What is ketogenic diet?
Ketogenic diet basing on consuming high amount of fat, so idea is to get most calories from fats, moderately from protein and less from carbohydrates. Main point is to cut back most of the carbs like glucose, starch, fructose and rest of monosaaccharides. Theory says, when you eat less than 50g of carbs a day, your body eventually starts using fat for energy. Body starts producing ketone bodies which are considered to be super fuel for the body and mind. This process is called ketosis and in long term leads to improvement of hormone balance, weight loss, it works anti-inflammatory, reduces ackne and, according to many research, predicts cancer, Alzheimer and Parkinson diseases.
General rule say 70-80% of calorie intake comes from fat, 15-20% from protein and 5-10% from carbohydrates. These values depend on what stage of ketosis you are in. If you start your transformation process, starting to adapt to keto, values should be 80% fat, 15% protein, 5% carbs. More about adaptation in different post.
Theory says to be able to follow these numbers you need to count calories intake and macros. Truth is, it is very useful at the beginning during adaptation to ketosis, later when body is fully adapted to ketosis, you can easily skip counting calories and just eat intuitively and according to your needs. People who are already in ketosis, can consume higher amount of carbs daily or periodically and that doesn’t affect keto bodies production. Body know how to use both glucose and ketones for energy. This is called metabolic flexibility and it’s the most wanted state of our metabolism.
Nowadays food is for the asking. Back in centuries humans had to chase for food, grow it or pick it up, often fasting for days. Food was natural, not processed, usually fatty , full of protein and carbs only periodically. This is how I understand keto diet.
It is not possible to avoid modern technology, besides, everything what is too extreme, in my opinion is either not healthy or…well, not pleasant. Let’s find balance – eating healthy and natural, without chemical ingredients, still enjoying the taste. Keto doesn’t mean boring, dripping with fat or heavy on your stomach food. Keto means natural, full of nutritions food and energy booster.
M.