What is the Ketogenic(Keto) Diet?

The ketogenic diet (typically called the keto diet) originated back in the 1920s as a way to treat childhood epilepsy, and due to its striking success rate—people eating a keto diet experience about 30 to 40 percent fewer seizures—it’s still used in that field today.

While the keto diet certainly is not easy, research shows it has some potential therapeutic benefits, in addition to its use for treating epilepsy. Here, some areas of research where a keto diet shows promise.

• Alzheimer’s Disease: Research suggests that when patients with Alzheimer’s eat a ketogenic diet, cognitive function significantly improves. It’s believed that this has something to do with improving mitochondrial function by providing the brain with new fuel.
• Parkinson’s Disease: One of the key features of Parkinson’s disease is the abnormal accumulation of a protein known as alpha-synuclein. Research funded by the Michael J. Fox Foundation has explored whether a ketogenic diet stimulates the breakdown of these proteins, reducing the amount of alpha-synuclein in the brain.
• Multiple Sclerosis: In a small 2016 study, patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) were put on a ketogenic diet. After six months, they reported improved quality of life, as well as physical and mental health improvements. Before doctors or researchers can make a connection between keto and MS, they need bigger sample sizes and more thorough research. Still, the preliminary findings are exciting.
• Cardiovascular Disease: This is definitely a point of confusion and controversy since a diet that relies so heavily on meat and fat is naturally thought to raise blood cholesterol and cause heart issues. However, some evidence suggests that this may not be the case. In fact, the keto diet may help improve triglyceride, HDL and LDL levels. A 2017 review looked at all of the available evidence around the ketogenic diet and cardiovascular health and found that the diet may be associated with some improvements in cardiovascular risk factors. Mind you, the authors also expressed their concerns with maintaining the diet in the long term, and they proposed that these benefits may not be long-lasting. It’s clear that we need long-term studies to fill that gap.
• Type 2 Diabetes: This population has been studied heavily with the keto diet since it’s technically as low-carb as you can get. While the research to date has been conducted in very small sample sizes, evidence suggests that an ultra-low-carb diet (like the keto diet) may help reduce A1C and improve insulin sensitivity by as much as 75 percent. In fact, a 2017 review found that a keto diet was associated with better glucose control and a reduction in medication use. Having said that, the authors cautioned that it was unclear whether the results were due to weight loss in general, or higher ketone levels.
• Cancer: Early experimental research suggests that the keto diet may have anti-tumor effects, likely because it reduces overall calorie intake (and circulating glucose) for tumor growth. In one 2014 review of animal research, a ketogenic diet was found to be successful at reducing tumor growth, colon cancer, gastric cancer and brain cancer. More research on humans with larger sample sizes is needed, but it’s definitely food for thought.

Can the Keto Diet Help with Weight Loss?

This is one of the keto diet’s main selling points and a primary reason it’s so popular: keto diet proponents say you can drop a lot of weight in a relatively short period of time. But is that too good to be true?

A number of studies, including one meta-analysis, have found that patients assigned to a very-low-carbohydrate diet (like the keto diet) had greater weight-loss outcomes compared with those eating low-fat. Promising, right? Well, weight loss is only good if that momentum is sustainable long-term, and it’s not clear that that’s the case.

A large meta-analysis found that while low-carb dieters tended to lose more weight than low-fat dieters at first, the differences disappeared by the one-year mark. It seems that there may be an early difference, but it might all wash out the same in the end.

Still, let’s look at some reasons why keto may work for some as a weight-loss tool .www.eatingwell.com/article/290697/ketogenic-diet-101-a-beginners-guide/

Calorie Restriction: When you severely restrict your food intake by cutting out many categories of food, you’re quite likely to lose weight.

Water Loss: There is some evidence that higher-protein diets like the keto diet do have some weight-loss benefits, partially because both fat and protein are satiating so you don’t feel hungry, but also because of the loss in glycogen stores. Glycogen is the body’s glucose storage that is bound up with water, so when we deplete the glycogen, you also deplete your water storage. Lose a ton of water, and you’re going to drop weight fast.

• Appetite Control: In addition to the satiating capabilities of fat and protein, research suggests that the keto diet may help suppress the hunger hormone, ghrelin. For people who are always hangry, this is a really big plus.

Read More: 30 Healthy Low-Carb Foods to Eat

The ketogenic diet is super high in fat (about 80 percent of your daily calories), super low in carbohydrates (less than 5 percent of your calories), and moderate in protein (typically 15 to 20 percent of your calories). This is a pretty drastic departure from the generally recommended macronutrient distribution of 20 to 35 percent protein, 45 to 65 percent carbohydrates, and 10 to 35 percent fat.

The most important component of the keto diet is a natural and normal process called ketosis. Normally, bodies run very well on glucose. Glucose is produced when the body breaks down carbohydrates. It’s a very simple process, which is why it’s the body’s preferred way to produce energy.

When you cut back on carbs or just haven’t eaten in a while, your body looks for other sources of energy to fill the void. Fat is typically that source. When your blood sugar drops because you’re not feeding your body carbs, fat is released from your cells and flood the liver. The liver turns the fat into ketone bodies, which your body uses as its second choice for energy.

What Foods Are in the Keto Diet?

A typical keto diet consists largely of:

• Meat
• Fish
• Butter
• Eggs
• Cheese
• Heavy cream
• Oils
• Nuts
• Avocados
• Seeds
• Low-carb green vegetables

This Ketogenic Diet leaves out all of your favorite carb-heavy foods, such as grains, rice, beans, potatoes, sweets, milk, cereals, fruits and even some vegetables.