Monday, May 18, 2020

What is the keto diet?

The keto diet is a low carbohydrate diet that forces the body to burn fat over carbohydrates and is thus in a condition called ketosis. See the advantages and disadvantages of the keto diet here.

The basic principles of the keto diet are reminiscent of other diets, such as the Atkins diet, the Dukan diet, and LCHF, which, like the keto diet, aim for a limited intake of carbohydrates. Learn more about the keto diet here.



What is ketosis?

Carbohydrates are the main fuel of muscles and especially of the brain. For the same reason, they constitute the majority of a regular diet. You get them from cereal products, potatoes, fruits, soft drinks and sweets. When you follow the keto diet you greatly reduce your carbohydrate intake. It forces the body to retrieve fuel for muscle work and the brain from other sources. In practice, this is done by converting fat substances into so-called ketone substances. These can be used by the body in the same way as the carbohydrates, but unlike the carbohydrates that we only have small layers of, you can take off the body's energy-rich fat deposits on the keto diet. The positive effects of this are:



Benefits of the keto diet

The keto diet improves your fat burning. It gives you a stable energy level in everyday life, and greater endurance when you exercise.

Lower blood sugar and thus lower risk of diabetes .

Reduction of possible stomach fat, and thus reduced risk of a variety of lifestyle diseases.

Increased mental and physical strength, as you avoid a blood sugar that goes up and down.

Better physical health as you avoid all empty calories from sugar and processed cereal products.

What are the side effects of the keto diet?

The keto diet is basically healthy, but it is important to pay attention to a number of special circumstances.

Your breath may smell like acetone. Especially in the beginning, the body will find it difficult to find the right pace to convert fat substances into ketone substances. These give a smelly scent.

The body needs to get used to the new diets. It is very different how easy the body has to adjust. While some people get energy from one day to the other by following the keto diet, others may experience muscle fatigue, concentration problems, mental fatigue and blood sugar drops for up to a couple of weeks, until the body has adjusted to the low-carbohydrate diet.

The keto diet is just as healthy as the foods you choose to eat. If you choose to freeze meatloaf, whipped cream, butter and bacon, it is just as unhealthy as everyone else's. Therefore, it is still important to make quality choices and choose foods that are as unprocessed as possible, limit additives, and make sure that the daily diet is based primarily on healthy ingredients. Coarse vegetables, healthy plant oils, as well as good quality fish, seafood and poultry should form the basis of your diet. Snail on the  basics of an anti-inflammatory diet . Then you are on the right path.


How fast do you lose weight on the keto diet?

The first week you usually lose a few pounds. However, it is not so much because you burn fat, but because you empty your body's carbohydrate deposits. These bind some water and the emptying therefore gives a noticeable weight loss.

However, there is no guarantee of further weight loss on the keto diet, since everything is about calories in and out. Still, many people find it easy to lose ½ - 1 kg of fat a week because it's easy to reduce calories when you go on the keto diet.

Once the body has learned to extract energy from the fat deposits instead of relying on constant carbohydrate supply, you can experiment with smaller portion sizes and possibly skip whole meals without feeling dissatisfied.




How long does it take for the body to achieve ketosis?

It is very different how long it takes for the body to change to the new condition, but usually it takes a few days to a week before your body is in ketosis.


What should you avoid eating and drinking on the keto diet?

The keto diet is first and foremost a very carbohydrate-limiting diet, where you eat moderate amounts of protein while the rest of the energy is taken from fat. The principle is to eat less than 50 grams of carbohydrates a day, which in practice means that carbohydrate-rich foods are virtually excluded from the diet.

Food that can be eaten in minimal amounts on the keto diet


  • Pasta
  • Rice
  • Potato
  • Bread
  • Other grain products such as bulgur, quinoa, barley, corn and oats
  • Dried beans and lentils
  • Fruit
  • Root vegetables
  • Milk and yogurt
  • Sugar including sweets and soft drinks


You may want to eat this on the keto diet

Food you can eat moderate amounts of on the keto diet


  • Nuts
  • Protein-rich yogurt such as scythe, millet and Greek yogurt, also fat varieties
  • Cheese
  • Butter
  • Meat
  • Fish and seafood
  • Bird
  • Egg
  • Avocado
  • olives

Food you can eat a lot of on the keto diet

Coarse vegetables such as cauliflower, broccoli, peas and green beans.

Plant and nut oils from eg olives, rapeseed, avocado and peanuts.

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