Is The Ketogenic Diet Safe For Weight Loss?
Share it: If you’ve been contemplating various weight-loss strategies, you may have run across the ketogenic diet. This dietary strategy, which is often used in a clinical setting to help improve seizure control in children with epilepsy, is picking up steam as an effective treatment for weight loss. But is it right for you? We turned to the experts to find out more. WHAT IS IT? The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, moderate-protein, low-carbohydrate diet that forces the body into a state of ketosis, where fat is burned for fuel instead of carbohydrate. (This isn’t to be confused with ketoacidosis, a dangerous condition typically caused by a lack of insulin in the body.) According to Dominic D’Agostino, a researcher at the University of South Florida who specializes in ketogenic diets, “The ‘classic ketogenic diet’ used originally for the management of drug-resistance seizures is a 4:1 ratio of fats to protein and carbohydrates.” That equates to about 80–90% fat, 5–15% protein and 5–10% carbohydrates. For weight loss, he says, this diet is typically modified “to allow a more liberal consumption of protein” (20–30%) with the same carbohydrate restriction. IS IT FOR YOU? Advocates of the ketogenic diet are quick to point out many of the benefits this diet can have for those looking to lose weight. “Rapid weight loss and a decrease in hunger are the most common and evident benefits,” says Kristen Mancinelli, MS, RD, author of “The Ketogenic Diet: A Scientifically Proven Approach to Fast, Healthy Weight Loss.” D’Agostino references promising studies that have been shown to “lower blood glucose levels, increase sensitivity to insulin, decrease inflammation and reduce triglyceride levels while raising HDL cholesterol.” READ MORE > 21 DIETIT Continue reading >>
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Lose Weight By Achieving Optimal Ketosis
Do you want to lose weight? Here’s number 16 of my 18 best tips. All of the published tips can be found on the How to Lose Weight page. Before we get started, here’s a short recap of the tips so far: The first and most crucial piece of advice was to choose a low-carb diet. The next were eating when hungry, eating real food, eating only when hungry, measuring progress wisely, being persistent, avoiding fruit, beer and artificial sweeteners, review your medications, stressing less and sleeping more, eating less dairy and nut products, stocking up on vitamins and minerals, using intermittent fasting and finally, exercising smart. This is number sixteen: 16. Get into optimal ketosis Warning: Not recommended for type 1 diabetics, see below. We’ve now arrived at tip number 16. If you’re still having trouble losing weight, despite following the 15 pieces of advice listed above, it might be a good idea to bring out the heavy artillery: optimal ketosis. Many people stalling at weight plateaus while on a low carb diet have found optimal ketosis helpful. It’s what can melt the fat off once again. So how does this work? A quick run-through: The first tip was to eat low carb. This is because a low-carb diet lowers your levels of the fat-storing hormone insulin, allowing your fat deposits to shrink and release their stored energy. This tends to cause you to want to consume less calories than you expend – without hunger – and lose weight. Several of the tips mentioned above are about fine-tuning your diet to better this effect. Video course Do you know exactly how to eat a low-carb and high fat diet (LCHF)? This is required for ketosis. If not the easiest way is watching this high quality 11-minute video course on how to eat LCHF, and the most important things to think a Continue reading >>
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Does The Ketogenic Diet Work For Weight-loss? [podcast Episode #102]
Bacon. Cheese. Peanut butter. I can eat these, and all sorts of other high-fat foods that are traditionally outlawed from a health diet, and lose weight? And, not just lose weight, but lose weight quickly? That's the claim proponents of the Ketogenic Diet make, and with thousands of pounds of weight-loss backing up these claims, people are listening. Is Keto just another low-carb diet, or is there something that makes it special? And most importantly, is it a healthy choice for you? Continue reading >>
The Ugly Truth About Ketogenic Diets
Here's what you need to know... Ketosis occurs when carbs are in such low quantities that your body relies almost exclusively on fatty acid oxidation and ketone metabolism. Ketogenic diets have about 70-75% of your daily caloric intake coming from fat and about 5% from carbohydrates. Ingesting protein above approximately .8 grams per pound is enough to kick you out of ketosis. Ketogenic diets improve body comp, but so does any diet that reduces calories from any source. There is no literature to support that a ketogenic diet is beneficial for promoting increases in muscle mass. Ketogenic diets affect performance negatively. Questions About Ketosis While the ketogenic diet has been used widely and rather effectively in some cases, there's still a lot of confusion about it. What exactly is a ketogenic diet? How does it differ from low carb dieting? Most importantly, at least for the T Nation demographic, is the question of whether ketogenic diets allow you to put on, or at least keep, muscle. Ketosis: What is it? Ketosis is a metabolic state that occurs when dietary carbohydrates are in such low quantities that your body must rely almost exclusively on fatty acid oxidation and ketone metabolism. That sounds simple on the surface, but let's unpack that explanation a bit. To function, your body requires a substantial amount of energy in the form of ATP. So, let's just assume that the average person uses about 1,800 calories per day to create enough ATP to keep him alive (not including any physical activity). Now this is where it gets interesting. You have this thing in your skull called a brain. It uses about 400 or so calories per day and runs almost exclusively on glucose. (There's some evidence it can use small amounts of fat and lactate, but in the big picture it's not Continue reading >>
How To Burn Stored Body Fat — A Ketosis Primer
“So, how do you tell your body to start burning stored body fat?” my friend and fellow mother asked. “Cut the carbs,” answered another mom. “I go into ketosis just about every afternoon.” “Ketosis? Isn’t that bad for you?” The short answer? No. I talk to a lot of people who want to lose weight. They try all sorts of things — exercise, calorie restriction, you name it. Sometimes, they lose the weight. Inevitably, they gain it back. That’s because what they’re doing is going on a diet — a temporary fix at best. What they need is a lifestyle change, a perspective shift, a new paradigm. Of course, you all know the paradigm I espouse — a conversion to eating real, traditional foods. Yet even a conversion to eating real food won’t necessarily help the pounds melt away. If you’re still eating 200 grams of carbohydrates a day — even if they’re “traditional” carbohydrates like sprouted or soaked grains, unrefined sweeteners, etc, you’re not going to lose weight without making some serious changes. If your body is regularly storing body fat (you gain a little bit of weight each year), then something is wrong with how your body metabolizes food. Let me introduce you to a new concept: the body fat setpoint. The body fat setpoint is the mass of body fat that your body attempts to defend against changes in either direction. It’s your body’s attempt to maintain homeostasis. This is why if you exercise more, you eat more. It’s also why if you restrict calories, your metabolism slows down to compensate. Why should you care about the body fat setpoint? From Stephan at Whole Health Source: We care because this has some very important implications for human obesity. With such a powerful system in place to keep body fat mass in a narrow range, Continue reading >>
The Beginners Guide To Ketosis: Investigating Low-carb, High-fat Eating
The only hard and fast rule of health is that health is personal and what works well for one person may not work for someone else. Aside from that rule, there are “frameworks” that seem to benefit large groups of people. One more level down from that are alternative strategies that benefit smaller groups. Ketosis is likely one of those alternative strategies that works well for certain, smaller groups of people. So, right off the bat I want you to understand that Ketosis might not be for everyone. I’m going to lay out the case for potential benefits of Ketosis. If it sounds interesting and beneficial to you, then consider trying it. (see our free cheat sheet to help you). What is Ketosis Ketosis occurs when liver glycogen gets depleted and the body burns fatty acids for fuel. The primary driver of this state is a very low carbohydrate intake. Often, it also requires a low protein, higher fat intake. You can also achieve a state of ketosis by not eating altogether. The creation of ketones is a byproduct of this metabolic state. Ketones are a source of fuel, just as glucose is a source of fuel. Ketones tend to have some added benefits, though. What role does Ketosis play in human health? Ketosis allows our bodies to function in the absence of carbohydrates, both physically and mentally. Instead of burning carbohydrates, or converting protein to glucose, the body burns ketones. This is pretty much a survival mechanism. It allows your body to function in a state of caloric deprivation. This is why ketosis often gets bad press (as it’s linked to “starvation”). Being a survival mechanism doesn’t make it invalid as a strategy, though. There can still be potential benefits to be had. Let’s cover a few of them… Ketosis and Accelerated Fat Loss Being in ketosis Continue reading >>
8 Ketogenic Foods That Can Help You Lose Weight
If you're looking for the most hard core low-carb diet of all the low-carb diets, the ketogenic diet is it. The trendy ketogenic diet, which reportedly has fans like Lebron James and Kim Kardashian, reduces your daily carb intake to 35 grams or less, depending on the plan you follow. That's about the amount in one large apple for the whole day. The theory behind the ketogenic plan is that when your body doesn't have any carbs to use as energy, your liver converts fat into fatty acids and ketones. Then those ketones are used as a primary energy source by your body (meaning you burn more fat each day), says Jim White, R.D., spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and owner of Jim White Fitness & Nutrition Studios in Virginia. That whole process is called ketosis. While, in a pinch, ketones can replace carbs as your body’s primary energy source, it often comes at a price. Ketosis can cause side effects like constipation, fatigue, brain fog, and possible nutritional deficiencies, White says. Obviously, we don't recommend any unsustainable eating plan that seriously restricts important nutrients like carbs. However, incorporating certain keto-friendly foods that are rich in protein and healthy fats into a well-rounded diet can get you to your pounds-dropping goals faster. That's because these eats help you build more lean muscle, prevent blood sugar highs and lows, and keep cravings at bay. "Salmon is rich in polyunsaturated omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which you can only get through the food you eat," White says. "Increasing your intake of polyunsaturated fats can help reduce inflammation and therefore improve your ability to lose weight." Plus, salmon is brimming with vitamin E, a powerful antioxidant that can help slash your inflammation levels even Continue reading >>
The Ketogenic Diet For Weight Loss - Today's Dietitian Magazine
How wide is the divide between the hype and the research? Originally developed to treat severe epilepsy in infants and children under medical supervision, today the ketogenic diet is moving to the mainstream as a low-carbohydrate tool for weight loss and as a means to reduce cardiometabolic risk factorsbut not without controversy. Today's Dietitian looks at what the ketogenic diet is, what's known about its risks and benefits, and whether patients who say they're "doing keto" are actually following a ketogenic diet. What the Ketogenic Diet Is ... and What It Isn't The ketogenic diet isn't just any low-carbohydrate diet, and it's not necessarily similar to the Atkins or Paleo diets. The Atkins diet restricts carbohydrates while emphasizing protein and limiting fat, and while the Paleo diet restricts some carbohydrate-rich foodsprimarily grains and pulsesit isn't necessarily low carb. The ketogenic diet is very low in carbohydrates and very high in fat, putting the body into ketosisthe burning of fat instead of glucose for fuel. Clinical ketogenic diets limit carbs to 20 to 50 g per day, primarily from nonstarchy vegetables, with very low-carb ketogenic diets restricting carbs to 30 g per day.1 Protein is kept high enough to maintain lean body mass, but low enough to preserve ketosisthe amino acids alanine and glutamine in protein can be converted to glucose through gluconeogenesis, nudging the body out of ketosis.1,2 Essentially, the ketogenic diet promotes a "pseudofasted" state.3 After three to four days of fasting or following a very low-carbohydrate diet, the body, deprived of dietary sugar and starch, reduces insulin secretion and switches to primarily burning fat for fuel. The resulting overproduction of acetyl-CoA leads to formation of ketonesbeta-hydroxybutyric Continue reading >>
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Do Ketogenic Diets Help You Lose Weight?
Is a ketogenic diet effective for weight loss? The answer depends on whether it achieves a reduction in total kilojoule intake or not. What is a ketogenic diet? A classical ketogenic diet follows a strict ratio for total grams of fat to combined grams of carbohydrate and protein and typically has 80-90% of total kilojoules coming from fat, which is very high fat. Carbohydrate intake varies from 20 to 50 grams a day, or 5-10% of total energy, while protein intakes are moderate. The difference between a strict ketogenic diet and diets that are described as low-carb is that ketogenic diets specifically aim to achieve elevated blood levels of ketone bodies which are chemicals produced as a consequence of your body burning fat. Hence general low-carb diets are not as high in fat as classical ketogenic diets. Research on the use of classical ketogenic diets for weight loss is limited. But there are many studies that compare lower-carb diets to other approaches. These show that aiming for a carbohydrate restriction of 20-30 grams a day, without setting a daily kilojoule target, leads to 2-4 kilograms greater weight loss compared to a low kilojoule diet, in studies up to six months. In longer studies with follow-up between one to five years there is no difference in weight loss. A review of weight loss diets with a moderate carbohydrate restriction (45% or less of total energy intake) compared to low fat diets (under 30% fat) found they were equally effective in reducing body weight in studies from six months to two years. How much carbohydrate do we eat? In Australia, current carbohydrate intakes range from approximately 210 to 260 grams a day, or about 45% of total energy intake. More than a third of what Australians currently eat comes from discretionary, or “junk” foods Continue reading >>
Pruvit Keto Os Review
I'm Mike and I've been a personal trainer for over 10 years and I first heard about ketosis way back before it was even a big thing. I've been more or less on the ketogenic diet full-time ever since. When Keto-OS came out, people had been talking about Keto-OS being the go-to product for quickly getting into ketosis and even allowing you to cheat. Me being a skeptic, I set out on a 3 month strict review project, to get to the bottom of whether or not Keto-OS actually works. After months of testing blood samples and body calibrations, I am about to give you the conclusion of what I found from my review down below. KETO OS is the latest product from Pruvit and stands for "Ketone Operating System." This product is an exogenous ketone drink, which means it may provide a multitude of benefits, ranging from athletic performance enhancement, more efficient weight loss, cancer prevention, cognitive improvement and anti-inflammatory properties, among other things. Its ability to essentially trick the body into burning fat instead of carbs (a state known as ketosis) can also result in more rapid weight loss than you may have thought possible. This is what Pruvit had to say: Keto-OS is your “ketone operating system”. It was one of the First Therapeutic Ketone Supplements on the market. The proprietary blend is owned by Prüvit and is Dr. Approved, Lab Tested, University backed and the technology in Keto-OS is patent pending, developed by one of the most world renown Dr.’s and experts on Ketosis. Prüvit was the first company approved by University of South Florida to acquire the sub-license rights to use this patent pending technology. It is a powder that you mix with 8=10 oz. of water. Keto-OS is Pruvit’s flagship product and is the first product the company sold when it Continue reading >>
Here's Exactly How I Lost 50 Pounds Doing The Keto Diet
Of all the places to seek life-changing nutrition advice, I never thought the barber shop would be where I found it. But one day last January, after a couple years of saying to myself, "today's the day I make a change," my barber schooled me on something called keto. Normally, I take things he says with a grain of salt unless they're about hair or owning a business, but this guy could literally be on the cover of Men's Health. He's 6 feet tall, conventionally attractive, and his arms are about five pull-ups away from tearing through his t-shirt. If anyone else had implied that I was looking rough, I would've walked out in a fit of rage, but I decided to hear him out. I should clarify that I was out of shape, but my case wasn't that severe. I hadn't exercised in a few years and basically ate whatever I wanted and however much of it, but I was only about 30 to 40 pounds overweight. My barber went on to explain that this diet, paired with an appropriate exercise routine, allowed him to completely transform his body in less than a year, and all he ate was fatty foods. Once he showed me his "before" picture, I was sold. It was time to actually make a change. Short for ketogenic, keto is a high-fat, moderate protein, low-carb diet that forces your metabolism into what's called a state of ketosis. There's a much more scientific explanation to that, but it basically means that instead of burning carbohydrates (mainly glucose, or sugars), your body switches to burning fat as a primary source for energy. Keto isn't necessarily about counting calories, though the basic idea of eating less in order to lose weight still applies. This is more of a calculated way to rewire your metabolism so that it burns fat more efficiently over time, using very specific levels of each macronutrient Continue reading >>
You Can Eat Fat And Lose Weight! Expert Says Controversial Ketogenic Diet Does Work - So What's The Secret To Doing It Safely?
Lose weight by eating more fat – it almost sounds too good to be true. But followers of the ketogenic food plan claim it not only works, it can revolutionise the way you eat. Although the keto diet – as it's known – has been hailed as being extremely effective for weight loss, it's not without its share of controversy. Those who subscribe to a keto-based food programme eat a diet that's significantly higher in fat – this is offset by a major reduction in carbohydrates which is understood to put the body into a metabolic state called ketosis. In essence, nutritional medical expert Fiona Tuck explained to Today Tonight Adelaide, the body burns fat to use as fuel. Right now the diet being touted as the hot new way to strip unwanted kilos with celebrities - including Guy Sebastian - crediting their success to following the high-fat food regime. But is the diet a safe way to sustainable weight loss? Fiona Tuck breaks it down. 'An extreme keto diet is made up of 75 per cent healthy fat, 20 per cent protein and just five per cent carbs, which means limited fruit and vegetables,' she said. While she said the food plan would work for quick weight loss, it's not one she thinks is beneficial long term. 'We have to be very careful not to take the body into an extreme case of acidosis (caused by an overproduction of acid in the blood) because that can actually be life threatening or fatal.' However Ms Tuck does believe the diet can be followed safely, if carb levels are increased to 50 or 100 grams. She also advocates for following a dietary plan that includes a wide range of fresh foods. 'You could not be getting enough of those brightly coloured fruits and vegetables which could put us at risk of nutritional deficiency,' she warned. For some the health benefits of followin Continue reading >>
Keto & Weight Loss
One of the most common reasons people start a ketogenic diet or simply cut carbohydrates is to lose weight. But does the hard, scientific evidence say? Additionally, does a low-carb diet just get rid of the water weight- or does it shed body fat and maintain lean mass? In this piece we analyze if eating more fat really makes you less fat. The Key Figures in Body Weight Everyone is always talking about “losing weight”- but what are the exactly referring to? Human body weight refers to the amount of mass on your body. The bulk of this mass is from body fat, water, muscle, and bone. Being overweight means that you have extra body weight from fat, water, muscle, or bone. Obesity means that someone has an excess amount of fat to the extent that it harms your health. Oftentimes, doctors, nurses, and other professionals will put your weight in terms of your height and gender in a figure called body mass index (BMI). According to the World Health Organization, a BMI from 25-30 usually indicates someone is overweight, BMI in the 30-35 range puts someone in the range of being obese and 35 and over morbidly obese. [1] Medical and public health research suggests that body weight and BMI are useful indicators of health. According to the National Institutes of Health, being obese and morbidly obese is significantly associated with an increased risk of developing serious health issues such as certain cancers, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and kidney damage. [2, 3, 4] Maintaining a healthy weight is a critical way to prevent the onset of many of these health problems. Recently, many people have begun to question the usefulness of BMI as a general indicator. A sizable amount of people who may be overweight or even obese may be classified as such even though th Continue reading >>
Ketogenic Diets: Best Weight Loss Program
The Ketogenic weight loss plan that gets results.. The best weight loss program for most people is one which they can maintain long term, and which addresses the root cause of the weight gain. This is where a ketogenic diet is most helpful. The diet addresses, and in most cases, fixes the underlying cause of weight gain: a hormonal imbalance. Notice that I did NOT say that people gain weight because they don't exercise and they eat too much. Instead, the lack of energy to exercise and overeating are symptoms of an underlying hormonal imbalance in the way the body uses insulin. In other words, if your hormones, and specifically your blood sugar and insulin, are out of whack, you will be more likely to experience extreme hunger and overeat. You'll gain weight, and energy levels will be lower, which will make exercising seem more of a chore. As the ongoing arguments in the various "best weight loss program" camps can attest, yes, other factors are involved, but the primary fat storage hormone in the body is insulin, and I think it's the best place to start to address a weight problem. To put it simply, the best weight loss program is one that manages insulin. Let's see how insulin works and why it's so important to control it. Why We Get Fat: Insulin, Glucose and Fat Storage Insulin is a hormone which is released in the body in response to blood sugar fluctuations. (Blood sugar is also called blood glucose, as glucose is the primary sugar used in the body). When blood glucose increases, insulin is released by the pancreas to move the glucose from the bloodstream into the cells where it can be burned for cellular fuel. More importantly, if glucose is available for the cells to burn, they will burn it first, before they burn stored fat. Keep that in mind. If the body cells a Continue reading >>
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Ketosis, Ketones, And How It All Works
Ketosis is a process that the body does on an everyday basis, regardless of the number of carbs you eat. Your body adapts to what is put in it, processing different types of nutrients into the fuels that it needs. Proteins, fats, and carbs can all be processed for use. Eating a low carb, high fat diet just ramps up this process, which is a normal and safe chemical reaction. When you eat carbohydrate based foods or excess amounts of protein, your body will break this down into sugar – known as glucose. Why? Glucose is needed in the creation of ATP (an energy molecule), which is a fuel that is needed for the daily activities and maintenance inside our bodies. If you’ve ever used our keto calculator to determine your caloric needs, you will see that your body uses up quite a lot of calories. It’s true, our bodies use up much of the nutrients we intake just to maintain itself on a daily basis. If you eat enough food, there will likely be an excess of glucose that your body doesn’t need. There are two main things that happen to excess glucose if your body doesn’t need it: Glycogenesis. Excess glucose will be converted to glycogen and stored in your liver and muscles. Estimates show that only about half of your daily energy can be stored as glycogen. Lipogenesis. If there’s already enough glycogen in your muscles and liver, any extra glucose will be converted into fats and stored. So, what happens to you once your body has no more glucose or glycogen? Ketosis happens. When your body has no access to food, like when you are sleeping or when you are on a ketogenic diet, the body will burn fat and create molecules called ketones. We can thank our body’s ability to switch metabolic pathways for that. These ketones are created when the body breaks down fats, creating Continue reading >>
