People are constantly searching for effective ways to lose weight, and a diet that contains cheese, bacon, and juicy steaks will not necessarily scream weight loss to everyone. But the keto diet does just that: it helps you to lose weight while you consume more fats and proteins and fewer carbohydrates.
HOW DOES THE KETO DIET WORK?
The keto diet is a low-carb, high-fat, and moderate-protein diet that puts your body in a fat-burning state known as ketosis. Ketosis is a metabolic state that occurs when your body does not have enough glycogen (stored glucose) to use as energy due to your reduced carb intake. Fat stores will then be burned to use as energy instead of glucose. As a result, ketones will form, which serve as an alternative source of energy for the brain, heart, and muscle. The process of staying in ketosis rapidly increases the amount of fat you burn during rest, daily activity, and exercise. This will ultimately help you to burn more fat and lose more weight.
In basic terms: the foundation of this diet is to get more calories from proteins and fats and less from carbohydrates. This will help your body to use its fat stores for energy instead of sugar, which is the body’s preferred energy source.
THE KETO DIET AND YOUR WEIGHT-LOSS JOURNEY
While the keto diet seems quite simple to follow, if you want to lose weight, you should ensure that your body stays in its state of ketosis by only consuming about 20 to 30 grams of carbohydrates a day, eating more fats, exercising more, avoiding snacks, and drinking more water.
The standard keto diet receives around 70% of its total energy (kJ/calories) from fat, 20% from protein, and 10% from carbohydrates. Alternatively, the classic ketogenic diet can also be viewed as containing a 4:1 ratio of fat to protein and carbohydrates, respectively.
WHEN WILL YOUR BODY REACH KETOSIS?
As with all diets, you will not lose weight overnight, but you can follow the timeline below as a guideline to see when you will achieve a state of ketosis.
- 12 to 24 hours: The ketone production starts.
- 1 to 2 days: Accelerated metabolism of remaining carbs and sugars in the body.
- 2 to 4 days: You will experience an increased probability of temporary low energy and hunger as glycogen is depleted.
- 4 to 7 days: The transition into the ketogenic state is complete.
- Day 7: Your body is now actively burning fat for fuel and signs of weight loss will start showing.
- Week 2: You will experience decreased hunger, more energy, enhanced fat loss, and accelerated metabolism.
- Week 3: Progressively increased fat burning and mental clarity.
- Week 4–5: Your body will experience its optimum fat burning and will be in the ketogenic state.
WILL THE KETO DIET WORK FOR YOU?
The keto diet can be great for people who want to manage their weight and blood sugar levels. It is however important to remember that reducing carbohydrates and increasing proteins and fats are not always as easy as it seems. If you are still not sure if this diet is for you, have a look at the benefits below:
- It can result in rapid weight loss by burning fat instead of carbohydrates.
- It can provide sustained energy.
- It can support blood glucose levels and increase insulin sensitivity.
- Due to its high protein and fat content, it is known to reduce cravings.
- It may increase levels of “good” HDL cholesterol.
- It may reduce the “bad” LDL cholesterol levels.
As with every diet, the keto diet will only be effective if it forms part of a training plan and a kilojoule-controlled eating plan.
Do you want to accelerate your body’s fat-burning state? Visit our website to add our keto products to your diet.
This post was first published at https://usn.co.za/life-articles/weight-loss-on-the-keto-diet-what-to-expect/