What is the ketogenic diet? Or what is commonly designated as keto. The Ketogenic Diet is a nutritional lifestyle that restricts carbohydrates from the calorie equation. For instance, what you do in this case is: you don’t eat carbs and rely mainly on Fats and Proteins with a ratio of 80/20. This means that 80% of your calories will be extracted from fats while 20% will come from proteins. You could also opt for a 75/20/5 ratio that keeps carbs at a very low intake. The main theory behind the Ketogenic Diet is to get your body into the ketosis state, where the body switches from Carbs to Fats when relying on its first source of energy. And this will be promoting fat loss in the first place. Nonetheless, one should be aware that if the goal is weight loss, there is no substitute for the calorie deficit. Therefore, if you wish to lose weight by adopting the Keto diet, make sure you’re on a calorie deficit strategy.
What to eat?
For those willing to give the Keto lifestyle a try, focus on eating the following foods:
- Avocado = Fats
- Eggs = Fats and Protein
- Full-Fat cheese = Fats, and Protein
- Grilled Chicken = Protein
- Patty Fish, salmon, for example, = Protein and Fats
- Non-starchy veggies = Broccoli, Mushrooms, peppers, etc.
- Condiments including spices
What to avoid?
When consuming mainly fats and some proteins, you clearly need to avoid all types of slow digestive carbs such as sweet potatoes, pasta, rice, etc.
In addition, opt to shun the unhealthy types of fats, since the main goal is to stay healthy, and loading the unhealthy fats intake won’t help!
For drinks, mainly load up on water, tea, and black coffee. It is obvious that all intakes are to be consumed without sugar.
