If you’re not yet aware, the ketogenic diet has been making some big waves in the health community. Not only are people rapidly losing weight and getting great results through their own self experiments, there are a wide range of therapeutic benefits being discovered through new scientific studies as well.
Some reported benefits include:
- Rapid weight loss
- Decreased appetite
- Improved Diabetes symptoms
- Reduced inflammation
- Better memory
- Increased overall brain function
- Cancer treatments
- Reduced symptoms of Alzheimer’s & Parkinson’s diseases
- Seizure management for Epileptic patients
- Reversing Multiple Sclerosis symptoms like Terry Wahl’s did
- And a surprisingly large list of other benefits…
So What is the Ketogenic Diet?
The Ketogenic diet is a diet where FAT is used at the primary source of fuel by the body instead of glucose AKA sugar.
This process is called Nutritional Ketosis, pronounced KEY-TOE-SIS.
When you feed your body more fat than sugar/carbohydrate, ketones are produced by the liver. These ketones are used by your brain, muscles, and other cells of your body for fuel.
The body still uses a small amount of glucose (sugar/carbohydrate) for certain metabolic processes, but ketones are prioritized as the main fuel source when the majority of your calories come from fat.
In order to get into ketosis, you need to eat 50 grams or less of carbohydrate per day, a moderate amount of protein, and as much fat as you require to feel satiated.
Generally, 70-80% of your calories will come from fat, 15-20% will come from protein and 5%-10% will come from carbohydrate, though this could be a little different if you are a very active athlete.
Triathlete, Ben Greenfield, says that he can eat up to 175g of carbohydrate and still remain in Ketosis. When he begins eating too little carbs, his hormones start to go out of whack. Peter Attia has noticed similar results in his own self-experimentation.
Foods on the Ketogenic Diet
A typical ketogenic meal plan includes the following foods.
Organic products are recommended where possible, but if you can’t afford them, non-organic is fine too.
Animal Products
- Grassfed Beef
- Pasture Raised Pork
- Pasture Raised Chicken
- Fish
- Bison, Venison, Buffalo, and other game.
- Eggs
- Raw Cream
- Cheese
Fats/Oils
- Butter
- Coconut Oil
- Tallow
- Lard
- Red Palm Oil
- Olive Oil
- MCT Oil
Vegetables & Mushrooms
- Broccoli
- Asparagus
- Cabbage
- Kale
- Eat a wide variety of local vegetables while they are in season on a daily basis
Nuts/Seeds
- Almonds
- Macadamia Nuts
- Brazil Nuts
- Walnuts
Fruit
- Avocado
- Berries
- Lemons
- Limes
- Some people will not be able to handle fruit at all
Spices/Herbs
- Cumin
- Ginger
- Cinnamon
- Cayenne
- Etc…
Avoid
- All grains
- All legumes
- Tubers, some people may be able to tolerate small amounts of sweet potato
- Milk
- Sugar
- Processed foods
But Isn’t Eating Fat Going to Kill Me?
NOPE!
That theory, called the Lipid Hypothesis was originally proposed by Ancel Keys in the 1940s and has been proven to be incorrect.
Keys believed that dietary cholesterol and saturated fat increased a bad cholesterol called LDL cholesterol, and that by lowering blood cholesterol you could improve your risk of heart disease.
Thanks to new technologies and more rigorous scientific studies, we know that dietary cholesterol not only does not cause problems when eaten in appropriate quantities, but that is is NECESSARY for optimal health.
In fact, eating a ketogenic diet with appropriate amounts of healthy fats can actually improve people’s cholesterol values on their labs. It certainly helped me own cholesterol numbers.
Since debunking the Lipid Hypothesis is too big of a topic to get into in the context of this blog post. Check out Gary Taubes book Good Calories Bad Calories, for a detailed analysis of the Lipid Hypothesis.
The Healing Power of the Ketogenic Diet
Let’s face it, we live in a world where a lot of people are suffering from all types of diseases…Obesity, Cancer, Alzheimer’s, Metabolic Syndrome, Diabetes, Depression, the list almost never stops.
Often these diseases are treated with pharmaceutical drugs, leading to a huge list of side effects, causing people to suffer way more than they need to. Luckily, through the ketogenic diet, and other dietary strategies, we now have a therapeutic intervention without all the side effects, and it’s much cheaper.
For example, many people are suffering from Metabolic Syndrome, Diabetes, Hypoglycemia, and other blood sugar regulation disorders. These people don’t have the ability to process glucose (sugar) the same way a healthy individual would, so what normally could be used as fuel, actually causes harm to their body.
The ketogenic diet is a great intervention for these types of problems because the body can use ketones as the main fuel source INSTEAD of exclusively using glucose (sugar), leading to a reduction, and sometimes complete reversal of symptoms, allowing people to GET THEIR LIVES BACK.
All from eating a different way….NOW THAT IS POWERFUL.
Is the Ketogenic Diet Right For Me?
You can likely see by now that the Ketogenic diet goes well beyond weight loss alone, serving as a powerful therapeutic intervention that can help millions, potentially billions, across the globe, however it’s important to note that the ketogenic diet may not work for everyone.
Some people may experience negative reactions to eating a ketogenic diet, so it’s important to make sure you work with a doctor who understands your particular problem(s) and whether or not a ketogenic diet could help fix it.
Have you tried the Ketogenic diet? If so, how did it work for you?
Leave your comments and questions below!
References
Beyond weight loss: a review of the therapeutic uses of very-low-carbohydrate (ketogenic) diets
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3826507/
Long-term effects of a ketogenic diet in obese patients
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2716748/
Arguments In Favor Of Ketogenic Diets
http://www.nmsociety.org/docs/diabetes/arguments_in_favor_of_ketogenic_diets.pdf
Dietary carbohydrate restriction as the first approach in diabetes management: Critical review and evidence base
http://www.nutritionjrnl.com/article/S0899-9007(14)00332-3/fulltext
Hi Kelly, my macros when using the calculator… Carbs 40g
Protein 44g
Fats 85g
TDEE 1122cal
Should I lower my carbs or I should follow what is shown? I’m into weight lost.
Hi Susan, I would need to know more about your current health, height, weight etc. in order to suggest anything.
Are you in my Keto support group in FB? We can discuss it in the group.
Hi Kelly,
I would love to attempt Keto … but need help to start, such as the amt of fat / protein , etc to consume.
Hi Tammy, You can check out the Keto Calculator I have here on the website under the Resources tab.
Hi Kelly, thank you for your email. I have currently started this diet 2 weeks back. I am on my 3rd week now. Honestly speaking I do not weigh my food like how others do. However I can feel the difference in me which I can sleep better, and I feel energetic. Basically my meals in the morning is 3 soft boil eggs and a cup of BPF. For lunch I will have vege cooked with lard oil / meat and a cup of BPC. Is it wrong to have 2 cups of BPC per day? I rarely have dinner coz I sleep at 9pm everyday. I hope I am doing it right here.
Hope to hear from you soon. TQ
Hi Gwenda, How much fat you are adding into your BPC?
Depending on your personal goal. If you are feeling good just keep going.
Hi Kelly, I add a slap of butter, mct powder, mct oil & coconut oil. I used to add some whipping cream but I see some post are a little negative. Therefore I stopped.
My objective here is to wean off my BP tablets which I am taking a very minimal dosage. I do check my BP on a daily basis and it seems quite good .
Secondly, is to loose at least 8-10kg of weight. 🙂
Hi Gwenda, Keep carb very low, eat enough amount of protein according to your build, chose the fatty cut of meat or add good fat in your meals. If you are eating enough fat in your meals, there’s no need to add fat into your beverage. There’s nothing bad about the fat you mentioned.
Many came off BP med after adapted to Keto for a while. Do take your doctor advice about weaning off med.
Weight loss will eventually happen when the body rebalance itself.
Thanks Kelly. I’ve got a copy of your recipe book. I hope to loose some weight soon. Cheers!
Hi Kelly,
I did the Keto programme from 15 July to 23 July 2018. In order to monitor my food intake to meet the 10% carb/70% fat/20 protein ratio I use MyFitnessPal app which aided me to meet my daily ratio. I was pleasantly surprised at the health results. After the first two days, body felt lighter, decreased appetite, my energy and alertness improved as well as my sleep patterns (I have insomnia). Added bonus was skin texture improved and I lost 1.3kg when I did a weigh in on 23 July. Before I began on the programme I was concern on whether my body could handle the fat intake. Glad say my body responded well to the trial period I gave myself. I look forward learning how to manage dinning out with and stay within the programme. So much to learn about preparing Keto friendly cooking and figuring how I can managing dinning out meals. Taking baby steps in the Keto programme learning curve.
Hi Gloria, good to hear that you are doing well. Your willingness to learn and staying positive helps.
Hi Kelly
I am trying to start my keto diet before I introduce it to my family . But I am struggling with the percentage of fats , carbs and protein . I wonder what is the best way to manage this ? Is there a list of menu or what to eat for breakfast lunch and dinner ? So that I can preparing accordingly. Thank you
Hi Polline, Look for the Keto calculator on my website, do a personal macros calculation to give you an idea what is your macros grams. It will also show you the visual food portion size.
If you are in my support group, check out the FILE section, there is a document example to guide you how to prepare your portion of food base on macros proportion.
And, do check out the Keto Food List on this website too. Those are the foods and ingredients you can use to prepare your meal.
What’s not in the list, avoid it.
Hi Kelly, I would like to try this ketogenic diet, but I’m concern that if it does not work for me, I’ll gain even more weight..Also, is this suitable for breastfeeding mothers? Because I heard that to produce more milk, one needs more carb..
Hi Melissa, many people in my community is on this Keto eating lifestyle and have lose excess weight. It all depends your goal, and doing it correctly. You won’t know if is for you until you do it. Many breastfeeding mother also are eating good amount of protein and good fat and has problem with nursing.
Hi Kelly, I have already started keto for a good 54days . So far , am only seeing 2-3kg weight lose and slight inch reduction. Is this normal or am I eating wrongly to slow down the process . Am following the list of Food that are allow to be eaten .
Different people has different progress of health improvements. You eat well and you become healthier, weight lose may come later for some, especially if you don’t have a lot to lose. You can also check your daily macro intake to see if you are eating correctly.
Hi Kelly , Thank You for the advice . I am feeling very sad to see that my weight not going down for a good 2 months . Started well but now no progressment . Have checked my marco, 40g protein, 108fats,20g carb. I have followed closely still facing this challenge. I need to lost another 10kg to reach my ideal weight . Is there any program I can get from you to reach my goal .now daily intake: Eat 60gs of butter a day the rest of the fats and protein make up from veg and eggs . Meat only 1 meal lunch or dinner . Am I eating wrongly ?
Hi Mabel, Keto is a lifestyle. Given time, when your body begin to heal your weight would eventually balance out to ideal level.
Weight loss is not a straight line down trend once you embark on a Keto lifestyle, it goes up and down a bit, it stays the same for a while and it starts to move again. Keep doing and keep tweaking. Keep your carb low, eat the right amount of protein and just enough fat to stay satiated. If you are taking any medication, not sleeping enough, or having stress, it could also contribute to weight gain or weight stalled.
If you are in my support group, you may post your daily food portion photos to seek advice.
If you are looking for personal coaching, you can check out my coaching page on this website.
I have completed 6 weeks of the ketogenic diet. My energy level/mental fatigue/physical fatigue is really bad. I am walking like a real old lady — super slow.
I am excited to learn your recipes. I have in the past cooked mostly Japanese, Korean, and Chinese recipes and am interested to learn how to spruce up my keto cooking with more Asian flavors that I love. Being a carbo-holic until now, it is pretty painful to not eat carbs, but I am going to stick with it no matter what.
I have lost about 16 pounds in the last 6 weeks so that is gratifying.
Hang in there girl! Rest more, sleep more, and eat well. I was a carboholic too in the past. 😀 Now I can’t imagine why I’d like those starchy texture.
Thank you Kelly. I feel much better now. My energy level is picking up again. I figured out that I needed to take vitamins after reading “The new Atkins for a new you.” I started supplementing with a multivitamin, omega 3, vitamin D and magnesium at night.
Hi Kelly , I would like to try on this health benefit eating habits but I am currently on hypertension medicine ( concor 5mg ) , would it be advisable to go on kerogenic?Thank you .
Hi Glady, many hypertensive people in my support group has adapted ketogenic way of eating and reported improvement of blood pressure. Some even has gotten approval from their doctor to stop medication because their blood pressure became normal after a few months of consistent keto.
Hi Kelly, to prepare snack and food to eat in office, hard boiled eggs are possibly the easiest for me. Any guideline to share on how many whole eggs can we eat a day? if eggs is the main protein for that day? (something no time to cook other meat). Thanks!
It depends on what’s your daily protein intake. One egg is about 7 gram protein, if your daily protein gram is 50g, for example, you can eat up to 7 eggs a day. Egg is a good source of protein, but do also get protein from meat and seafood too for variety.
if I used to mix some milk with the yougurt and oat, can I replace the milk with soy bean?
Oat is not low carb. You can use unsweetened almond milk.
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Hi Kelly, notice that Milk is an item under the “Avoid” list. Is there a particular reason for it? Thanks!
Hi Ming, full cream/whole milk contain high lactose, which is consider a form of sugar. 1 cup contains 12g carb.
My family and I have been on the ketogenic diet for more than a month eating an egg omelette for breakfast fried in coconut oil with a filling of fried polony cut in strips,bits of green pepper,chopped mushrooms,a few pices of avo and a bit of cheese(everything less than half a cup).we skip lunch & for supper we have chicken fried in its own fat & some veg eg.courgettes & green beans,cauliflower & broccoli fried in either olive oil or coconut oil.we have not lost any weight or cm in fact we have all gained weight. We can’t afford a dietician.Can please tell me what we doing wrong. My husband has become very despondend & just want to go back to his old ways & he is dragging we down with him & it feels like we have lost all hope. Please advise us where we going wrong because the food we eat do keep us full & we are not feeling hungry at all.
Hi Amina, there could be many reason. From your brief description of food intake, the ingredients seems right so far.
Do you know how many grams of carb, fat and protein you are eating daily? Higher carb intake than you expect or excess protein intake could hinder weight lose. Any cheat during the month? How many time you ate out during the month and the possible hidden carb? Any existing health concern? Are you under any stress, medication, or getting enough sleep every night? Those factors are some of the contributor to weight gain/weight stalled.
There are two ways I’ll propose I can help. One, you can join my support group in Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/eatliveandlovelowcarb/. Usually members post their daily meals to get feedback and than do correction. It works for many people when they realized the mistake, they learn to correct it and result shows eventually. I think this could help you.
Or, you can consider my coaching package for only $67.70 and I’ll help you to restart it correctly.
Please do not get discourage at this point. This is a lifestyle change and the first one month is only a learning curve. And you are eating good healthy food anyways.
Send a join request at the group and I’ll make sure to pay attention to your post. See you there!