Everything About The Ketogenic Diet & 3-DAY PLAN To Get You Started

What is the ketogenic diet?

The ketogenic diet is a special form of a reduced-carbohydrate (low-carb) diet. This form of nutrition is defined by the fact that special molecules are created in the body: the ketone bodies.

What is ketosis?

Ketosis is the metabolic state in which there is an increased amount of ketone bodies in the blood.

Definition of ketosis: A metabolic state in which the concentration of the ketone bodies in the blood is above normal.

This ketone concentration in the blood is known as ketosis:

• <0.2 mmol / l no ketosis (= normal value)

• 0.2-0.5 mmol / l of light ketosis

• 0.5-3.0 mmol / l ketosis (achievable through a ketogenic diet)

• 3.0-6.0 mmol / l ketosis (achievable through a strict ketogenic diet, fasting or the addition of MCT oil)

What are ketone bodies?

Ketone bodies are special molecules. They are created in the liver from fatty acids and serve as a source of energy. The brain, muscles and other tissues can break down the ketone bodies and generate energy from them.

The 3 ketone bodies are:

• Beta-hydroxybutyrate

• Acetoacetate

• acetone

The ketone body acetone is exhaled through the breath. The other two ketone bodies serve as an energy source and can be converted into one another.

Ketone bodies are water-soluble and can therefore be transported particularly well through the blood. They can cross the blood-brain barrier via special transporter channels and are thus absorbed into the brain, where they supply energy.

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Is Ketosis a Diet?

“Ketosis” in itself is not a diet. It is "just" a metabolic state in which there are more ketone bodies in the blood than normal. The "ketogenic diet" or "ketogenic diet" is of course a diet.

The word "diet" means nothing else than "diet". Diet is not always a weight loss regimen. There may also be medical diets. For example, the ketogenic diet is used to treat epilepsy in childhood. The ketogenic diet was developed for precisely this purpose over 100 years ago.

What are the benefits of the ketogenic diet?

The ketogenic diet has numerous benefits. By avoiding many carbohydrates, the metabolism is changed. The body learns to use fat and ketone bodies as energy sources instead of carbohydrates and sugar.

Insulin levels are very low, which is why fat cells are very willing to release fatty acids. These fatty acids can then be burned directly by the muscles or converted into ketone bodies in the liver.

Benefits of the ketogenic diet:

• Slight blood sugar fluctuations

• Consistently low insulin levels

• High fat burning

• Improved fat metabolism

• Improved endurance performance

• Ketone bodies as an energy source for the brain

• Less cravings

• Increased feeling of satiety

• Less concentration fluctuations

These are just a few of the benefits of the ketogenic diet. It supports a decrease but also an increased well-being through various mechanisms. The ketogenic diet can be anti-inflammatory, which can help improve a puffy face and blemishes.

Ketone bodies can have a neuroprotective effect in the brain - i.e. protect nerve cells - and thus have a positive effect on the course of individual diseases.

How many carbohydrates can I eat with "Keto"?

The amount of carbohydrates that are allowed in a ketogenic diet is individual. Even if it is often claimed, the amount of carbohydrates does not define a ketogenic diet. One often reads “Keto, that's less than 20 g of carbohydrates” or “Keto, that's less than 5% carbohydrates”.

While it is true that you have to lower your carbohydrate intake, that alone is not the definition of the ketogenic diet, but a means to an end. It's a rough rule of thumb that can be very helpful in everyday life, but not set in stone. A diet can also be ketogenic with 30 g of carbohydrates or 50 g of carbohydrates - as long as it individually stimulates the production of ketone bodies for you.

A good start is to limit the amount of carbohydrates to 30 g per day and split this 30- grams over 3 meals. For example 6 g in the morning, 12 g at noon and 12 g in the evening.

> > Do you want to get your Custom Keto Diet Plan? Please, click here to get it.

How much protein can I eat with "Keto"?

During digestion, protein is broken down into its individual components - the amino acids. These amino acids are then incorporated into the body's own structures, for example into the muscles. If more amino acids are absorbed than the body needs, they are metabolized and “burned” into energy.

To do this, amino acids are first converted into glucose - sugar! In this way, excess protein also increases blood sugar and insulin levels and prevents ketosis.

15-20% protein in your diet is a good guideline - depending on how sporty you are, how high your overall energy requirement is and whether you want to lose weight.

You shouldn't go below 0.8 grams of protein per kg of body weight. You don't have to (and shouldn't) eat a 300 g turkey steak with every meal like a bodybuilder.

How much fat should I eat with "Keto"?

Fat is your main source of energy in a ketogenic diet. It is often claimed that more fat leads to more ketosis and higher fat burning, and that the more fat in your diet you lose weight even better. Not quite.

Ketosis occurs because you are low in carbohydrates and low in protein. The body can now either absorb the fat through food or dissolve it from your fat cells.

"So I can just do without fat and only consume the necessary amount of carbohydrates and protein and lose weight EVEN faster?" No, it's not that simple.

Suppose you eat 30 g of carbohydrates per day and let's say you have a total energy requirement of 2000 kcal. If you now consume 15% protein, that's 75 g per day. 30 g of carbohydrates and 75 g of protein add up to 420 kcal. Really little.

To avoid slipping into a harmful calorie deficit, you need to consume high-quality fats with every meal - more than you may be used to. To get to the 2000 kcal, you would have to consume 1580 kcal in the form of fat, i.e. 175 g per day.

Fat is an important basis for your hormone production and essential for the brain to notice that you are well supplied with energy. If you were to consume only 1200, 1000 or fewer calories per day, this would signal your brain that there was famine and it would reduce your metabolism. Even though you eat less, you lose weight worse.

Especially at the beginning of the transition, the release of fatty acids from the body's own fat reserves is very slow. However, free fatty acids are necessary to build up stable ketosis, because fatty acids are the starting material for ketone bodies.

This is why your ketosis benefits, especially at the beginning, from the fatty acids that you take in from outside with your food. These are also partially converted into ketone bodies in the liver and your body can train the production and processing of ketone bodies before your own fat burning is fully started.

3-DAY plan for a quick ketosis

Day 1: Empty your carbohydrate stores

• Radically cut carbohydrate sources (fruit, pasta, juices ...)

• On the plate: 2/3 green vegetables, 1/3 high quality protein source, 1-2 spoons of coconut oil

• In the evening: 60 minutes of strength training until exhaustion

Day 2: build ketone bodies

• Morning: 60 minutes of endurance training, moderate

• Breakfast: 3 eggs, 20 g pasture butter, 200 g cucumber

• Lunch / dinner: 2/3 green vegetables, 1/3 high-quality protein source, 1-2 spoons of coconut oil

Day 3: Increase ketosis

• In the morning: butter coffee with 20 g pasture butter, 1 tablespoon MCT oil

• 4-5 hours break between meals

• Lunch / dinner: 2/3 green vegetables, 1/3 high-quality protein source, 1-2 spoons of coconut oil

How can I measure ketosis?

To begin with, it is advisable to measure your ketosis to get a good sense of what ketosis feels like. If you have already been in ketosis for a few months, you will notice when you are "in" even without a measurement.

There are 3 methods for classic measurement:

• Measurement of ketone bodies in the urine

• Measurement of ketone bodies in the blood

• Measurement of ketone bodies in the air we breathe

The measurement in urine is the cheapest, as the test strips are not very expensive in the pharmacy. However, only those ketone bodies that the body has excreted are detected in the urine. The better the body can use ketone bodies for energy, the fewer ketone bodies are excreted in the urine.

As the keto adaptation increases, the concentration in the urine decreases.

The measurement of the blood concentration is more reliable and always gives an exact picture of how high the ketone concentration actually is. So I recommend a blood ketone meter that works like a blood glucose meter. There are combination devices for blood sugar and blood ketone concentrations with special test strips for measuring ketosis.

Advanced users and those who are interested in a long-term, regular measurement of ketosis can use a breath ketone meter: A device that measures the concentration of acetone in the breath and can thus draw conclusions about the blood ketone body concentration. Due to the high initial cost, it is definitely a device for advanced use.

> > Do you want to get your Custom Keto Diet Plan? Please, click here to get it.