Researches show that ketogenic diet, a diet high in fat and low in carbohydrates can help you lose weight and help you prevent many diseases. You must be wondering how a diet high in fat can help you lose weight. Well, keto diet uses your fat as a fuel instead of the glucose. The ketogenic daily intake consists of 75% fat, 20% proteins and about 5% of carbohydrates. Keto’s task is to put your body in ketosis, a state which suppresses the release of blood glucose levels and insulin. Ketosis can improve your health, reduce your blood pressure and decrease your appetite. The diet is not easy to follow, but this theory of ketosis is getting a lot of attention from cancer specialists from around the world.
Why Keto diet works
Your body’s first fuel is glucose. Everytime you eat carbohydrates, your body turns it into sugar or glucose. Our body doesn’t deal well with a lot of sugar and that causes insulin to get secreted from the pancreas, and allows the sugars to get inside the cells.
High-carb diets cause high insulin levels and cause your body to burn sugar instead of fat. On the other hand, low-carb diets cause your body to burn fat first and when this happens, the insulin levels go down.
Low carb, keto foods include:
- Seeds;
- Avocado;
- Nuts: pecans, macadamia, brazil nuts;
- Coconut and olive oil;
- Non-starchy vegetables;
- Eggs
Typical Day’s Keto Meals
Breakfast
- A cup of coffee with heavy cream, stevia drops and some almond milk.
Lunch
- Green veggies such as zucchini, broccoli, spinach and a normal portion of meat.
Dinner
- Green veggies with some tofu.
How the Ketogenic diet fights diseases
Tumor immunologist Dr. Patrick Hwu, explains how cancer loves sugar. Cancer cells live on insulin, glucose and a hormone called IGF-1, or insulin-like growth factor.
We need more studies that will investigate whether this diet can fight cancer cells. The good thing is that keto diet reduces the insulin levels, reduces blood pressure, and reduces the levels of inflammation and the levels of IGF-1.
Dr. Hwu thinks that Keto diet can help you reduce the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
A Johns Hopkins recent study has shown that the ketogenic diet has a really positive effect on adults that suffer from epilepsy.
Keto Flu
The diet is restrictive and that’s why some people might experience some side-effects during the first weeks. These side-effects are also known as the “keto flu”. Some of the symptoms include insomnia, bad breath, constipation and headaches.
Pregnant women and people with diabetes type 1 should avoid this diet.