What the Ketogenic diet does to your body
With the ketogenic diet the biggest craze in today’s fitness industry, it’s important to really understand what it is. People tend to know it only in essence. The ketogenic diet means you don’t eat carbs. Why? Because that’s what the internet says.
Why is this no carb, fat-heavy diet a thing? What does it do to you? Does it have weight-loss benefits? Are the benefits physiological in nature? If so, what exactly is going on?
All your questions will be answered in the following article.
Ketosis
Ketosis is the what your body goes through when it converts energy burning from a glucose-heavy diet (carb-based) to fat burning. Simple, right?
What does this mean?
When the primary macronutrient you consume are carbohydrates, your body constantly receives a spike in it’s glucose levels, which leads to instant energy. There are of course benefits to this, however, with our current sedentary lifestyle, such a diet can cause major problems related to weight in the future.
When you make the transition to a fat-heavy diet, or a keto diet, your body makes begins using stored fat as it’s primary fuel. This leads to ketosis. When your body is in ketosis, you will begin to burn more fat stored in your body, which in turn helps you put on less weight and maintain a lean figure.
Ketosis has plenty of benefits, especially to those with diabetes, however, consulting your physician is a must.
Sugars to Fat
Glucose, in its essence is sugar. When your body breaks down foods to it’s base levels, glucose is treated no different than sugar. It’s for this exact reason, people recommend a high-carb, or sugary breakfast before you begin your day.
But as we’ve discussed before, this isn’t necessary today. Dieting lifestyles like intermittent fasting have shown the importance of staving off eating regularly. Using intermittent fasting can also help you achieve a state of ketosis, if need be.
Both intermittent fasting and the ketogenic diet allows your body to switch from sugars being to fats, making the latter your primary fuel for energy throughout the day.
The Benefits
A well-implemented ketogenic diet can lead to various different health benefits for the body on mind. Once again, the importance of proper literature is important, you know your body better than anyone else can. Read up on your own and try to understand how the ketogenic diet might affect your body. The initial transition period can lead to many not-so-pleasant feelings including sluggishness, tiredness, trouble sleeping, hunger, but know that this is temporary. This period is the pain period, when your body is learning to let go of the habits formed throughout your life.
Your body has been used to burning glucose for energy; you’re now forcing it to adapt to something new, this isn't going to be easy. Once you get through this period (it could last up to a month), you will start seeing tremendous benefits. Weight loss becomes second nature, you will find yourself with the ability to eat large amounts of food (primarily fat-based), and still maintain a relatively lean figure. This is due to ketosis (as discussed earlier), but also due to the ramping up of your metabolism.
Again, nothing here is straightforward. You need to make sure you’re not over-eating, but for the most part you will see that weight loss becomes second nature. Additionally, your appetite begins to suppress itself, as you move away from short-term insulin spikes to long-term fat burning.
The research surrounding the ketogenic is continuing to grow today for the simple reason that it works. If you are one who has already implemented this diet, leave a comment below hearing your experiences.