There's a lot of talk about the Ketogenic diet and how it can help with weight loss, diabetes, and other health issues. But what exactly is the Ketogenic diet? How does it work? Can you get started on it yourself? By following this step-by-step guide, you'll be better able to determine whether the Keto lifestyle is right for you!
So, what is the Ketogenic Lifestyle?
Ketosis is the metabolic process by which your body burns fat instead of carbohydrates for energy. When you eat a diet that’s high in fat and low in carbohydrates and proteins, you enter into a state called ketosis. This means that your body is burning fat for fuel instead of glucose. When this happens, insulin levels drop and ketones become elevated in your blood stream. Your liver produces these ketones from fatty acids that come from your diet.
The purpose of this blog post will be to break down why I started my own journey with a Ketogenic lifestyle and how I made it work for me!
How do I start? There are many different ways to implement this type of lifestyle change but here are the steps:
What is Ketosis?
Ketosis is the metabolic state that occurs when your body burns fat for energy. During this process, the liver produces ketones, which have a different chemical structure than glucose (blood sugar). Blood sugar is the fuel that comes from carbohydrates in foods like bread, pasta, rice and vegetables. When you eat these foods, they are broken down into glucose and processed by your body to create energy.
Ketosis occurs when there isn't enough food or carbohydrate intake in your diet; this forces your body to burn fat instead of carbs for energy production. This doesn't mean you need to completely eliminate carbohydrates from your diet—just limit them so they aren't fuelling most of your calories each day.
How to start ketogenic lifestyle?
- Eliminate sugar. Sugar is one of the most harmful ingredients to your body, especially when paired with processed foods that contain high amounts of it. Sugar causes inflammation and contributes to insulin resistance, which can lead to type 2 diabetes or other health problems.
- Eliminate grains. Grains contain gluten, a protein that is difficult for some people’s bodies to digest properly. Gluten causes the immune system to react and attack the small intestine over time—this can cause digestive issues and weight gain due to inflammation in the gut (which can also be caused by eating sugar). The easiest way to eliminate gluten from your diet is by avoiding grains like wheat/rye/barley as well as products made from them (i.e., bread). If you must have these things occasionally, try going for organic options instead!
- Eliminate dairy products like milk and cheese because they have casein (a type of protein) which promotes inflammation in people who are sensitive or intolerant towards it; if this isn't enough motivation then consider how many calories each glass contains too! Plus there are plenty alternatives available nowadays so there really isn't any excuse.*
Measuring Ketones:
Measuring ketones is important because they're a good way to tell whether you're on track with your diet.
There are two types of meters: blood-based and urine-based. Both can be used to measure the amount of beta hydroxybutyrate (BHB) in your body. The blood test is more accurate, but it requires a blood draw at a clinic or lab and can be expensive. The urine test is less accurate and much easier to use, but will only give you an idea of whether you're in ketosis or not—you'll need to do regular tests over time to determine how well your diet is working for you.
Finding Balance
Finding balance between what works for you and what doesn't is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. What works for one person might not work for another, and vice versa. You may be able to give up certain things that would be detrimental to your health or wellbeing but find that others are more difficult to give up than others.
For example, if you are trying the keto diet to lose weight, it may be easy for you to avoid high-carb foods like rice or pasta because they're so common in western cultures. However, if you're used to eating these carbs daily—perhaps as part of a cultural tradition—then doing so could cause major issues in your life since those plates full of carbohydrates will no longer be available at every mealtime!
The point here is that finding balance between what works for you and what doesn't can help guide your choices so that they align with both your goals AND reality (i.e., what's possible). This strategy allows us all some freedom when making decisions about our lives; however, sometimes these decisions need some compromise from both sides before we reach an agreement about how forward we'll go together on this journey toward better overall health (and hopefully happiness) within ourselves individually!
The ketogenic diet is a very specialized type of diet that involves lowering carbohydrate intake and increasing fat intake to get your body into a state known as ketosis.
The ketogenic lifestyle can have many benefits for certain individuals.
For example, it can help those with diabetes because it lowers blood glucose levels
(1). It can also help you lose weight by reducing appetite and cravings
(2). In addition to these things, the ketogenic lifestyle has been shown to improve neurological symptoms like Alzheimer's disease, cancer, epilepsy and Parkinson's disease
The ketogenic diet is a lifestyle that you can maintain for the rest of your life. However, it's not necessarily right for everyone. If you're looking to lose weight or improve your health, then the keto diet may be the right choice for you. Also keep in mind that there are other ways to do this (eat less processed foods, exercise more often) and it'll still work out in the end!
