Ketogenic Diet - Best Diet for Rapid Weight Loss? Keto Diet Explained
The Ketogenic diet has gained popularity, primarily because of its successful short-term effect on weight loss. Also, The people who promote ketogenic diet, emphasize, that ketogenic diet might confer unique metabolic benefits. Such as: treatment of diabetes, improvements on Cancer and neurodegenerative conditions.
People on a ketogenic diet initially experience rapid weight loss up to 10 lbs. in 2 weeks or less.
A ketogenic diet primarily consists of high fats, moderate proteins, and very low carbohydrates. The dietary macronutrients are divided into approximately 60% fat, 30% protein, and 10% carbohydrates.
Keto diet foods include:
Fish, Meat and poultry. eggs, Cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, butter, cream and oils. Green leafy vegetables, asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, mushrooms, cucumber, green beans, eggplant, tomatoes. Olive, avocado. Dark chocolate, unsweetened tea and coffee.
This diet has a diuretic effect, and some early weight loss is due to water weight loss followed by a fat loss. Interestingly with this diet plan, lean body muscle is largely spared. As a nutritional ketosis state sustains, hunger pangs subside, and an overall reduction in caloric intake helps to further weight loss.
Generally, carbohydrates are the primary source of energy production in body tissues. But, during ketogenic diet, carbohydrate intake is low.
Reducing carbohydrates intake to less than 50g per day causes insulin secretion reduction significantly and the body enters a catabolic state.
Ketone bodies replace glucose as a primary source of energy. This metabolic state is referred to as "nutritional ketosis."
Medical world knows Ketogenic diet as a therapeutic diet for pediatric epilepsy. Most individuals with epilepsy can eliminate seizures with medication, but about 30% cannot.
And Ketogenic diet can reduce epilepsy seizure frequency by at least 50%. The lack of glucose available to fuel neurons is a possible mechanism for action.
the nutritional ketosis state is considered safe, as ketone bodies are produced in small concentrations without any alterations in blood pH.
Energy expenditure has also been shown to increase on a ketogenic diet, at least in short-term studies.
A well-formulated ketogenic diet, besides limiting carbohydrates, also limits protein intake moderately to less than 1g/lb body weight. This is to prevent the endogenous production of glucose in the body via gluconeogenesis. However, it does not restrict fat or overall daily calories.
If we compare ketogenic diet to the classical weight loss diet. Low fat, low calories intake.
Both diets induced weight loss. Ketogenic weight loss Is higher especially first weeks. However, most of the weight lost on the ketogenic diet came from fat-free mass. Water, glycogen, protein and contents of the gastrointestinal tract.
Fat mass did not significantly change during either the first or second week of the ketogenic diet, while the low-fat diet led to significant losses in body fat after both the first and second weeks. This suggests that low-fat, plant-based diets may control appetite better than ketogenic diets.
Another statement about Ketogenic effectiveness in diabetic patients can be only short term.
A recent meta-analysis showed that reductions in hemoglobin A1c - a key test for diabetes that measures a person’s average blood sugar control over two to three months.
Achieved with ketogenic diets typically wane after a few months and that such diets are not more effective than other diets.
Ketogenic diets are typically low in fiber needed not only for healthful intestinal function but also for microbial production of beneficial colonic short-chain fatty acids. So, during ketogenic diet intestinal cell walls becomes less protected and increases gut permeability, as bacteria extract the carbon they need from the mucus membrane that protects the gastrointestinal tract instead of fiber.
Long-term side effects include hepatic steatosis, kidney stones, hypoproteinemia, and vitamin deficiency.
The ketogenic diet is contraindicated in patients with pancreatitis, liver failure, disorders of fat metabolism.
Due to ketonemia, acetone in the body can sometimes be reduced to isopropanol by hepatic alcohol dehydrogenase which can give a false positive alcohol breath test result.
