Ketogenic Diet: What is the Keto Diet?

There are many different trends and tendencies in the field of low-carb diets. One of these diets is gaining increasing attention and importance: the keto diet. Some people want to lose weight with the help of the ketogenic diet, others believe that it has an overall positive effect on health. And the keto diet is also used in medicine: it is said to have   positive effects in diabetes or neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s, among other things. But what exactly is the keto diet and what else can it do? We deliver the answers.

What is keto?

A ketogenic diet is a form of diet in which carbohydrates and thus sugar are almost completely avoided and instead a  high-fat diet  is used. You don’t have to count calories.

The diet concept is reminiscent of the Atkins diet and other low-carb diets due to the reduced or completely discontinued intake of carbohydrates. However, the motto of the ketogenic diet is no carb rather than low carb.

The goal of the keto diet is to lose pounds through the lack of carbohydrates and the resulting increased burning of fat. But ketogenic nutrition also plays a role in medicine – for example in the treatment of  epilepsy  or neurological diseases.

What does a ketogenic diet do to the body?

Due to the high-fat and low-carbohydrate diet, the body changes its energy metabolism. Because the human organism actually generates its energy from sugar and other carbohydrates that have been converted into glucose. The body only uses fat reserves when generating energy when it lacks carbohydrates.

If you don’t eat any carbohydrates in the long term as part of the keto diet and the energy stores in the body are used up as a result, there is a lack of glucose and the  metabolism switches  to what  is known as ketosis  . This is, so to speak, a starvation metabolism in which the liver  splits fatty acids into ketones or ketone bodies  . These then supply the body and especially the brain, for which glucose is the only source of energy, with energy as a glucose substitute.

How does the keto diet work?

There are different forms of the ketogenic diet. The instructions differ in particular in the different information on the percentage of fat in the daily energy requirement.

In general, you can say that you shouldn’t eat more than  about 5 percent carbohydrates during a ketogenic diet  . 25 to 35 percent of the daily food should be protein and  60 to 70 percent fat.  Stricter diet forms of the ketogenic diet prescribe a fat content of up to 90 percent.

For comparison: For adults, the recommendation is normally to cover around 50 percent of the energy requirement per day with carbohydrates.

Keto Diet: How Much Fat a Day?

The following example calculation shows how much fat you should consume per day on a ketogenic diet.

With a diet of 1,800 kilocalories (kcal) per day, 60 percent corresponds to 1,080 kcal – so this proportion of the energy should be obtained from fat. A gram of fat has 9 calories. If you now divide the 1,080 kcal from fat by 9 kcal per gram of fat, you get 120 grams of fat that you should consume daily.

What not to eat on a ketogenic diet?

Basically, the ketogenic diet is that carbohydrates are taboo. This is why fats are on the menu.

Fruit  must  also  be avoided due to the fructose  (fruit sugar) it contains. Exceptions are small portions of  berries  such as raspberries or blueberries.

You should also avoid the following foods and drinks:

• Grain products such as bread, pasta,  rice  and muesli
• potatoes
• Legumes such as lentils and  peas
• Root and tuber vegetables such as  carrots
• sugary foods such as cakes, candy and ready meals
• Additives such as artificial colors, preservatives and sweeteners
• Sugary drinks like cola and sodas
• alcohol

Keto: What foods are allowed?

The  keto food  list, on the other hand, includes:

• fatty fish like salmon
• Meat, sausage and bacon
• Dairy products (full-fat level) such as cheese, cream and butter
• eggs
• oils such as olive oil
• nuts  and seeds
• avocado
• low-carb above-ground vegetables like zucchini, tomatoes,  cucumber ,  and broccoli
• water and unsweetened  teas

Keto Diet: Which Fats Are Recommended?

Since the ketogenic diet consists mainly of fats, it is advisable to  choose  healthy fats  and pay attention to their quality  .

Healthy fats are contained, for example, in native, cold-pressed coconut, olive or linseed oil. Avocados and nuts also contain high-quality fats.

This is what a meal plan on the keto diet looks like

Below is a sample diet plan for a week. It can be adjusted according to personal taste. However, no more than 30 to 50 grams of carbohydrates should be consumed daily.

How long does a ketogenic diet last?

As a rule, it takes  five to seven days for  the organism to change its metabolism and reach the state of ketosis. In theory, you can then stay on a ketogenic diet for as long as you want. For many, the goal and thus the end of the diet is reached when the desired weight is on the scales.

If you also want to follow the keto diet for a longer period of time, you should definitely eat as varied a diet as possible in order not to run the risk of a lack of nutrients, which is dangerous to your health.

How do you end a keto diet?

If you have been on a ketogenic diet for a long time, the state of ketosis should be ended slowly and gradually. For this purpose, it is advisable to increase the amount of carbohydrates by about five grams every other day until the “normal” amount recommended for age and weight is reached. At the same time, the fat and protein intake must be adjusted.

The purpose of this “tapering off” of the diet is that the metabolism can slowly change over again and a  yo-yo effect  is avoided.

You don’t have to go hungry: keto recipes

Anyone who thinks that you have to starve during a ketogenic diet or that carbohydrate-free food does not fill you up is wrong. Because high-fat food fills you up very well and the focus of the diet is less on counting calories and more on avoiding carbohydrates.

There are numerous and varied recipes for the ketogenic diet – including vegetarian and vegan ones. To start the day, a  keto breakfast can  include a delicious omelette or scrambled eggs, Greek yogurt with berries, or bacon-wrapped avocado. There are also various recipe variants for  keto cakes  – as well as for ketogenic grilling.

Keto bread recipe

If your cheese sandwich is sacred in the morning, you don’t have to do without it during a keto diet. Because with this recipe you can easily bake keto bread yourself.

Ingredients for Rustic Keto Bread:

• 100 grams of ground almonds
• 50 grams of ground  psyllium husk
• 50 grams of sunflower seeds
• 50 grams  of chia seeds
• 50 grams of flaxseed flour
• 5 Owner
• 200 grams of cottage cheese
• 20 grams of ground flaxseed
• 20 grams of coconut flour
• 1 packet of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 2 tablespoons vinegar

Preparation:  Mix the dry ingredients well, then add the wet ones. Now form a body and make a slit in the middle so that the bread can rise better later in the oven.

Let the bread swell for at least two hours, then bake in the oven at 180 degrees for about an hour.

Tip:  For an original and rustic look, you can roll the bread in potato fibers before baking. In addition, it becomes particularly crispy. Potato fibers contain hardly any carbohydrates because the starch has been removed from them.

Keto pills and drinks

To get into ketosis faster, some people take ketogenic supplements like Revolyn Keto Burn® or Ultra Keto Slim®, as well as keto drinks.

However, their effectiveness has not been scientifically proven and the preparations can be questionable from a health point of view. It is therefore better to keep your hands off such remedies.

However, there are risks associated with a ketogenic diet.  On the following page you can find out what side effects can occur with the keto diet and when keto can be of medical benefit .