Ketogenic Diet For Weight Loss – How It Works, Who Should Avoid & Benefits

Dieting is the process of controlling one’s food consumption for the purpose of improving one’s physical fitness, especially for the purpose of reducing obesity (extra fat). Dieting plans are based on the reduction of any of the macronutrients such as fats, carbohydrates, and proteins, that compose the major servings of food that a person eats. These macronutrients are the necessary sources of energy. If you search Google regarding the best weight loss diet plan then you will find many search results and one of the search results is Keto Diet or the Ketogenic Diet.

So What is Keto Diet or the Ketogenic Diet? Is the diet useful for the Weight Loss Or Weight Gain? Food included in the Keto Diet (veg, non-veg, fruits, etc) and all other details.

What is Ketogenic Diet, How It Works & Who Uses It

Ketogenic Diet: “Ketogenic” is a name or term used for a low-carb diet. The idea of the Keto Diet is to get more calories from protein and fat and less from carbohydrates. With the Ketogenic Diet, one can cut back most of the carbohydrates which are easy to digest. For example sugar, soda, pastries, bread, etc.

When one is on the Ketogenic diet, the entire body of the person switches the fuel supply to run from mostly on fats. In this way, the fat started burning 24*7. This is great for the people who are trying to lose weight. Apart from the losing weight, there are some other benefits of the Keto diet such as the less hunger and the supply of energy, With this one will remain alert and focused.

How The Keto Diet Works: When you eat less than 50 grams of carbohydrates a day, your body ultimately runs out of fuel. This usually takes up to 3 or 4 days. After that, you’ll start to break down protein and fat for energy. Breaking down of fat and protein for energy can make you lose weight and this process is known as Ketosis.

Who Uses It: One can use a ketogenic diet often to lose the extra weight. Not only to lose weight but the Ketogenic Diet can also help manage certain medical conditions, such as epilepsy. The Keto Diet also may help in heart disease, some brain diseases, and even acne. But there needs to be more research in these areas. Before using or implementing the Keto Diet, one must consult the doctor whether the Keto Diet is safe or not. If you have type 1 diabetes, then it is important to consult the doctor.

Ketosis in Ketogenic Diet

Ketosis begins when the body begins to create Ketones. It is the by-product created when your body breaks down fat for energy. Ketosis is a process that the body adjusts when it feels that it’ll need to survive on lower food consumption. Ketones are produced in this process which helps breakdown fats that are stored in the liver.

When you throw nothing else but fats into your body, it starts to use these fats as the main energy source by default. When the Ketones in the body are at good levels then your weight loss kick starts and it enhances the mental and physical performance.

Every person has Ketones in its body whether they have diabetes or not. These are the chemicals that are made in the liver of your body. Ketones are produced in the body when there is not enough insulin in the body to turn the sugar into energy. In this case, the body needs another source and uses fat instead.

The liver in the body turns the fat into Ketones- a type of acid and sends it into the bloodstream. The tissues and the muscles in the body use it as fuel.

Use of Keto Diet

Weight Loss: One of the major problems or the health issues that people are facing is Obesity. A lot of searches are there on Google regarding this such as Weight Loss, Weight Loss plans, weight loss diet, etc. Keto Diet is the answer to this. The keto diet/Ketogenic Diet may help in losing more weight in the first 3 to 6 months as compared to any other diet. When the fat is changed into the energy it requires more calories as compared to the carbs into energy. So this is the reason why the keto diet is used for weight loss.

Cancer: Insulin is a hormone in the human body that control blood sugar and the absorption of energy. This hormone lets the body to store the sugar as fuel. The ketogenic plays here an important role. This diet makes you burn this fuel quickly. A high level of Insulin can increase the risk of Cancer. With the Ketogenic diet it becomes easy to lower the level of insulin and this also protects you against some kinds of cancer. Well, this is not 100% proved and more research is needed on this.

Heart, Skin Disease: Lower level of insulin in the body that results from the keto diet can also stop the body from making extra cholesterol. And low cholesterol in the body means fewer chances of high blood pressure, heart failure, and other heart diseases. How long these effects last, it is still unclear.

Carbs are linked with the skin conditions and if you cut down the carbs then it will result in good skin condition. Acne or Pimple is the main problem that people are facing. So ketogenic diet has one more point in its benefits. Once again, it is not confirmed yet how long the effect lasts.

Who Should Avoid The Ketogenic Diet

As the Ketogenic diet is useful for the people who want to lose body weight but there are some health situations in which one must not follow the Keto diet strictly. Here are some of the cases in which the diet must not be followed.

– The people who have gallbladder disease or the people without the gallbladder must stay away the keto diet. This is because digesting the fat is more difficult in this case.

– The people who have the weight loss/gastric bypass or bariatric surgery must not follow the diet. in this case, also fats are difficult to digest.

– People who have rare metabolic disorders also ignore the keto diet.

– Pregnant women or breastfeeding women also avoid the Keto diet. In this situation, the protein requirement is higher.

– Protein requirement varies from age to age so children should also stay away from the Keto diet.

– All those people with the pancreatic insufficiency and prone to kidney stones also stay away the Keto Diet.

– People who are very thin – people having 20 or less than 20 BMI (Body Mass Index) also ignore the Keto Diet. (Please note that this is not the complete list and you must consult your doctor before starting the Ketogenic Diet.)

Last – It’s crucial to remark that the ketogenic diet is a short time diet which is focussed on weight loss rather than the health benefits. Keto diet plans are usually followed for a span of 4 weeks or more than 4 weeks. If you are using the Keto diet especially for weight loss, this time period is perfect or if you want to go with a longer period or any other reason then consult the doctor first.

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Harpreet Kaur

Harpreet Dandiwal is a medical professional who works at a reputed hospital in Chandigarh. The passion for writing and love for Chandigarh makes Harpreet a contributing author on ChandigarhMetro.com.
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