Some How’s and Why’s of a Ketogenic Diet

Admittedly, I had a challenging time of wrapping my head around why a Ketogenic Diet is good for us. I bought the Low-Fat Lie years ago and also lived happily, yet overweight, as a vegetarian and vegan. So when a friend of mine’s hubby, a renown  rheumatologist at Mayo Clinic advised me to go on a Keto Diet not only to help an inflammatory condition from which I was suffering but to “lose the weight!”--  I was shocked.  How can eating low carb and high fat be healthy?  Well it certainly is, so let’s explore the how’s and why’s.
 
The best way I came to understand, and be comfortable with this lifestyle change was to look at ketones as fuel.  What kind of fuel will we use to run the amazing mechanism known as the human body and what effect will it have on our health?
 
One type of fuel, formed by carbohydrates is glucose.  This is the fuel we use when we are on a low fat diet.  It is what most of us are, or were used to.  Carbohydrates turn into glucose that is stored as glycogen in the liver and muscle tissue.  This then is our energy source.
 
During the last decades this carbohydrate heavy, low fat diet was touted by the U.S. government and organizations such as the American Heart Association.  Guidelines and food pyramids recommended that we use glucose as our fuel.  But to what end?
 
These recommendations ushered in the obesity epidemic and a raise in heart disease, diabetes (especially type 2) and inflammatory diseases, along with brain diseases such as dementia. Big Pharma and other corporations got richer and we got sicker.
 
This brings us to another type of fuel known as Ketones.   Ketones are formed when your body has access to fat (via a high fat diet) and burns this fat as an alternative fuel source to glucose.  The cool thing about being in Ketosis is that you convert your body from being a sugar burner to a fat burner.  I’ll explain why this is a good thing.
 
Ketosis is a metabolic state that happens when you eat a very low-carb, moderate protein, and high fat diet that causes your body to switch from using glucose as its primary source of fuel to using ketones.  It is a completely normal metabolic state and not to be confused with ketoacidosis which is a life threatening metabolic state, especially for type 1 Diabetics.  
 
Ketogenic diets work to decrease stored areas of fat, especially in our midsection.  This visceral fat that accumulates around our belly is very dangerous and increases our risk for heart disease, diabetes and inflammation.  By eliminated this fatty area, we are ramping up our health and reducing our chances of the aforementioned diseases.
 
Recall that I started Keto due to an almost crippling inflammation that amazingly disappeared after my first week following this Ketogenic lifestyle.  My Type 2 diabetes also reversed and disappeared.  Yay!
 
Some of the things people notice while living a Ketogenic lifestyle are as follows:
 
Reduction of cravings and hunger.  The high fat diet tends to reduce both.  I find that I eat far less food and less often because I am just not hungry.  And my portion sizes are quite small.  Now that being said, sometimes my meals are so delicious, I could eat the entire recipe, so I still have to be conscious of my lack of hunger and store the rest of the recipe for leftovers.  I store it in small containers so I can just grab a container for lunch on the go or a quick dinner.
 
Increased energy.  Yep. First, fat burning seems to increase our energy levels but also, loss of weight helps us to feel more energetic too since we are not carrying around all those pounds.
 
Clarity in thinking.  We lose that mental fog that comes with eating sugar – the spikes, the coma feeling, the crash and burn feeling – gone.
 
Better sleep.  I don’t know why –yet.  I’ll research this later.  But many, including myself, enjoy a better quality of sleep.   And, I sleep with 7 dogs so this says a lot.  
 
There is a lot to learn to understand the complexity of the human body and the effects of our various sources of fuel – glucose vs. ketones.  I hope the above gives you some insight into the benefits of converting your fuel sources.  We will explore more elements of the Ketogenic diet each week in this blog.
 
Feel free to let me know your questions.  You can contact me at:  InspiringKetoCoach@gmail.com.
 
 
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Please forward this to anyone you know who is interested, or should be, in the Keto lifestyle.


Small Print: I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on the internet. My opinions are just that.  I frequent Google and read lots of articles on health and wellness. We all need to be proactive when it comes to our health.  Check things out for your self and/or find a doctor who is savvy on non-Big Pharma nutrition. ​​
 

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