The ketogenic diet is a low carb, moderate protein, and high-fat diet which puts the body into a metabolic state known as ketosis.
It helps in reducing carbohydrate intake and replacing it with fat. This reduction in carbs puts your body into a metabolic state called ketosis. After this happens, the body becomes incredibly efficient at burning fat for energy.
Different Types of Ketogenic Diets
There are different types of ketogenic diets as some people have different needs.
Standard Ketogenic Diet (SKD): This is a very low-carb, moderate-protein and high-fat diet. It typically contains 75% fat, 20% protein, and only 5% carbs.
Cyclical ketogenic diet (CKD): This diet involves periods of higher-carb refeeds, such as 5 ketogenic days followed by 2 high-carb days.
Targeted ketogenic diet (TKD): This diet is nothing more than a standard keto diet with the elimination of eating carbs throughout your workout times.
High-protein ketogenic diet: This is similar to a standard ketogenic diet, but includes more protein. The ratio is often 60% fat, 35% protein, and 5% carbs.
Ketogenic Diets Can Help You Lose Weight
A ketogenic diet helps you to lose weight with lower side effects on your body. It can help you lose much more weight than a low-fat diet, and it often happens without hunger.
One study found that people on a ketogenic diet lost 2.2 times more weight than those on a calorie-restricted low-fat diet.
Side Effects and How to Get Rid Of Them
As with any extreme change you make to your body’s chemistry, there are going to be side effects.
Some of these side effects are sleep issues, mental function, increased hunger and others.
To minimize these effects, you can try a standard low-carb diet for the first few weeks. It enables your body to burn more fat before you totally reduce carbs.
Also, the most important thing, especially at the beginning of the diet, is to eat until you are full and avoid restricting calories too much.
Contributed by Mohamed Helba
