What is the Keto diet?

1. What is the Keto diet?

The Ketogenic (keto) diet is a diet low in carbohydrates and high in fat that is beneficial for the body. When carbohydrate intake is reduced, your body goes into a state called "ketosis".

In Ketosis, your body burns more energy. At the same time, the pancreas will also convert fat into ketones, which provide energy for the brain. This diet can significantly lower blood sugar and insulin levels. This can have a lot of benefits for your health.

2. Classification

There are 4 main forms for the keto diet:

The standard diet: In this mode you eat extremely low carb (5%), moderate protein (20%) and high fat (75%).
The rotating keto diet: When following this diet, your carb intake changes from day to day. For example, in 1 week you will have 5 days to eat low carb and 2 days to eat high carb.
Targeted keto diet: This will allow you to eat more carbs during your workout.
The high-protein keto diet: It's the same as the standard diet but higher in protein, usually 5% carbs, 35% protein and 60% fat.
Of the categories above, the standard and high-protein diets are the most commonly used. The remaining 2 regimes are usually only used by athletes who understand well about nutrition.

3. Develop the Keto diet

3.1. Foods you should avoid

Based on the foundational principles of the keto diet, avoid the following high-carbohydrate foods:

Beans: Peas, kidney beans, lentils, green beans ...
Foods high in sugar: Soda, fruit juice, smoothie, cake, ice cream, candy ...
Grains or starches: Products from wheat, rice, pasta, cereals ...
Some varieties like avocado, strawberries, blueberries ...
Unhealthy Fat: Limit your use of used vegetable oil or mayonnaise.
Low-fat products: These are usually processed foods with a lot of carbohydrates.
Alcohol: Due to its high carbohydrate content, many alcoholic beverages can disrupt your diet.

3.2. The foods you should eat

You can formulate a keto diet based on these recommended foods:

Fatty fish: Salmon, salmon, tuna, mackerel ...
Meat: Beef, sausage, bacon, chicken ...
Nuts: Almonds, walnuts, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds ...
Healthy oils: Extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil and avocado oil ...
Cheese: Unprocessed cheeses such as cream, cheddar, mozzarella ...
Low-carbohydrate vegetables: Green vegetables, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers ...
This diet focuses on reducing carbohydrate intake
This diet focuses on reducing carbohydrate intake
In addition to the above food groups, you can add boiled eggs, dark chocolate, strawberries, apples ... to make snacks.

4. Benefits of the Keto diet

4.1. Weight loss

This is an effective way to lose weight and limit the risk that makes you more likely to gain weight. Many studies show that the keto diet has advantages over the conventional low-fat diet. It will make you feel full so you can lose weight without considering calories or tracking your food intake.

One study found that people on a keto diet were able to lose weight 2.2 times faster than those on a low-fat and strict calorie reduction diet. The amount of triglycerides (the main ingredient in vegetable oils and animal fats) and HDL cholesterol (HDL is a form of healthy fat) are also significantly improved.

Many other studies have also shown that people on this diet lose 3 times more weight than those on a regular diet recommended by the UK Diabetes Association.

>> Many people choose to take weight loss pills to get rid of excess body fat. Listen to your doctor's opinion about its safety: Are weight loss pills safe to use?

4.2. Prevent diabetes

Diabetes is characterized by changes in metabolism, high blood sugar and impaired insulin function. The keto diet can help you burn off excess fat, which is closely related to diabetes, prediabetes and metabolic syndrome.

One study on the keto diet also found that it can increase insulin sensitivity by up to 75% - a very high number. People on the keto diet lost up to 11.1kg of body weight compared to just 6.9kg for the high carbohydrate group. This is very important due to the relationship between weight and type 2 diabetes.

In addition, 95.2% of the keto-diet group were able to reduce or completely stop the diabetes medication compared with 62% of the group consuming high-carbohydrate foods.

4.3. Support for brain dysfunction

Your brain needs glucose because many parts of your brain can only burn this type of sugar. That's why the liver produces glucose from protein if you don't eat any carbohydrates. However, the majority of the brain is also able to burn off ketones, which are formed when hunger strikes or when carbohydrate intake is very low.



One study found that more than 50% of children on the keto diet experienced a reduction in seizures by more than half, while 16% completely ended the illness. Additionally, the keto diet has been studied for its effects on a number of other diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

You need to persevere in order to get the effect you want
With any diet, persistence is always important for beginners to get the best results possible. In addition, do not forget to combine exercise and reasonable rest in addition to the nutritional factor to be able to maintain a healthy body.

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