Ketogenic diet is one of the hottest diets available today. This article will go over five keto facts you need to know if you’re planning on giving keto a shot. Read on to learn what you need to know about keto.
5 Important Keto Facts
1. Burning fat
The large majority of diets require you to utilize glucose for your body’s primary source of energy. But keto diet actually burns healthy fats in place of glucose. This state is referred to as ketosis. In ketosis, your body is tricked into believing it is starving, and burns the fat as a backup energy source.
2. Reaching ketosis
Actually achieving a state of ketosis can be more difficult than people believe, especially new comers to the ketogenic diet. There is a specific ratio of fat, protein, and carbs for entering ketosis. Basically, your ketogenic diet needs to be 70—75% fat, 20-25% protein, and 5-10% carbs. This can be a challenge and will definitely take some meal planning to achieve.
3. Foods to Eat or Not Eat
You want to severely limit or entirely avoid certain foods:
- Whole grains
- Beans
- Legumes
- Starchy veggies (yams, corn, potatoes, etc.)
- High carb fruits (apples, bananas, oranges)
- Alcohol
- Sugar
- Low fat dairy foods
Certain other foods, you want to make sure are absolutely included in your diet:
- Various Meats (especially meat with healthy fats)
- Eggs
- Fish
- Avocados
- Coconut
- Olive oil
- Non-starchy vegetables
4. The good besides weight loss
A majority of people are most likely adopting keto for the sake of losing weight. But keto has actually been proven to be capable of treating epilepsy because it stabilizes the functions of neurons.
5. The bad after weight loss
The biggest drawback of ketogenic diet is that it cannot be sustained for a long period of time. Eventually, you will have to change your eating habits which can result in you putting back on weight if you’re not careful.
