Lately, there has been a great deal of interest shown in ketogenic diets, but exactly why is this? Well, other than the fact that they have been proven to help people burn body fat whilst preserving lean muscle, experts have also revealed that ketogenic diets can also provide a whole host of other health and fitness benefits in the process. Losing body fat is a real pain in the backside, especially when we grow older, and some of us will literally try anything to lose fat, and keep it off for good. People try fad diets, extreme fitness regimes, and even surgery in some cases, all of which have been found to be effective to a certain degree. So then, why is it that ketogenic diets are providing to be one of the more popular choices? Well, basically, it’s because you can enjoy tasty and healthy food, more energy than you will know what to do with, and very impressive fat loss results. If you’re thinking of trying a ketogenic diet for yourself, here are some interesting and unique facts about ketogenic diets.
Ketogenic diets turn your body into a fat burning machine
One of the reasons why keto diets are so impressive and effective, is because they use biology to burn fat. You see, ketogenic diets are diets which are low in carbohydrates, moderate in protein, and high in healthy fats. The idea here is to deprive your body of carbohydrates, so that you enter a state of ketosis. When in ketosis, your body no longer uses glucose from carbohydrates for energy, because there are not enough carbs. Instead, it looks for an alternative source of fuel, which it finds in stored body fat. Ketones are produced in the liver and then make their way into the body, where they encourage the body to utilize stored body fat as a source of energy. Once in ketosis, as your body burns its way through your body fat for energy, you will have more energy than you could have ever imagined, and subsequently will feel great as a result.
Keto diets are not the same as Atkins
The Atkins diet is the diet responsible for showing us that carb restriction could be the key to fat loss, but please don’t make the same mistake as numerous other people, by confusing keto diets with the Atkins diet. Though both diets ultimately aim to place you in a state of ketosis, the thing to remember with keto is that it is a diet which places an emphasis on high fat intakes. Fat is the primary macro, rather than protein, which is the dominant macro with Atkins.
Fats should primarily be healthy – A lot of people think that keto diets basically give them an excuse to eat as much fat as they like, healthy or not, providing they keep carbohydrate intakes low. In reality however, if the diet is to be successful, fats should primarily be healthy. Ketogenic diets are not actually short-term diets at all, they are instead lifestyles for many people, so obviously you need something that is healthy and sustainable. If you’re eating a 10 egg omelette with 500g of grated cheese a cup of heavy cream several times per day, you will be taking in too many unhealthy fats, which could potentially damage your health. Ideally many of your fats should come from healthy sources, so, foods like: oily fish, organic eggs, avocados, olive oil, organic nut butters, seeds, grass-fed red meat, are all ideal. You can of course have fats which are perhaps not deemed as all that healthy, every now and then, but try to keep fat intakes primarily healthy. Unhealthy fats still contain unhealthy LDL cholesterol, and if you consume too much, you will still be at risk of blocked arteries, heart disease, and other ailments associated with high LDL cholesterol levels. This is why healthy fats are vital.
The first few days will be tough
Making the transition over to any new dietary plan can be hard initially, but when it comes to keto, things are much, much tougher. You see, if you’re used to consuming hundreds of grams of carbs per day, when you reduce this number, your body will literally not have any energy. A lack of glucose will leave you tired, irritable, and feeling unwell. Generally it takes around 3 days to enter a state of ketosis, but to some, those 3 days will feel like years. Once you enter ketosis however, your headache will go, your energy levels will be higher than ever, and you’ll feel absolutely fantastic. When beginning a ketogenic diet, it’s important that you keep telling yourself that things will soon get much easier.
There are many low-carb substitutions you can go with
Obviously if you enjoy your carbohydrates, switching to a ketogenic diet can be very difficult, especially if you’re craving carbs. The good news however, is that there are many, many low-carb substitutions for you to choose from, you just need to know where to look. One very popular example if cauliflower rice. Here, you take the head of a cauliflower, you shred it until the tiny pieces resemble grains of rice, and then you cook then just as you would rice. Now you can enjoy this “rice” with foods such as low-carb curry, without feeling as if you’ve been deprived of your precious carbs. Instead of pasta noodles, you can use Zucchini noodles, and so on.
Ketogenic diets cause bad breath
Whilst keto diets can work wonders for your physique, if you are planning on dating whilst on keto, make sure you have plenty of keto-friendly mouthwash to hand. The reason why we get bad breath and experience such an unpleasant taste in our mouths whilst on keto, is because our bodies have excess ketones inside them. These excess ketones are often excreted in our mouths causing bad breath, as well as in our urea, which is why your urine often smells strongly if you’re in ketosis. Every day we have ketones in our bodies, even if we’re eating carbs, because ketones provide our brains with energy. However, when in ketosis, as so many more ketones are produced, this is where the bad breath issues occur.
