advantages that only this type of diet has is the improvement of the skin condition due to the large amount of fat entering the body.
Many people losing weight thus note a drop in blood pressure, a drop in cholesterol and blood sugar, a lack of hunger, clarity of mind. All these moments are in other diets, I would not call it something exceptional.
But the disadvantages of this diet are more than serious. Apart from the fact that it is contraindicated for diabetics of the first type and hypertensive patients, such weight loss causes a very serious blow to the liver (it processes fat), to the kidneys (removes decomposition products) and to the gall bladder (to put it bluntly, a very dense plaque forms on its walls).
Actually, therefore, local doctors are not often willing to recommend this diet to people not suffering from epilepsy. Such a diet is especially pernicious for people with a high body mass index. As a rule, they have a very worn-out liver, pancreas and kidneys, and they may simply not suffer an additional shock from fatty foods.
But the most important thing is different. Like any other, keto-diet has a temporary effect. More than 90% of those who have lost weight in this way are gaining the same mass within five years, and often even faster. Moreover, any diet changes something in the body – as a rule, the metabolism.
The body adapts to the diet, in the case of the ketan diet, specific bacteria begin to multiply in the intestines, which help to process fats, while the bacteria that are responsible for carbohydrates die.
Perhaps I will upset the reader, but bariatric surgery does a better job of dealing with obesity. For whom is suitable keto diet? Keto-diet is recommended only for those who already understand how to follow a regular carbohydrate-free diet.
If you just want to lose a few pounds, you first need to change your eating habits and discard products that lead to weight gain – first of all, bread, sweet pastries, sweets and various sources of “empty calories”.
In simple words, you must first learn to distinguish foods with a low glycemic index, and only then seriously think about how to take a keto diet for a few weeks. Otherwise, you risk seriously damaging your health due to a deficiency of any vitamin or mineral, the existence of which you did not even suspect.
Keto diet is the scientific name for a carbohydrate-free or Kremlin diet. The key difference from other diets is the complete elimination of carbohydrates from the diet and the transfer of metabolism to ketosis.
Keto-diet is recommended by doctors only in cases of serious diseases (for example, epilepsy and diabetes) and is not suitable for beginners who want to “lose weight for vacation.”
Perhaps the keto-diet seems to be effective, but it refers to cardinal measures that significantly affect the functioning of the whole organism. To undergo such a procedure of weight loss is recommended under the supervision of a highly qualified dietician.
But still, if you still decide to try the keto diet, the next paragraph is for you!
Keto diet menu
First of all, you should know that starting a ketogenic diet is recommended with starvation, in order to prepare the body for a new diet as much as possible. Therefore, on the first day of the diet, you use only unlimited water and rest.
However:
If you drink water all day hard for you, then you can just restrict vegetable salads or kefir with apples to clean the body of toxins.
Starting from the second day of the diet, carbohydrate-free foods are added to the diet, and after the sixth day, if you feel good, the amount of foods is adjusted to the appropriate level.
- breakfast: buckwheat porridge or 2-3 boiled eggs, tea without sugar;
- lunch: soup with bread, Greek salad with boiled brisket, savory compote of dried fruits;
- dinner: a portion of fish or veal.
As a snack, it is recommended to use kefir, milk or yogurt. Low-fat cottage cheese is also permitted. Exit the diet should be gradual, adding no more than 30 g of carbohydrates per day.
Is keto diet effective for fat burning and how does it work?
When carbohydrates are consumed, carbohydrates are the main source of energy supply of the body, and fats and proteins are the reserve source.
At the same time, excess glucose from the bloodstream is placed in a special warehouse – glycogen depot. In the period between meals, the body’s energy balance is maintained at the required level due to this depot, which gradually gives up glucose.
But if the glucose reserves in it are depleted, the energy is taken from the previously accumulated fats.
As you have probably already guessed, if you eat carbohydrates along with fats, then fats are deposited “in reserve”, and carbohydrates are used as an energy source.
The concept of “ketosis”:
In the absence of carbohydrates in the body, ketones (ketone bodies) are produced from fat – full-fledged sources of energy for the whole body. Thus, if you completely stop the supply of carbohydrates in the body, the body switches to the use of energy from fat.
The organism does not have an exit and it starts to burn very actively fat as the main source of energy supply. We emphasize that the law of energy balance has not been canceled, and if you eat fat for 5,000 kcal and burn only 2,000, then you can safely forget about losing weight.
Again, there are a lot of nuances and, apart from the right energy balance, an entire arsenal comes to the aid of losing weight on a keto diet, but, in general, the balance is needed. The most interesting place our editorial office feels is your frustration and dissatisfaction with this fact.
But it’s too early to get upset – it will be easy for you to stick to the balance.
How? – Read on.
- the high-calorie content of food, the saturating effect of fats and proteins cause a feeling of satiety and prevent breakdowns that accompany many slimming;
- there is a decrease in appetite, primarily due to the lack of jumps in blood sugar;
- significantly decreases the release of ghrelin – hunger hormone, which allows better control of appetite;
- there is a decrease in lipogenesis and an increase in lipolysis;
The use of ketogenic diets for weight loss is effective, as evidenced by scientific research. Of course, you can lose weight on kefir, and on buckwheat, on a low-carb diet or a Seventh-day Adventist diet, is not the point.
The secret is always the same:
If you consume less calories than you spend, you will lose weight (in the absence of hormonal disorders).
But the foreground and other issues:
- Is this or that diet dangerous for health?
- How long will the effect last?
- How comfortable will be sticking to a diet?
Keto diet is effective, along with other factors, due to comfort: the constant satiety and lack of hunger makes its use convenient and therefore allows you to do without disruption.
The essence of the nutrition plan
- the use of fats and proteins in proportion 1/3 protein + 2/3 fats
- carbohydrates should be completely excluded! (an exception is possible only for green vegetables, but the number of carbohydrates should not exceed 20-50 grams/day).
Perhaps we look obsessive but emphasize:
It is impossible to foresee and compile a complete list, the main thing is to study the composition of the product and not to consume carbohydrates. They are in the finished products, sauces, it must be considered.
The most common mistakes
Mistake number 1: keto diet confused with low-carb.
In this case, allow the use of “glucose for the brain, otherwise, it will die suddenly.” Hence the errors in its application. If there is even a small amount of carbohydrates, the “scheme” does not work, ketosis “does not turn on”.
Keto diet and low carbohydrate diet – completely different things!
Mistake number 2: keto diet confused with high protein.
In fear of fat, people completely remove carbohydrates, add lean meat, lean protein. Theoretically, problems with the kidneys and the gastrointestinal tract are most likely due to an excess of protein, and not because the keto diet is evil.
Q: How to learn about the onset of ketosis?
A: The key sign of ketosis is the smell of acetone from the mouth, from urine and from the body. Some slimming people consider this an inconvenience, but we believe that this is solely a problem of those around them and their perception.
Here everything is purely individual, and in contrast to the characteristics of a person, such a smell can be more or less intense, manifest itself in all these aspects, or in part. To minimize the smell of acetone should drink plenty of water (more than 2 liters), so it will be excreted in the urine.
Also, in order not to guess the coffee grounds we recommend buying a special test for acetone, it works on the principle of a pregnancy test and costs a penny.
Q: What to do with carbohydrate loading?
A: There are different points of view, some allow carbohydrate loading once a week, others – exclude. Here, too, everything is individual and largely depends on the duration of the diet:
If a person eats in this way for two weeks, then what load can you talk about once a week? And vice versa – with long-term use of this nutrition system, carbohydrate loading once a week is recommended.
Q: Comfort (no sense of hunger)
A: We all live is not the first day and we know very well that the strongest appetite comes exactly during the diet. Keto-diet virtually eliminates the appearance of hunger.
In fairness, we note that the feeling of hunger can occur, but it is barely noticeable and comes 6-7 hours after eating. Compared with the “carbohydrate” food to call it hunger is difficult.
On this diet, jumps in blood sugar and insulin are excluded, the secretion of the hunger hormone (ghrelin) is significantly reduced. At the same time, high-calorie fat and protein foods give a feeling of satiety.
Due to these reasons, a person does not experience a brutal appetite and loses weight with pleasure.
So, it’s one thing to collect iron will into a fist, sit on a low-carb diet and pray that time will fly by quickly, and it was already possible to eat a spoonful of buckwheat, and a completely different thing is to forget about the feeling of hunger and … lose weight.
Yes, we perfectly understand that it is difficult to believe in it, but what if instead of hearing a thousand times, try it once?
Q: Longlasting effect
A: Some opponents and opponents of keto-diets suggest that any beneficial effects are only temporary. There is no generally accepted definition of “successful weight loss control” after a diet, but the formula proposed by Wing and Hill in 2001 is traditionally used.
It defines it as “a person who deliberately lost at least 10% of his weight and kept it for at least one year “.
Studies have shown that two short periods of the ketogenic diet, separated by longer periods of maintenance of the Mediterranean diet, led to successful long-term weight loss and the elimination of health risk factors without the effect of weight return.
The fact is that most diets for the body, like a roller coaster – constant stress. When nutrients are low, metabolic processes slow down; when a lot – the body does not cope with processing and disposes of excess in fat reserves.
Keto-diet excludes the appearance of such an effect since people do not starve.
Q: Imbalance
A: Keto diet does not include the use of vegetables (except for a small amount of green). This leads to a reduction in the number of vitamins, trace elements, and fibre.
Perhaps this is the most impartial school of this nutritional system, but without this, there is no way – when vegetables, especially “sweet ones” enter the body, glucose will form from them and ketosis will not occur.
But panic is certainly not worth it. In order to level the lack of fibre and prevent digestive disorders, it is recommended to consume no more than 50 g of carbohydrates from green vegetables and, in fact, a small amount of pharmacy fibre.
Leveling the absence of microelements is not difficult: you just need to calculate the number of necessary microelements, buy them separately at the pharmacy, eat and enjoy life instead of going out with poison and telling what kind of keto diet is unbalanced and leads to the grave.
Q: High degree of restrictions
A: In one way or another, there are restrictions in all power systems. But before choosing a keto diet, you should understand once and for all – you can’t eat carbohydrates at all. If at the low carbohydrate from one candy disaster, in essence, does not happen, then on ketogenic – this is absolutely impossible.
In the second case, ketosis does not occur and the kilos of fat you have devoured will be deposited in the fat, instead of spending on energy.
It is this nuance that should be considered first of all before choosing a diet. In fairness, we note that a well-fed person without an appetite for sweets and does not particularly pull.
Let’s sum up:
- fast and effective loss of excess weight and preservation of muscle mass
- comfort (no feeling of hunger)
- long term effect
- quick and effective weight loss and muscle mass maintenance
- imbalance (exclusion of whole groups of products)
- high degree of restrictions
- Type 1 diabetics
- pregnant women
- people with a thyroid gland, people with impaired kidney, liver and gastrointestinal tract
8 best recipes on keto
Meat
Since the keto diet is a low-carb diet, meat is the most welcome “guest” in this nutritional system. Eat beef, veal, rabbit, and even pork in small quantities: all of these foods contain a lot of protein and animal fats, which are supposed to be the basis of your diet.
A fish
Fish, like meat, fits perfectly into a carbohydrate-free diet. The “favorites” of keto diets are fat salmon, salmon, tuna and herring. This fish is incredibly healthy, as it contains a lot of important vitamins and minerals.
Hen
We all know that dishes with lean chicken form the basis of any diet aimed at losing weight. So with keto diet: chicken is an indispensable product that contains a lot of protein and does not contain carbohydrates. In addition, it is always easy and pleasant to cook.
Zucchini
Zucchini is a very low-calorie (about 17 kcal per 100 g) product, and therefore it is recommended to add it to the diet on any diet. It is rich in vitamins A and C, carotene, and potassium. Low-carb diets are known to inevitably lead to digestive problems, but zucchini helps speed up metabolism and normalize metabolism.
Avocado
A low-carb high-fat diet is simply impossible to imagine without avocado. This product is supersaturated with healthy fats, vitamins and minerals, without which both a healthy diet and a diet would be inadequate.
Iceberg lettuce
Juicy and crispy Iceberg salad contains a lot of fibre and water, which is important for good digestion. This low-calorie product can be eaten in unlimited quantities, so it is safe for the figure. By the way, it is not at all useless for health: it contains folic acid, vitamins A, B, and C, as well as phosphorus, magnesium and sodium.
Shrimp
These seafood are rich in iodine and other beneficial trace elements, as well as vitamins A, D, E. Shrimps are great for a diet, and for keto-nutrition – especially because they contain valuable protein and beneficial Omega-3 acids.
Eggs
Eggs are the most balanced source of protein and healthy fats. Be sure to include them in your diet, observing the keto diet, since this product not only fits well into the low-carb concept of the diet but also contains a lot of healthy microelements and vitamins.
