There’s a New Diet in Town and Its Fat!
Unless you have been living under a rock, chances are you must have heard of the keto diet. Even if you haven’t, you need not worry, keep on reading to find out what it’s all about!
Keto, short for ketogenic, consists of an eating pattern that requires you to eat high quantities of fat. Yes, that’s right, this is a diet that actually promotes eating more fat than protein and carbohydrates. Because of this, the meals consist mainly of stuff like:
- Cheese
- Butter
- Oils
- Nuts
- Eggs
- Meat
- Heavy cream
- Fish
- Avocados
- Low in carbohydrates fruits and vegetables
So unlike our usual traditional meals which are heavy in carbs and protein, in keto, you are required to eat foods that are high in fat instead of carbs. Yes, it can be a bit mind boggling to think ‘how can eating more fat be good!’, well, read on!
Release the Ketones!
The main purpose of the keto diet is to switch your body’s fuel source from glucose to ketone bodies. When your meals consist of 75% fat, 5% carbs and 20% protein, your body starts to produce metabolites of fatty acids called ketone bodies.
Because your body is not getting the carbohydrates, it starts looking for other sources of fuel, namely the fat stored within the body. The fat is broken down into these ketone bodies, which are then used as the main fuel source. This puts your body into a state called ketosis.
Why Should You Care About Keto?
Why should you even care about putting your body into ketosis? Well, let’s take a short history lesson.
Believe it or not but the keto diet dates all the way back to the 1920s. It was a way to treat epilepsy in children and because of it, the individual would experience almost 40% fewer seizures.
Even though it is still used for that purpose today, it has been found to offer other benefits as well such as:
- Weight loss
- Improve heart health
- Enhance and protect brain functionality
- May reduce risks of cancer
- Helps women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)
However, it is important to note that keto puts your body’s internal chemical process through some serious changes. So before you dive head first into all the fat-eating-fest, it is imperative that you speak to a health professional or doctor first. Just know that numerous people, include rich and famous ones such as Jennifer Aniston and Halle Berry have used the keto diet with much success.