Keto : What's All the Rage?

Regardless if you have been into fitness for a while or just starting out, odds are you have heard of the “Keto” diet. Everyone is raving about it and I would certainly consider it the fad diet for the fitness world today. I have tried it myself on a few occasions so when writing this blog, I want to speak from a place of experience to give you a deeper understanding of the diet, its ideology, and my candid feelings about the program. If you feel offended by my stance or feelings in this blog, please don’t read it.

What is a Ketogenic Diet?  

A ketogenic diet is a term referring to a diet with low-carbohydrate content and an increased fat portion. The principles of this diet plan revolve around utilizing sources such as medium chain fatty acids and amino acids for energy requirements of the body. Making popular rounds on the internet and social media these days, a ketogenic diet is being tried by individuals for drastic weight loss with encouraging results. It is also of note that a ketogenic diet will not always lead to weight loss, especially if the individual already has a low body fat. The roots of this regime date back to the early 1920s when it was used as a primary mode of tackling pediatric epilepsy. It has wide uses such as positive outcomes in cancer patients, chronic heart disease, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and polycystic ovary syndrome. Likewise, the ketogenic diet has also been used to treat type 2 diabetes resulting in improved glycaemic condition and reducing the burden of medications.

 There are multiple variants of a ketogenic diet, these include:

Standard ketogenic diet: This is the standard widely used diet plan consisting of very low carbohydrate content, a medium protein portion and a high-fat diet in the ratio of 75% fat, 20% proteins and a mere 5% carbohydrates.
Cyclical ketogenic diet: Cyclical program includes a 2-day normal carbohydrate refeed after 5 days of a ketogenic diet.
Targeted ketogenic diet: Targeted plan accounts for adding carbohydrates before or after the workouts.
High-protein ketogenic diet: Almost same as a standard ketogenic diet, it includes more protein content changing the ratio to 60% fats, 35% proteins and again 5% of carbohydrates.

 The standard and high protein variant have been widely prescribed and researched for clinical purposes. The other variants have mostly been practiced by athletes and bodybuilders. A ketogenic diet consists primarily of meals having red meat, ham, fatty fish, eggs, butter, cream, cheese, nuts, and seed. In between the meals, snacks such as 90% dark chocolate, hard boiled eggs, full-fat yoghurt, strawberries and cream can be used.

How does a ketogenic diet work?  

Our bodies utilize glucose from carbohydrates as the major source for providing energy requirements for the metabolic processes. This corresponds to a high glycemic index and an increase in insulin levels as a result of the former. The fundamental principle of a ketogenic diet lies in utilizing the process known as ketosis. Ketosis is a metabolic state in which ketone bodies derived from fatty acid breakdown are utilized as the energy source instead of carbohydrates. This has also been dubbed as the ‘fat-burning’ process. Ketone bodies also form when the glycogen reserves in our bodies are exhausted as a result of a low carbohydrate diet. Ketosis also results as a negative symptom in many conditions, but as mentioned above, it has a lot of benefits too.

So as mentioned above, glucose is the major energy source which is stored in organs such as liver and muscles as glycogen. However, these are utilized over a one day period and need to be replenished. Once the stores are utilized and not restored by taking a carbohydrate-rich diet, ketosis occurs and become the major source resulting in fat burning. Therefore, because fats are not the major source of providing energy, a ketogenic condition can only be achieved once the body is starved of carbohydrates. As a result, there is no other option but to activate the fat reserves and convert the fatty acids to ketone bodies as the only source for energy requirements.

While glucose is stored in response to the amount of energy needed in a single day, fats in our body can be stored to provide energy over a period of weeks and months. The amount of fat that can be used also depends on the body composition and the percentage of fat. Over the time, the body becomes accustomed to ketosis state and learns how to burn fat more productively and efficiently resulting in a significant decrease in overall fat mass of our body.

Sooooo with all of that being said, the ultimate goal for a Ketogenic Diet is to get into “Ketosis” as soon as possible. In this state, your body is using Ketones for energy and not carbohydrates.

My personal experience:

As mentioned above… I have tried utilizing a Ketogenic diet on three occasions. Now, it is important to note: I do resistance training 5-6 times per week and cardio at least 4 times per week. My daily caloric needs to support this activity is higher than that of someone who trains three times per week max. I want to address a common misconception about the Keto diet first before I proceed into my results.

The Keto diet is NOT MEANT TO BE THE ADKINS DIET. If your goal is to live a healthy life and lean down, PLEASE READ THIS! I see folks all the time talking about keto this and keto that. I can eat bacon, cheese, hamburgers, and so on. Technically this may fit into the ketogenic regimen, but it will not get you the desired results you want. FAT IS CALORIE dense. 1 gram of fat is 9 calories! This is compared to 1 gram of protein and 1 gram of carbohydrates being only 4 calories each. You may think you are doing your body justice, but in reality, your meals are extremely calorie dense and unbalanced. If you are not careful, you will exceed a healthy calorie limit that will enable you to lose weight. Also, all the excess protein you consume from the meat you eat will in turn be converted into glucose for your body to use as energy so you are never really in a ketosis state. IF YOU ARE GOING TO DO A KETOGENIC DIET, STRUCTURE YOUR MEALS AND DO IT CORRECTLY!

My experience with a ketogenic diet is mixed. I experienced the weight loss but also at the cost of losing muscle mass. Not the ideal situation. I could not keep my diet balanced well enough to stay in ketosis while also consuming enough protein and vegetables to support the exercise. Like most folks who try this diet out, I lost weight but I ended up with a soft body, not lean and hard. I tried implementing carbohydrates around my workout times in hopes to get better results, but it wasn’t sustainable and I did not see any major results around 8 weeks of strict meal planning. I have since reverted back to a flexible meal plan with macros to support whatever my fitness goals may be. Currently, I am doing 20 miles of cardio per day. I am able to change to protein, carb, and fat intake to support the extreme amount of calories I am burning daily. Let me tell you, ever since switching to a balanced meal plan, I have never been in better shape. I was able to regain the solid physique and drop even more body fat.

I understand that every individual is different. I feel like a ketogenic diet is great for those folks with a large amount of weight to lose. After you start losing weight on the diet, you can then focus on resistance training and incorporating a balanced meal plan instead. A ketogenic diet is a great kick starter in that regard but I feel like it is not something that you would do for years on end especially if you are an athlete, bodybuilder, or live a very active lifestyle.

If you have any questions or need help setting up a meal/diet plan… comment below or shoot me a message on Facebook or Instagram. Thank you for reading! Remember… BE THE BETTER YOU! I’ll check back in with you guys on Wednesday!