THE KETOGENIC DIET: BURN FAT AND SAVE MUSCLE AS YOU AGE!

Hi all, if you have ever read any of my posts, the one common thread you will find is that I am not a friend of diets especially fad diets. I belong to the school of thought that believes in making healthy food choices in all categories and not over or under eating. There is nothing I dislike more than a diet that seeks to eliminate a major nutrient i.e. carbohydrates.

However I will make an exception today, and I have good reason. It’s the popular, misunderstood and much misapplied KETOGENIC DIET, and if you have never heard of it, then you’d better crawl back under the rock you came from! Seriously speaking, the Ketogenic or “Keto” diet is very simple in its approach; it is a diet very high in fat, low in protein and ultra-low in carbohydrates. Below is an illustration of the ideal keto diet:

As you can see this diet blows away all you know about nutrition and weight loss, and may seem counterproductive to most of you, I believe this diet has a whole lot to offer people who want to burn fat while holding on to muscle and at the same time live the healthiest life possible. What I want to achieve with this post is to educate you about this wonderful diet tool, ignorance is no longer an excuse! Please follow closely because as usual; the devil and the angels are in the details.

Thanks, and have a great weekend!

HOW DOES THE KETO DIET WORK?

The keto diet works by Inducing a state in the body known as ketosis, this happens when carbohydrates in the body are too low to provide enough fuel for the body, this happens when we consume fewer than 50grams of carbohydrates a day and your liver has to produce molecules called ketone bodies and uses them with stored body fat as fuel. The result is a loss of body fat as there are no carbohydrates to use and your body will not have to cannibalize your muscles for fuel either.

TEMPORARY SIDE EFFECTS:

There is aklways a price to pay! Albeit temporary in this case, and I can testify to this having experienced it more than once. On commencement of the Keto diet, you will often feel tired weak and sluggish, this is due to your body trying to adapt to its new state. However if you stick with the ketogenic diet correctly these feelings will fade off in about 2 to 6 weeks and you will be back to your old strength levels. The cool thing about a keto diet is that you start to see changes in your body even within the 2 weeks adaptation window. For me I stopped feeling bloated, my stomach flattened out considerably and I had better abdominal and bicep definition. In short I looked great even though I felt like crap!

COMMON KETO DIET MISTAKES:

1.      Mistaking low carbohydrate diets for ketogenic diet as they are similar but different the key difference being the high fat in the keto diet.

2.      Eating too much protein: I have been guilty of this in the past, my first attempt at a ketogenic diet was actually a low carb and high protein diet, high protein can actually lead to glucose formation in the blood and glucose in excess can be stored as fat!

3.      Not allowing for a long enough adaptation period before giving up: my first attempt at a keto diet was off and I didn’t last a week. This happened because I ate the wrong things and expected too much too soon from my body.

4.      Eating the wrong kind of fats: while the keto diet has a high fat content, please remember that there are good and bad sources of fat. Source your increased fat intake from fish oil, avocados, olive oil, butter, bacon, whole eggs nuts etc. now I know you might be thinking, isn’t high fat dangerous? Studies have shown that the enemy is not so much a high fat diet as a high fat, high carbohydrate diet i.e the “western” diet is you research the “Mediterranean” diet, you will discover a higher consumption of fat, lower consumption of carbs, and a lower incidence of obesity, heart disease etc!

IN CONLUSION:

A Ketogenic diet can be very rewarding when trying to drop fat and maintain muscle; however you need to fully commit to it to get the benefits, there is no cutting corners!

This means keeping your fat intake at around 75% and I know this is challenging. You will have to estimate your daily calorie intake and know how much fatty foods you need to make up the required percentage, there are helpful apps and charts online to help you with that. If you are interested in reintroducing carbs to your diet please do so gradually, so your body has time to adapt. Lastly, I will say again, when starting the Keto diet, give your body time to adapt. Your body will need the full two weeks to realize the benefits of keto adaptation. If you stick with it I assure you that you will stay fit and healthy, not only at 40 but for the next 40years!

Thanks, and have a wonderful weekend!!