What Is Keto Diet?

What is keto diet and how does Keto work?

Despite it’s massive popularity, it’s still a bit of a mystery to many people as to what Keto diet is or how it works.

So, how does Keto work?

Basically, Keto replaces the intake of carbohydrates with healthy fats, forcing your body into a state of ketosis.

Once you get into ketosis, your body will start producing ketones which become your body’s preferred source of energy (instead of glucose).

What the Keto diet aims to achieve is to switch your body from metabolising glucose to fat, thereby triggering the production of ketones, or ketone bodies, which then get used as your body’s preferred fuel source.

Whilst in this metabolic state, known as ketosis, your body will burn fat (ketones) for its energy requirements, resulting in weight loss & other health benefits.

Furthermore, getting these ketones firing up is really awesome as they’re a far more efficient fuel source & allow your body to perform more optimally, than on carbs, whilst burning excess fat at the same time.

Below you’ll find the Keto diet explained in more detail showing the powerful, & natural, connection between the Ketogenic diet & weight loss.

Keto in South Africa has a great supporter in the form of Prof Tim Noakes who reversed his diabetes and shed a significant amount of weight in the process, by ditching the carbs & increasing his fat intake as per the Ketogenic diet.

What Is Keto Diet – Easy Explanation

How To Get Into Ketosis

To experience all the wonderful benefits the Keto diet offers, you first need to get into a state of ketosis.

You’ll hear a lot about getting into ketosis when figuring out how Keto works as it’s the state you need to achieve in order for your body to switch to burning fat for energy instead glucose (carbs).

Burning fat vs burning carbs for energy, can be seen as comparing a clean, green energy plant vs a smokey coal powered energy producing plant.

So basically, you can get into ketosis by ditching the carbs and eating plenty of fat, but don’t expect to achieve this overnight.

3 Ways you can get into a state of ketosis;

• Fast and not eat anything at all until your body has consumed all its glucose (carb) reserves & is forced to convert your fat reserves into ketones for energy
• Follow a proper Keto Diet Plan that will fuel your body with health fats, and avoiding sugar in all its forms, whilst burning off all the traces of carbohydrate in your body.
• A combination of the above, Keto combine with fasting.

Therefore, for ketosis to occur, the body needs to be denied it’s “old” preferred source of fuel (carbs) in preference for the “new” clean burning fuel in the form of fats.

In a state of ketosis, your body will produce ketones which it will begin to use as its primary fuel source, instead of carbs.

This means that you will actually be burning fat for fuel instead of sugar (carbs) causing “automatic” weight loss.

Furthermore, when you’re in ketosis you stand to achieve a few big wins, not least of all getting that healthy, lean, buff looking image, as well as feeling awesome.

How Do You Know If You’re In Ketosis

1. Blood test.
   The best way to see if you’re in ketosis is using a blood-testing meter to to test your ketone levels.
   If your ketone levels are above 0.5 mmol/L you can be sure that you’re in ketosis.
   However, once you’ve achieved this level you perform regular checks as your ketone levels will fluctuate once your body’s using them for fuel.
2. Urine test
   By peeing on ketone testing strips you’ll be able to see if you’re in ketosis accoring to the colour the strip turns.
3. Breath
   A common side affect of ketosis is getting keto breath which is probably the least scientific method but if you’re getting all the health & weight loss benefits and feeling awesome, who cares.

Keto, Carbs & Insulin Resistance

If you’re thinking that this is a lot of phooey, here are some points to consider;

• Whilst a typical American diet contains more than 50% carbs, more than 60% of the US population is obese. I’d say there’s a causal link between the consumption of carbs & weight gain, what do you think?
• If you eat carbs, you’ll burn some of them & store the rest with almost zero fat-burning taking place. All this does is continue to build up your carb/sugar reserves which ends up showing around your middle as fat.

Furthermore, when you eat carbs you trigger an insulin response, to deal with breaking the sugar down, and too much can lead to insulin resistance which in turn can easily lead to diabetes & obesity.

On the other hand, a low-carb diet will result in less insulin production, which can produce many health benefits, not least of all, weight loss.

What Are Ketones

If you’ve read the stuff above, you probably have some idea of what ketones are, however here’s a more detailed explanation if you need it.

Now’s the time to bring your liver into the picture.

By starving your body of glucose, your liver starts breaking down your fat stores into usable compounds called ketone bodies, or just plain old ketones.

As above, we know that ketones are your body’s preferred, or only, fuel source on the Keto diet to supply your body’s energy requirements for activity as well as for your brain to function optimally.

Interestingly, especially for those on a mission to lose weight, increased blood ketone levels may directly suppress appetite.

This means that arguably the biggest obstacle to weight loss, hunger, could be taken out of the equation with a properly structured Keto diet plan, like this one here.

Furthermore, there are 2 ways for you to produce ketones;

1. Your body can produce them by going Keto, as well as fasting if necessary.
2. You can produce ketones through exogenous ketone supplementation like MCT oils which comes from a fat called medium-chain triglycerides.

There are three types of ketones, which is important to know if you want to sound pretentious at parties:

1. Acetoacetate
2. Beta-hydroxybutyrate
3. Acetone

Not only are you likely to feel awesome when you’ve got those ketones buzzing around, but for athletes you’ll find that you can train harder and for longer distances without getting tired and having to pump more sugars into the system.

Therefore, more reasons for the popularity of the Keto diet in South Africa, are not only the astonishing weight loss results people are loving, but also the health & fitness benefits many are enjoying from following the Keto lifestyle South Africa.

Keto Flu

One of the side effects of going on the Keto diet, the Keto flu.

Keto flu symptoms can include any of the following;

• nausea
• vomiting
• headaches
• fatigue
• dizziness
• insomnia
• constipation

You may experience Keto flu symptoms soon after eliminating carbs from your diet, and this could last for a week while your body adapts to it’s new fuel source.

You can relieve the symptoms by drinking more water, eating more healthy fats and even taking an MCT oil supplement.

Furthermore, the reason for feeling a bit weird is that your brain has become used to using glucose as its main source of energy, and suddenly its faced with an entirely, albeit more efficient, fuel source.

This is why you may experience brain fog & lethargy which will be replaced with high levels of alertness & energy once your body’s conditioned to run on fats.

“There is no doubt that there is strong supportive evidence that the use of ketogenic diets in weight loss therapy is effective…”

Ref: U.S. National Library of Medicine | NCBI National Center for Biotechnology Information

Keto, Banting & Paleo Diets

Whilst the LCHF Banting & Paleo diets work pretty much the same as the Keto diet does, Keto restricts the consumption of protein as well.

A Ketogenic diet is high in fat, moderate in protein and extremely low in carbohydrate consumption.

The great thing about the Keto diet is that you’ll see results after a few days or weeks of eating this way as the body and brain become more efficient at burning fat and ketones for fuel instead of carbs.

Another beneficial side effect of a Ketogenic diet is that it also lowers insulin levels which together with the increased ketones are two of the main reasons this diet has so many health benefits for us humans.”

What To Eat On Keto

As said above the Keto diet is so carb restrictive that it’s almost a no-carb diet.

In fact carbohydrate should only make up 5% of your daily food intake, as illustrated below.

Just to elaborate on your daily carbohydrate intake, this may help;

• Net carbs: 20 grams per day (max)
• Regular carbs: 50 grams per day (max)
• Percentage: 5% of daily calories

To help you stick to a structured Keto diet plan, take a look at this one…
it takes into account, things like, whether you’re male or female and how active you are.

Keto Friendy Foods

Typical Keto friendly foods include these;

• meat
• fish
• butter
• eggs
• cheese
• full cream
• oils
• nuts
• avocados
• seeds
• low-carb vegetables (avoid those high in sugar such as butternut – pumpkin is better)

The fats in coconut oil are quickly metabolized by the liver, which increases your metabolic rate by up to 15%

Some keto-dieters who refuse to eat carbs and are strictly on SKD (Standard Ketogenic Diet) consume coconut oil as an immediate form of energy. Coconut oil is rich in MCTs (Medium-Chain Triglycerides) are converted in the liver into ketones that can be used by your body as fuel instead of glycogen.

Coconut fat is 92% saturated, with very little inflammatory Omega-6 PUFA.

Foods to avoid on a keto diet include these;

• grains
• rice
• bread
• potatoes
• beans
• pastries
• sweets
• milk
• cereals
• fruits
• high-carb vegetables (for example carrots)
• see also these foods on this red list of Banting diet foods

Take a look at the full Keto Food List here…

Keto Weight Loss

This will come as welcome news for those overweight people who have resigned themselves to never being able to lose it.

Well, the good news is that Keto weight loss is synonymous with this LCHF (Low-Carb, High-Fat) diet.

In fact a Keto diet can help you lose fat, preserve or improve muscle mass as well as improve many markers of disease.

To back up these claims of Keto weight loss, many studies have compared the recommended LCHF diet to a Ketogenic diet and have found the Keto to be the most effective for burning fat & shedding weight.

More Keto weight loss inspiration, is this study that showed a sample group of people on Keto lost 2.2 times more weight than those on a low-calorie, low-fat diet.

Furthermore, triglyceride and HDL cholesterol levels also improved in the Keto group (above).

Another plus for the Keto lifestyle is studies have found that people can lose fat when food intake is not controlled, or restricted, whilst eating only from the Keto food list.

This is significant as those on Keto can eat to hunger & feel satisfied experiencing weight gain, whilst those eating controlled amounts or counting calories will generally feel hungry and want more.

Therefore, the data suggests that a Ketogenic diet is a great option for you even if you are just going to be estimating your intake of protein & fat as long as you eliminate certain foods & carbs.

Weight Loss Study: Low-Carb vs Low-Fat

Study Comparing Low-Carbohydrate vs Low-Fat Diet in Severe Obesity – New England Journal Of Medicine

The results are out, and the winner is…

Here’s more evidence to show you that a low-carb diet is more effective for weight loss than a low-fat diet.

This study, that was done to compare weight change in 132 severely obese subjects, revealed the following;

• The low-carb group lost an average of 5.8 kg (12.8 lbs)
• The low-fat group lost only 1.9 kg (4.2 lbs).
• Conclusion: The difference in weight loss experienced by the group eating a low-carb diet was significantly higher than the group on the low-fat diet.

Another study, conducted by the NCBI National Institute Of Health (J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2003 Apr;88(4):1617-23), revealed that people on a ketogenic diet lost almost 2½ times more weight than those on a low-fat, calorie-restricted diet with an improvement shown in triglyceride & HDL cholesterol levels.

There have been many other studies effected that show similar results which clearly demonstrate that replacing carbs with healthy fats in your diet will help you lose weight.

Another effective low-carb diet is the Banting diet, but how does it compare to Keto and What is Banting?

Conclusion On How Keto Works

Now that you have a better idea of how the Keto diet works and what it’s all about, you can make an informed decision as to whether you think it’ll benefit you in terms of health & weight management.

Whilst Keto isn’t for everyone, if you’re thinking of trying it out, consider doing it properly for 30 days at least to see how you feel on it.

Furthermore, don’t forget to take “before & after” measurements, including your weight of course, to see whether it’s for you.

The aim is to help you achieve permanent weight loss, reverse diabetes or just feel healthier all the time, so if the Ketogenic diet isn’t for you try another nutritional path with the Banting or Paleo diets.

It’s also a good idea to determine your ideal macronutrients (fat, protein, carbs) with this easy Macro Calculator here.

Lastly, if you have health issues, it’s best to consult with your health professional or dietician before making drastic changes to your diet.

Losing Weight Is Hard,
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(Different Diet Plans For Men & Women)