What is a Ketogenic Diet?

Simply put, the ketogenic diet is a high-fat, moderate-protein and low-carbohydrate diet.

WHY HIGH FAT?

For the last five to six decades, we have been told to avoid fat and unfortunately dietary fat has become synonymous with fat cells in our bodies.  However, the last 5 decades have seen a HUGE increase in metabolic syndromes throughout the world. Metabolic syndromes are non-communicable diseases such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, cardio vascular diseases, rheumatic arthritis, dementia and even cancer. On this diet, we derive our energy from fat. That is why on this diet, you will lose weight as your energy will be derived from the fat stores in your body. You replace carbohydrates with fat so that you feel comfortably full and not hungry for long periods of time.

WHY MODERATE PROTEIN?

Just like fats are essential for our health, protein is the next most important macronutrient for your body. It not only builds muscles; our bodies are made up of protein: muscles, bones, organs, even hormones. But proteins should be included in our diet only in moderation as excess proteins, like carbohydrates, are also converted into glycogen and stored in the liver to eventually lead to a  fatty liver.

 You eat more of the items at the bottom of the page and very little of the items at the tip of the triangle.

LOW CARB.

We eat an excess of carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are converted to glucose, which triggers insulin production and excess glucose is stored as glycogen in the liver and then as fat in the rest of our body. Our body can only carry 1 tsp of glucose at any point in time. However, we eat enough carbohydrates a day that pumps 50 tsp of glucose a day. And we store all the excess carbohydrates as fat and eventually excess insulin production leads to insulin resistance – fatty liver, pre-diabetes, diabetes and other metabolic syndromes.

Reduction of weight on a Keto diet is 2.5 times more than on a low-fat diet.