Ketogenic Diet Facts (Basics)
Everyone is curious these days to understand and use the Ketogenic diet to lose fat and make some decent amount of muscles, but only few actually understand it exactly what it is. Here, in this article we are trying to present some basics in easy language about keto diet, so one can have good idea about it.
Ketogenic diet and Carbohydrates
Eating fewer Carbohydrates or staying on a ZERO CARB DIET is often considered as a Ketogenic diet. May be because when people reduce the intake of carbohydrates they lose fat and get in better shape in short period of time, but this is not what actually “Ketogenic Diet” is. It certainly demands LESSER or NO carbohydrates but actually it is a HIGH FAT diet plan.
It begins with lowering the Carbohydrates gradually each day and bringing it down to ALMOST ZERO and increasing the FATS in daily eating habits. The word “Almost” has been used because even if someone tries hardest, some amount of Carbohydrates are consumed in their daily eating habits. It happens because most of the foods have Carbohydrates in them, so one has to think “ZERO” and still he/she will consume more or less Carbohydrates.
Why Low Carbohydrates and more Fats
It has been taught in schools that carbohydrates are necessary for energy, but our body stores very little carbohydrates in the muscle glycogen stores, these stores are small but FAT STORES are large. Body saves fat in liver, under the skin and it keeps storing and can store REALLY A LOT OF IT.
Body doesn’t rely on instant sugar or Carbohydrates for energy, it actually rely on the long lasting FAT STORES for energy. Human beings are evolved to survive and surviving on small GLYCOGEN STORES is not what makes sense, we need bigger stores and thus our body has a unique pattern, IT SAVES WHAT EVER WE CONSUME EXTRA UNDER THE SKIN TO BE USED LATER because skin is a BIGGER STORE to save fat than muscle glycogen stores to store carbohydrates.
So now we know that our body has been designed to run on fats. Imagine a person walking through a jungle, lost all his food, nothing to eat or drink, how many days will he survive? It has been seen that such people burn lot of skin fat initially and later burn their muscles for energy but they survive for weeks and sometimes even months.
What happens when we eat more fats and low carbs?
When a person starts eating more fat and reduces or cuts down carbohydrates, liver starts converting fat into ketone bodies. These ketone bodies replace glucose and body functions very well on this, even better than how it works on carbohydrates, this state of body is known as ketosis. In this state body uses fats and learn to use it efficiently for energy, resulting into rapid fat loss.
Protein is generally not too high, from 1gm per body weight in pounds to 1.2 grams per body weight in pounds is enough, but fats are REALLY-REALLY high. Normally people stop eating butter, cheese and fatty fish/meat when they are reducing body fat but in this case they have to eat such high fat foods to put their body into the right state of ketosis for effective fat loss.
With high fats and low carbohydrates, body minimizes the secretion of INSULIN. This hormone “Insulin” is responsible for fat gains around the belly. Insulin is required by the body to balance the levels of sugar in the blood. When the blood sugar level goes high, insulin comes in and gathers the extra blood sugar from the blood stream and stores it in the fat cells below skin.
When someone is on ketosis, the blood sugar levels are well controlled and the process of “Fat Accumulation” is prohibited. So now a person will burn more fat but not gather / rebuild fat.
What else is required for an effective Ketogenic diet plan?
People have to make sure that they are eating the right thing at the right time. Calculative amounts of Protein is required along with green leafy vegetables, FATS and somewhere around 30-60 grams of carbohydrates in a day.
Best time to have carbohydrates is after the workout/ exercise with 30 grams of protein, where one can use the positive effects of carbohydrates and insulin for better muscle recovery and to trigger muscle growth.
Conclusion
Like any other diet plan, Ketogenic diet also has its own logics and reasons. Scientifically every diet plan has its own valuable points to believe in it, but what will work for whom is a matter of experimenting. If someone believes, study and follow all the aspects and perspectives of a Ketogenic diet, then he/she can tell whether it works on them or not.
To learn more on various training techniques, lose fat, gain muscles, or any other fitness goal, you can contact me on my email address – jasbirdevgan82@gmail.com
With an experience of over 12 years, I have spent my time learning and teaching things to clients helping them accomplish their goals faster in best possible ways. I am highly active on Instagram (devganjasbir) and Facebook (Jasbir Devgan) with my online clients. My weekly diet plans and workout plans enable best result in a unique manner. Every person is different and so has to be the diet plan and workout plan.
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