A Ketogenic Diet For Beginners

A Ketogenic Diet For Beginners

A keto or ketogenic diet is a low-carb, moderate protein, higher-fat diet that can help you burn fat more effectively. It has many benefits for weight loss, health, and performance, as shown in over 50 studies. That’s why it’s recommended by so many doctors. A keto diet can be especially useful for losing excess body fat without hunger and for improving type 2 diabetes.

What is a keto diet?

The keto diet is a very low-carb and higher-fat diet. It’s similar in many ways to other low carb diets. While you eat far fewer carbohydrates on a keto diet, you maintain moderate levels of protein intake and may increase your intake of fat. The reduction in carb intake puts your body in a metabolic state called ketosis, where fat, from your diet and from your body, is burned for energy.

What “keto” means

The “keto” in a ketogenic diet comes from the fact that it allows the body to produce small fuel molecules called “ketones.” This is an alternative fuel source for the body, used when blood sugar (glucose) is in short supply. When you eat very few carbs or very few calories, the liver produces ketones from fat. These ketones then serve as a fuel source throughout the body, especially for the brain. The brain is a hungry organ that consumes lots of energy every day, and it can’t run on fat directly. It can only run on glucose – or ketones.

On a ketogenic diet, your entire body switches its fuel supply to run mostly on fat, burning fat 24-7. When insulin levels become very low, fat burning can increase dramatically. It becomes easier to access your fat stores to burn them off. This is great if you’re trying to lose weight, but there can also be other, less obvious benefits, such as less hunger and a steady supply of energy (without the sugar peaks and valleys we can get from high carb meals). This may help keep you alert and focused. When the body produces ketones, it enters a metabolic state called ketosis. The fastest way to get there is by fasting – not eating anything – but nobody can consistently fast forever. A keto diet, on the other hand, also results in ketosis and can be eaten indefinitely. It has many of the benefits of fasting – including weight loss – without having to fast long-term.

Learn more about ketosis 

What to eat on a keto diet?

What’s the most important thing to do to reach ketosis? Avoid eating too many carbs. You’ll likely need to keep carb intake under 50 grams per day of net carbs, ideally below 20 grams. The fewer carbs, the more effective it appears to be for reaching ketosis, losing weight, or improving type 2 diabetes. Counting carbs can be helpful at first. But if you stick to our recommended foods and recipes n stay keto even without counting.

How low carb is a keto diet?

The fewer carbs you eat, the more effective it seems to be for weight loss, appetite suppression, type 2 diabetes, and more. A keto diet is a very strict low-carb diet, containing less than 20 grams of net carbs per day, and tends to be highly effective.

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