Who hasn’t heard of Keto? Keto diets have been a very popular low carb diet plan for a few years now. So, what’s it all about? A Keto is an abbreviation for “ketogenic diet,” this diet is all about reducing your carbs and increasing your fats for your body to use fats for energy.
A Keto diet typically means: 60-75% of your calories come from fat, 15-30% of your calories from proteins, and 5-10% of your calories are from carbs. That equates to eating only 50 grams of carbs a day (strict keto dieters consume only 20 grams a day).
Keto and Weight Loss- Weight loss happens on a keto diet for a few reasons. When you eat carbs, your system retains fluid to store carbs for energy, so when you’re not eating carbs you lose water weight. Eating more fat and protein keeps you feeling satiated for longer, so cravings decrease. Ketosis encourages your body to use your stored fat for its day-to-day energy requirements.
Variations of Keto- There are several types of keto diets dependent on your dietary goals and lifestyle, they all follow the same theme of low carb and high fat.
- High Protein Keto: This diet involves increasing protein calories within the keto food plan and is aimed at those who want to build or protect muscle mass, like body builders or older people.
- Lazy Keto Diet: This is a simpler version in which you only monitor your carb intake. There’s no need to track calories, fat, nor protein consumption.
- Cyclic Keto Diet: In this diet, you eat keto for 5 days a week, then have 2 days of eating more carbs. This is often followed by athletes who need to replenish glycogen in their muscles.
- Targeted Keto Diet: This is when you follow the normal keto guidelines, but they will eat some carbs before exercising to help them feel better during their workouts.
- Mediterranean Keto Diet: This is a healthier version where fats come from fresh good quality monosaturated fats like fish and olive oil
- Clean Keto Diet: This focuses on non-processed healthy organic sources and whole foods.
Possible Benefits of A Keto Diet? Most people use keto for weight loss, however it can have some other health benefits such as: reduced appetite, loss of abdominal fat, decrease in triglycerides, increased ‘good’ cholesterol, reduced blood sugar and insulin levels, and possibly lower blood pressure.
Risks To Eating Keto? Keto may not be a good option for people who have underlying health conditions such as heart disease, kidney problems, pancreatic, liver, and gallbladder diseases. Some people find it hard to get all their micronutrients on Keto diets. Choosing saturated fats can have a negative impact on your health.
Eating a high protein low carb diet like keto can offer benefits like increase in energy, decrease in sweet cravings, less headaches, better digestion, and feeling less bloated. The key is to choose healthy fats. The added bonus is weight loss and ability to maintain your healthy weight. Evaluate the different variations of Keto and as always check with your physician before starting any new diet.
