The ketogenic diet is essentially a very low carbohydrate diet. You cut your carbohydrates so low, that your body begins to burn fat for energy. NO, your body doesn’t NEED carbs. Our bodies are AMAZING and they have been designed such that they can adapt to the absence of carbohydrates by making the sugar our brain needs from fat or ketone bodies by a process called gluconeogenesis from lipolysis or ketolysis (please see figure below if you really want to get super scientific).
All that being said, as I tell my patients, I AM NOT a fan of the way it is marketed, as the diet where you can have all the bacon and butter you want. There are far too many studies that show us that these animal based saturated fats are unhealthy for us. Sure, if you have cut out all processed, refined carobohydrates and sugars, then you will tolerate more of these fats than the average individual. However, I tend to advise my patients who decide on this diet to choose healthier sources of fat as a go to.
The include: avocado and its oil, grapeseed oil, nuts and nut butters, salmon, olive oil.
Sure, it makes it less “fun,” but the goal is health, right?!
Keto has many benefits including immediate improvement in glucose control, because you are decreasing the very thing that increases sugars—carbs. However, if you are someone who is taking medications for your blood sugars, you should discuss how these medications should be adjusted before starting this type of diet. If you have a history of pancreatitis, liver disease, issues with fat metabolism, malabsorption—you should really consider another type of diet. Most people on this diet will need a multivitamin.
With most diets, you will see an increase in the cholesterol transiently when you begin, but with this one, you REALLY see the numbers increase, but they typically go down after a few months of dedicated lifestyle change. Also, people tend to find that in the first few weeks, they get what’s known as the “keto flu.” The biggest problem with this diet? People actually sticking to it long enough for me to see the benefit. People are typically doing the unhealthy version of this, and they are cheating too often for me to see the benefits actually come through. It generally takes 6-12 months of dedication, but if you stick to it, I see the results, physically, and metabolically. Also, while the short term safety has been shown for most, sticking to this diet hasn’t been shown to be safe past 24 months, so it’s generally recommended that after 12 months, you begin to transition to a more long term plan.
I don’t have any links for you guys, because I have yet to find recipes that I have deemed appropriate for long term use—again too much butter and bacon. But as I find them, I’ll try to link them for your use.