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KETO DIET
🕑 Added 2023-09-06 10:55:33 +0000 UTCBefore preparing this material, I invited my readers to ask the most exciting questions about KETO DIET. In this way, I have found that what people are most concerned about is the practical aspects (food list, rules, loading) and health hazards (brain, loss of consciousness, organs) that keto diets can cause. In general, such a survey gives me hope that today’s issue will not only be interesting, but also very practical. You’ll learn a lot about how to get rid of subcutaneous fat.
Many people know that if you avoid eating sweets or complex carbohydrates (rice, buckwheat, pasta, bread, potatoes), the body weight is usually reduced by a couple of kilos. In fact, such restrictions on carbohydrate intake mean low-carbon DIET. It works very well because it creates a DEFICIT of energy in the body, which is covered by the body’s RESERVES (subcutaneous fat). That’s why people often lose weight when they reduce carbs in their diet. Well, what happens if you take ALL carbs out of your diet? Will it be even more effective in terms of fat burning? Answer: YES. Such diet was very popular in the golden era of bodybuilding (it was promoted by Vince Gironda). It’s called KETO DIET.
KETOGENIC DIET (Keto Diet) is high-protein and high-fat diet to compensate for lack of carbs.
WHY IS THE DIET CALLED “KETO”?Because in absence of carbohydrates, FATS generate KETONES (ketone bodies) as an energy source for the brain and nervous system.
All THREE NUTRIENTS (proteins, fats, carbohydrates) have their main function in our body.
- PROTEINS = building material of our body (wasted as energy in emergency cases)
- FATS = safety (emergency energy reserve and organ protection) of our body.
- CARBS = energy supply for our body
You can see that CARBS are the main source of energy, while FATS and PROTEINS act as backup sources. That’s why you’re so drawn to sweet and complex carbohydrates in normal life. After all, this is a way to get the main source of ENERGY for your body. That’s why you don’t like to stint yourself in carbs. Your body doesn’t understand that you’re doing this deliberately. It thinks you’re in an extreme hunger situation and if you don’t get the carbs, you’ll have to spend the emergency fat reserve.
What happens if you suppress the desires of your body and continue to limit your carbohydrate intake? Gradually, all the glycogen (conserved carbohydrates) in your body will be WASTED and your body will have to switch to secondary energy sources: FATS and PROTEINS!
In principle, it is not bad for our body, because it is able to fully meet its needs from FAT reserves. But it’s bad for our BRAIN and NERVOUS SYSTEM, which need glucose (CARBS). After all, the brain cannot use FATS (fatty acids) for its energy supply!!! Whoops!!! Well, what do we do? Die?
Hold your horses, fellows. The human body is the product of millions of years of evolution. It also has a survival mechanism in absence of carbohydrates. After all, HUNGER is quite a frequent phenomenon in the history of our species. What kind of mechanism is that? THESE ARE KETONE BODIES (KETONES)!!!
KETONES (KETONE BODIES) are generated from FAT in case of GLUCOSE (CARBS) DEFICIT in the diet. THERE ARE TWO SOURCES OF ENERGY FOR THE BRAIN:
- GLUCOSE (primary, when there are enough carbohydrates in the diet)
- KETONES (backup, generated from fat, in case of lack of carbohydrates)
THE PROCESS OF GENERATION OF KETONES FROM FAT IS CALLED KETOSIS!!!The resulting KETONES are used by the brain instead of GLUCOSE. By the way, that is why this diet was used for the first time for EPILEPTICS (the brain started to work better, seizures became less frequent as the body switched to an alternative energy supply). It happens when there are ALMOST no carbohydrates in the diet.
WHAT DOES “ALMOST” MEAN? 30-50 g of CARBOHYDRATES A DAY is the most commonly used number!!! It is believed that if you eat more than 100 grams of carbohydrates a day, KETOSIS will not be possible because these carbohydrates will produce glucose and there will be no need to switch completely to fat as a source of energy supply. The point is that usually carbohydrates from food are processed into glucose (for immediate use) and GLYCOGEN (glucose reserve, not for immediate use). This reserve of glycogen is stored in LIVER and MUSCLES, but if it is not replenished (no carbohydrates) it is consumed for 1-2 days... And then the adaptation starts. The body gradually starts using fats as the source of energy. When this restructuring comes to an end (usually within ONE WEEK), the body starts to BURN FAT as a primary energy source very actively.
MAYBE YOU SHOULD COMPLETELY EXCLUDE CARBOHYDRATES FROM THE DIET DURING EXHAUSTION?
There’s a big benefit and a small implication in this decision. The good news is that the less carbs you have, the faster you spend your GLYCOGEN reserve and the faster your body realizes that you need to use FAT as your energy source. REASON: INSULIN!!! It plays a decisive role in which energy source will be used. The less carbs, the less insulin. WHEN BLOOD INSULIN LEVELS ARE HIGH, IT BLOCKS LIPOLYSIS (FAT SPLITTING)! That’s why, by the way, if you drink sweet water during workout, fat burning is excluded. I keep saying that you should drink normal water during a workout in cutting phase (it does not increase insulin or block fat burning). Zero carbs minimize insulin and unblock lipolysis, which is a plus
The MINUS is that the gastrointestinal tract NEEDS FIBER (fibrous carbs) for sound functioning. The matter is that throughout its development, mankind has almost never experienced a complete absence of fiber food (roots, plants, etc.), so our “guts” are used to fiber. And although it’s low-calorie, it is still carbohydrates. Often, with the complete removal of vegetables (fiber) from the diet, there can be problems with the gastrointestinal tract, such as CONSTIPATION. Personally, my opinion is that carbohydrates consumption should be minimal, but we still need VEGETABLES. Just choose not sweet ones (e.g. cucumbers, salad).
ABOUT CONSTIPATION: Keto diet implies consumption of less food than on a low-carbohydrate or regular diet. In addition, proteins and fats lead to better digestion of this amount of food. SO THE FORMATION OF FECAL MATERIALS IS REDUCED. In other words, if you go to the toilet on a keto diet much less frequently than as usual, it does not mean that you have CONSTIPATION.
LOW-CARB or ZERO-CARB?
People often confuse low-carbohydrate and keto-diet, because there are some carbs in both of them (keto-diet implies 20-50 g, from vegetables). The DIFFERENCE is that with a LOW-CARB diet, there are MORE carbohydrates and this does not allow switching to FATS (no ketosis). And KETO DIET implies consumption of negligibly FEW or NO carbs, which makes your body switch to FAT as energy source. So for the sake of simplicity we’re saying that KETO DIET = ZERO-CARB DIET!!!!
- LOW-CARB = there are carbohydrates, but not enough to cover the deficit completely (some fat is burning, but carbs are the main energy source)
- KETO DIET (ZERO-CARBON) = “no” carbohydrates, deficit is completely covered by fat (carbohydrates are NOT the main energy source)
The main difference is what is used as energy. When being ON A KETO DIET FAT IS USED AS THE MAIN SOURCE OF ENERGY (this is what triggers forced ketosis). However, there are different ways to create the necessary deficit of carbohydrates to trigger ketosis.
TYPES OF KETO DIET:
- PERMANENT.
- POWER.
- CYCLIC.
In my opinion, CYCLIC KETO DIET is the most effective (with rare carb-loadings). This diet is very similar to carb-cycling diet in this respect. The difference is in carbs quantity and the “unloading” time. But hand on heart, the difference is very tentative. If a person does not eat carbohydrates at all on the carb-cycling diet and makes a loading once a week, then such a diet is actually a CYCLIC KETO DIET, because over time, due to lack of carbs, the body will switch to fat as the main source of energy (and this is ketosis).
BODY ADAPTATION TO KETOSIS
In order to understand the benefits of each type of keto diet, it is necessary to understand the MECHANISM OF THE BODY’S ADAPTATION TO KETOSIS:
PHASE 1 (LOSING GLUCOSE AND GLYCOGEN). For the first 8 hours after the last intake of carbohydrates, the body spends GLUCOSE from these carbohydrates as energy. After about 10 hours, GLYCOGEN from the liver (carbohydrate reserve) is being used increasingly.
PHASE 2 (LOSING GLYCOGEN and FAT). Transition phase from carbohydrates to fat. It comes about 2 days after the last carbohydrate intake. By this time, the entire main reserve of glycogen in the muscles has been depleted and the body is running out of glycogen in the liver, so other sources of energy must be used.
PHASE 3 (LOSING FAT and PROTEIN). It lasts for about one week. It is characterized by the fact that in absence of carbs, the body starts using FAT (fatty acids) and GLUCOSE generated from PROTEIN, lactate, pyruvate and glycerol in the reaction of GLUCONEOGENESIS. At this stage, there is a high probability that the body will try to use PROTEIN as the main energy source instead of FAT. Including the protein of your muscles!!!!
PHASE 4 (LOSING FAT). It comes after phase 3, in about 5-7 days without carbohydrates in the diet. The body adapts to long-term absence of carbohydrates by deep ketosis. FAT is the main source of energy. The breakdown of self-protein and dietary protein is slowing down. The brain receives 3/4 of the fuel from fat (FROM KETONES).
You can see that THE LESS CARBS AND THE LONGER ABSENCE OF CARBS, THE CLOSER THE SYSTEM IS TO KETOSIS (LOSING FAT). It’s very important to understand. Even a very small amount of carbohydrates in the first few days will DRIVE your body from KETOSIS. Therefore, it is important not to deceive yourself and do not eat sweet, no matter how much you want it.
WHAT ABOUT THE CARBS BEFORE WORKOUT? Personally, I’m against it because any carbohydrates will slow down the transition to ketosis. But many bodybuilders speak well of POWER KETO DIET (when you can eat little carbs before workout). They say it allows you to feel your muscles better and lose less of them on a diet. HOW MUCH CARBS SHOULD YOU EAT IN SUCH TYPE OF THE DIET? 1/2 g per each kg of your body weight! For example, if you weigh 90 kg, you need 45 g of carbs 1-2 hours before workout. If you eat RICE, there are about 150 g of carbs in a full glass of dried rice (before cooking), so you need no more than 1/3 cup!!! That’s the upper limit. Remember, if you get more carbs than you need for workout, it will definitely stop ketosis. It’s better to eat less carbs twice than make a big mistake of eating too many carbs in one meal.
CARB-LOADING
Carb-loading is used in CYCLIC KETO DIETS. It’s probably the most popular version of this diet. The point is that you deplete carbohydrate reserves for a week, and then eat carbohydrates during the day “pulling” the body out of ketosis and spurring metabolism. Namely, you spur production of a number of enzymes and especially LEPTIN, the hormone of fatty tissue, which is essential for normal fat burning.
During the GLYCOGEN EXHAUSTION PHASE you do not eat products containing carbohydrates at all. No fruit, candy, bread, biscuits, ketchup, cereal, pasta, potatoes, etc. All this is completely forbidden. Always check what’s written on the packages to make sure there are no carbohydrates. You MAY eat 20-50 grams of fiber (fibrous carbohydrates, vegetables) per day. These can be GREEN VEGETABLES WITHOUT DRESSING, which often contain simple carbohydrates. No more than 5-10 grams of such vegetables are allowed for one meal. Less is better than more. Don’t eat the dish If you’re not sure about the amount of carbohydrates in it.
Remember that the more you train (especially with weights), the sooner the GLYCOGEN (CARB) reserves are exhausted. For example, if you have THREE workouts per week, you may need a week to enter phase 4 (ketosis), and if you have at least one workout per day, then you can enter the active ketosis (phase 4) on day 3 or 4. SIMPLE RULE: THE DEEPER THE ENERGY IS DEPLETED, THE FASTER THE SWITCH TO FAT OCCURS!!! But only when there are no carbohydrates in the system.
CARB-LOADING is allowed only when you have reached KETOSIS and have been actively burning fat for at least a couple of days. This is also a very important point, because at the beginning of your diet you may need MORE TIME for depletion than a month later. As you understand, it’s all due to large reserves of glycogen. The first time you can sit without carbs for TWO WEEKS. All subsequent loads may be done ONCE A WEEK.
HOW LONG DOES THE CARB-LOADING LAST? The general recommendation is from half to one and a half days (12-36 hours). Personally, my opinion is 12 hours max!!! And most often even less (9 hours). For example, if you woke up at 9:00 and ate carbs, the last carb intake will be around 6:00 pm. In this interval, you can eat any carbohydrates (simple and complex, EXCEPT FOR FRUIT and ICE CREAM) - 50-100 g with each meal.
EXACT NUMBER OF CARBS PER DAY = 10 GRAMS OF CARBS PER EACH KG OF DRY BODY WEIGHT (dry body weight = weight without fat. The average fat content is 15-20% in humans. It’s an individual thing). Protein intake can be left high in the loading phase, but fat intake should be reduced as a balance for the intake of large quantities of carbohydrates. MAIN POINT: YOU MUST REPLENISH THE RESERVES OF MUSCLE GLYCOGEN for next week’s intensive workouts. This is necessary for better muscle conservation and increased LEPTIN levels. NOTE: if you don’t care about muscles and fat burning is your top priority, you can either minimize your load or give it up altogether for a long time (PERMANENT KETO DIET).
WHY NO FRUIT AND ICE CREAM? Because FRUCTOSE and LACTOSE are easily deposited as GLYCOGEN in LIVER (not in muscles like other carbohydrates). This will slow down the entry into ketosis during next week’s exhaustion because you’ll be wasting “extra reserve” before the fat starts burning. FRUCTOSE is simple (fast) sugar, which is contained in any sweet fruit, and LACTOSE is simple milk sugar, which is contained in milk-based products. That doesn’t mean you can’t eat an apple or a milkshake, of course. That means it’s more reasonable to prefer a piece of cake to fruit in an ice cream. By the way, now you understand why professionals intuitively exclude milk when on diet. Slowdown of fat burning is one of the reasons.
KETO DIET STRUCTURE
The BASIS of the diet: FATS and PROTEINS!!! NO CARBS (except only for green vegetables in the amount of 20-50 g/day).
DAILY CALORIES = 1/3 PROTEIN + 2/3 FAT. Carbohydrates, as we have agreed, can be disregarded since we consume virtually no (negligibly few) carbs. Remember that 1 G OF FAT = 9 KCAL, while 1 G of PROTEIN = 4 KCAL. There is one important practical point: in grams the amount of Fat and Protein will be virtually the same because the fat is twice the caloric value (caloric value of 2 parts of PROTEIN = caloric value of 1 part of FAT). For example, if you eat 2,600 kcal, you need 200 gr. of PROTEIN (800 kcal) + 200 g of FAT (1800 kcal). WARNING: this is the weight of pure nutrient, NOT THE PRODUCT!!! For example, 100 g of PORK (PRODUCT WEIGHT) can have 15 g of PROTEIN and 30 g of FAT. 100 g of MACKEREL (PRODUCT WEIGHT) can have 18 g of PROTEIN and 9 g of FAT.
If you only start the diet, know that AT FIRST, while the body is learning to use fat as energy, it makes sense TO USE MORE PROTEIN AND LESS FAT (40% by 60% or even 50% by 50%). And now in the SECOND WEEK we are going to reduce the PROTEIN and RAISE THE FAT to the ratio of 1/3 protein + 2/3 fat. Why is that? It’s because in the beginning the body has not yet switched to fat and can easily start using muscle proteins as an energy source.
However, later the REDUCTION OF PROTEIN is even RECOMMENDED, because the body can transform proteins into glucose, and we do not need that when the body is starting to use fats as energy. RULE: MORE PROTEINS AT THE START OF KETO DIET, AND THEN LESS!!!
You can eat almost any PRODUCTS. THE MAIN CONDITION IS THAT THERE MUST BE NO CARBOHYDRATES IN THE PRODUCTS. It can be any fat/protein food: fried meat, poultry, fish, whole eggs, cheese. In fact, the food of animal origin (except milk) is YOUR MAIN MENU. It makes sense to add UNSATURATED FATS (olive oil, linseed oil or fish oil) and SOME FIBER (green vegetables) to this menu. By the way, you should not worry too much about CALORIES, because at the beginning of ketosis there is a great loss of appetite. You can eat fatty meat, eggs, fish BUT YOU ARE NOT SO DRAWN TO FOOD, if you do everything right. THE MOST IMPORTANT CONDITION OF KETO DIET IS NO CARBOHYDRATES!!!
This is especially important in the beginning (until you enter ketosis). After you switch your body to using fat, you can eat a certain amount of carbohydrates without the risk of stopping ketosis. HOW MUCH? It is very individual and depends on the volume of muscles and intensity of workout. Usually it is 20-50 grams of carbs per day (I recommend using fiber). If you exceed “your daily carbohydrate norm”, ketosis will stop. You won’t get fat, but you’ll notice a fat burning slowdown.
ACETONE SMELL
Start of KETOSIS has several specific INDICATIONS:
- SMELL FROM BODY AND URINE
- LACK OF HUNGER
- FEELING HEALTHY
ACETONE SMELL is the most famous sign of ketosis. Many people call it AMMONIA, but it’s not, as ammonia is not ketone. The smell of urine is the most intensive. There’s also the smell from the mouth and the body. The matter is that the EXCESS OF FAT DERIVATIVES is removed from the body giving this specific scent.
CAN THE SMELL BE REMOVED? It doesn’t always work out completely. But most of the smell can be removed with MORE WATER. That is, when you drink a lot of water (from 3 liters per day), excess ketones are removed with urine and sweat. It removes most of the scent after the shower. It also makes you feel better (eliminates laxity). IMPORTANT: YOU SHOULD DRINK MUCH WATER WHEN ON KETO DIET (AT LEAST 3 L PER DAY).
SPECIFIC MENU
I don’t like to give a specific menu because it’s very simple (PROTEIN + FATS, NO CARBS). I.e. we need to take the products of ANIMAL ORIGIN (meat, fish, poultry, eggs, without milk products). Example products (just pick from protein-fat-carb table those products where there are no carbs):
- PORK (protein = 15, fat = 30, kcal = 300)
- PIKE PERCH (protein = 19, fat = 1, kcal = 83)
- VEAL (protein = 20, Fat = 10, kcal = 150)
- ONE WHOLE EGG (protein = 6-8 g, fat = 6 g, kcal = 88)
Remember our rule? FAT WEIGH = PROTEIN WEIGHT!!! In terms of calories, this will give us a two-fold advantage in fats (which is what we need to maintain the proportion).
So you’re picking up a proportion of the food to make it even. For example: 100 g PORK (15 protein + 30 fat) + 125 g VEAL (25 protein + 12.5 fat) = 40 protein + 42.5 fat i.e. FAT WEIGHT is almost equal to PROTEIN WEIGHT. That’s what we need.
In this way you can make up the proportions of any available product and in any desired quantity. And then just divide the total number in a convenient number of portions. And you do not need to keep the equality of FAT/WHITE for each portion. It matters for the ENTIRE DAY, not for one meal, i.e. now you can only eat pork and the next meal - only veal. As you can see, it’s very simple.
EXAMPLE (absolutely hypothetical):
- 100 g PORK + 125 g VEAL
- 150 g PORK
- 190 g VEAL
- 100 g PORK + 125 g VEAL
- 50 g PORK + 60 g VEAL
- 100 g PORK
- 125 g VEAL
You see that I can easily rearrange, divide, reduce and increase the proportions of different products during the day as I feel comfortable. I took two products for clarity. You could have done the same thing with a different number of products. In this proportion, the total amount of proteins and carbohydrates per day is approximately equal.
Moreover, I’ll tell you frankly, these proportions also mean little at the practice level. They are rarely counted by anyone. That’s not the most important thing. The most important thing is to AVOID CARBS!!!!
HARM TO HEALTH
It’s a separate, very big topic that’s almost never brought up. I’ll try to describe the main hazards that may be waiting for you during KETO DIET. So:
PERFORMANCE IMPAIRMENT and “RETARDATION” - absolutely natural at the start, as long as your body is in the phase of transition from carbohydrates to fats as energy. In about a week, performance is restored, and you stop being “stupid” as 75% of the energy needed for the brain begins to be released from ketones.
DECREASE IN MICRONUTRIENTS is a frequent phenomenon for any low-carbohydrate diet because the bulk of micronutrients come from carbohydrate food. It’s very easy to remedy this health hazard. For this purpose, you can use vitamin and mineral complexes and fiber in small amounts starting from the second week of the diet.
DEACIDIFICATION OF BLOOD is a response by increasing the amount of ketones in it. If you have problems with carbohydrate metabolism (e.g. diabetes), you may vomit, there can be ketoacidosis and death by coma. In a healthy body, ketones are disposed of without consequences. By the way, the smell of acetone confirms this (a sign of ketone utilization). Cycling of Keto Diet further minimizes the risk because you occasionally get insulin and glycogen in your muscles. That is, the cyclic type of the diet is safer in terms of acidity.
DEHYDRATION and ALCOHOL are two things that greatly reduce blood acidity and can lead to “ketoacidosis” for even a healthy person. I.e. when on the keto diet you should drink a lot of water (from 3 liters/day) and keep from alcohol. Otherwise, it could go very bad.
KIDNEY STONES and SAND can emerge in a small number of cases. Direct relation has not been proven. In most cases, the emergence of stones was not due to the keto diet per se, but to a keto diet plus a harmful factor: genetic background (there were family members with such problems) or acidosis (e.g. diabetics) or dehydration (little water) or alcohol. That is, in most cases the stones were caused by a triggering factor in conjunction with the keto diet, not by the diet itself.
CONSTIPATION is not as common on keto diets as it is said to be. The matter is that you have to reduce the total amount of food on a diet, and this leads to reduction in feces. So rarer defecation is often confused with constipation. BUT low fiber levels in the diet can really cause problems. One good remedy is the addition of fish oil or olive oil (triglycerides with medium chains).
CONCLUSION
The main recommendations for those wishing to go on a diet are as follows: try a low carbohydrate diet first. Then you can switch to the carb cycling diet. And only after you learn how to burn fat with these diets you can try KETO DIET. The fact is that keto diet is more dangerous and requires more willpower to endure the moment of transition to fat energy exchange. Also, according to my observations, keto diet is not very good for too obese people (perhaps it is related to insulin and leptin). If a person is very fat, it makes sense for him to keep to low carbohydrates for a year to prepare his body for ketosis. In general, this diet is very specific because it affects your body like nothing else does. You should gradually prepare to this experience.
CONCLUSIONS:
KETOGENIC DIET (Keto Diet) is high-protein and high-fat diet to compensate for lack of carbs.
- PROTEINS = building material of our body (wasted as energy in emergency cases)
- FATS = safety (emergency energy reserve and organ protection) of our body.
- CARBS = energy supply for our body
KETONES (KETONE BODIES) are generated from FAT in case of GLUCOSE (CARBS) DEFICIT in the diet.
THERE ARE TWO SOURCES OF ENERGY FOR THE BRAIN:
- GLUCOSE (primary, when there are enough carbohydrates in the diet)
- KETONES (backup, generated from fat, in case of lack of carbohydrates)
THE PROCESS OF GENERATION OF KETONES FROM FAT IS CALLED KETOSIS!!!
30-50 GRAMS OF CARBS PER DAY!!!
. WHEN BLOOD INSULIN LEVELS ARE HIGH, IT BLOCKS LIPOLYSIS (FAT SPLITTING)!
Gastrointestinal tract needs FIBER (fibrous carbs) for sound functioning.
- LOW-CARB = there are carbohydrates, but not enough to cover the deficit completely (some fat is burning, but carbs are the main energy source)
- KETO DIET (ZERO-CARBON) = “no” carbohydrates, deficit is completely covered by fat (carbohydrates are NOT the main energy source)
THE LESS CARBS AND THE LONGER ABSENCE OF CARBS, THE CLOSER THE SYSTEM IS TO KETOSIS (LOSING FAT).
CARB-LOADING = 10 G OF CARBOHYDRATES PER EVERY KG OF DRY BODY WEIGHT PER DAY.
FRUCTOSE and LACTOSE can be easily deposited as GLYCOGEN IN THE LIVER
DAILY CALORIES = 1/3 PROTEIN + 2/3 FAT MORE PROTEINS AT THE START OF KETO DIET, AND THEN LESS!!!
Start of KETOSIS has several specific INDICATIONS:
- SMELL FROM BODY AND URINE
- LACK OF HUNGER
- FEELING HEALTHY
