Ultimate guide to keto diet in 2020

What Is Keto Diet?

The Keto diet is the newest hype and the sensation of the day. Interest in it among the dieticians is exploding with every passing day. It is a popular weight loss diet. In fact, many people adopt it not only for weight loss but as a healthy lifestyle since it has various benefits. Today we will take a look at:

• What does keto diet mean?
• How does keto work?
• What to eat on a keto diet?
• Potential keto diet side effects

But before getting into all this, let’s take a look at what exactly is a keto diet.

What Is Keto Diet?

Simply put, the keto diet is low in carbohydrates, moderate in proteins, and rich in dietary fats eating regimens. We take in various macromolecules through the food we eat. A ketogenic diet plan comprises about:

• 75% of dietary fats
• 20% proteins, and
• a small number of carbohydrates (only 5-10% depending on an individual’s tolerance)

This ratio is prone to variations. Anyway, the ratio should be the one that kicks in the process of ketosis.

Keto Diet Explained

Our body requires fuel to work just like any machine. This fuel comes from two sources: sugars and fats. Normally the body generates energy from the sugar burning mode as sugars burn easily. The body gets its fuel by turning carbohydrates into glucose, a quick energy source. However, in a keto diet, the consumption of carbs is low and the body’s glucose levels fall and it cannot act as the body’s fuel source. Thus, the body has to shift from burning sugars to consuming fats (ketones) as an energy source. The process whereby fat molecules are converted to ketones is called ketosis and this is where the ketogenic diet gets its name from.

How Does Ketosis Work?

When the body runs out of sugar (primary energy source), it shifts to the ketosis mode. In the process of ketosis, the liver converts fats into ketones which act as the body’s power source. This is also called the fat-burning state. This fat comes from dietary fats intake or fats that are accumulated in the body. And that’s how it can help with weight loss. This high fat low carb diet helps in reducing and maintaining weight without having to suffer from hunger pangs.

Is Keto Diet Same As Atkins Diet?

Both the Atkins and Keto diet is a low carb dietary regimen. This is why people often confuse the one with the other. Are both these diets the same? No! Although both have a lower proportion of carbohydrates, a significant difference between the two is marked by the ratio of protein.

In the Atkins diet, the amount of protein intake is not limited. If a good amount of protein is present in the body, through the process of gluconeogenesis proteins are converted to glucose. And the ketosis does not kick in. For the body to shift to ketosis, there needs to be low carbohydrates and only a moderate amount of proteins in the body. Therefore, the ketogenic diet foods are those which have a higher ratio of fats than proteins and carbohydrates.

How To Know If Keto Diet Is Working?

If you have recently started a keto diet for beginners meal plan, you may probably wonder how to tell if ketosis has kicked in or not. Well, our body itself gives certain signals to indicate that it has shifted to the fat-burning mode. Here are 5 signs that show that you are in a ketosis state:

• You may get keto flu if you haven’t taken the preparatory measures.
• You might observe a rapid weight loss in the first two weeks. It happens because your body will get rid of fluids as the glycogen stores are exhausted.
• You may get the keto breath due to acetones which are formed along with ketones.
• You will probably feel full most of the time and won’t have hunger pangs.
• Your performance may reduce in the beginning but gradually it improves and results in better focus.

Experiencing such symptoms ensure that the process of ketosis has kicked in and you are on your path to a healthy keto diet.

Keto Diet And Keto Supplements

The ketosis is a state which is associated with elevated levels of ketones. A state in which your body enters when it lacks the primary source of energy i.e glucose(sugar). The source of fuel in this state is fats and not carbohydrates. In this state, your body undergoes changes that bring about weight loss. This is a common reason why people deliberately put their body into ketosis.

Now, the body can enter ketosis following two typical ways. One, as mentioned above, via a ketogenic diet. You now know how a keto diet puts your body into ketosis as it’s already explained above. This is known as endogenous ketosis where ketones are produced in the body as a result of lipolysis. This a process where free fatty acids (FFAs) are released into the liver where they are converted into ketones. The ketone bodies produced in a ketogenic state are:

• Beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB)
• Acetoacetate (AcAc)
• Acetone

As opposed to endogenous ketosis also known as ketogenesis, the other way to enter ketosis is called exogenous ketosis. As the name indicates, in exogenous ketosis the ketones are obtained from an outside source. The exogenous ketones that are obtained from a synthetic source outside the body, are consumed in the form of supplements. It could either be direct via exogenous ketones supplementation or indirect via keto supplements serving as precursors.

Keto Supplements: A Source of Exogenous ketones

With keto supplements, your body needs not to be in a ketogenic state. Instead, you can consume ketogenic precursors or ketones exogenously. The exogenous ketones come in the same form as the ketone ones produced during ketogenesis such as acetoacetate or BHB. Fatty acids such as Medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) are precursors to ketones. The source of such precursors is food such as coconut oil. The exogenous ketones are structurally the same as the endogenous ketones with almost the same keto benefits including weight loss.

The keto supplements mimic the same ketosis as the one achieved through a ketogenic diet. With the consumption of exogenous ketones, you don’t necessarily need to follow a ketogenic diet, restrict carb intake or go fasting. You can achieve the benefits of ketosis without modifying your diet by consuming keto diet pills, keto capsules, or keto energy drinks. They keep blood ketone levels elevated for a considerably longer period of time when consumed consistently.

Apart from that, you can also consume exogenous ketones on a ketogenic diet for an ultra-fast keto boost. It is possible that you might be unable to produce the desired levels of blood ketones with dietary restrictions. To kick it off, you can superimpose endogenous ketones with exogenous ketones by consuming keto boost pills. By supplementing the ketogenic diet, you boost the ketosis resulting in higher blood ketones levels. People also take them when they begin their keto diet to achieve ketosis in comparatively less time. Hence, they can also be called ketogenic accelerators as they keto fuel ketogenesis.

Forms Of Ketone Supplements

The ketone supplements are available in the following two forms:

• Ketone Salts: As the name suggests, these are are the ketones that are linked to salts. The Keto formula of all the keto salts varies. However, the most common salts found in combination include potassium, sodium, magnesium, and calcium. They are mostly available in powder forms that are mixed with liquid to make a keto energy drink.
• Ketone Esters: Packaged in liquid form, these are bound to compounds called esters. They are not as popular as ketone salts and are mainly used for research purposes.

Best Keto Diet Supplements

Keto supplements are fairly effective in inducing ketosis. Apart from that, they can also kick-start ketogenesis when consumed along with the ketogenic diet. The supplements such as keto tablets, keto advanced weight loss pills, and keto fats can give keto boost to the process. Moreover, you can also use supplements to fill in the keto nutritional deficiencies created due to dietary restrictions. The supplements also help with the side effects associated with your keto diet. Some of the most common supplements known for their benefits are:

• Medium-chain triglyceride oil
• Magnesium supplements
• Electrolytes
• Fiber supplements
• Omega-3 fatty acids
• Digestive enzymes
• L-theanine

4 Tips To Make Keto Diet Plan

Sketching out a keto diet plan is a big fuss. But following these tips will help to make this uphill task easier for you and help you with your weight loss without exercise. Are you not shedding weight after following a keto diet menu plan or you are just going to adopt a ketogenic lifestyle? No matter whether you are a beginner or not. Let us get straight into the tips that you should always keep in mind when making a keto diet plan.

1) What Are Your Goals?

Before sketching out a plan, it is best to know about your goals. You may have heard a keto diet as one of the easiest ways to lose weight without exercise. But it has other benefits as well. Here are a few of them.

• Weight Loss
• Improved Health
• Enhanced Performance

Among these, weight loss without exercise is the most prominent reason you would follow a keto meal plan. This low carb, high-fat diet is one of the best ways to lose weight fast without exercise. So, if you have decided your goals, let us delve into what you should or should not add in your keto diet meal plan.

2) Calculate Your Calorie Requirements

Not every easy keto meal plan available on the internet is really the best one for you. Every individual’s calorie requirements, goals, and metabolism differs from other persons. Don’t jump the bandwagon and copy other people’s plans. Instead, use the calorie calculators online to figure out your daily calorie requirements. Then make keto your accordingly. Normally, people prefer a 1200 calorie keto meal plan. But if you really want to lose weight without exercise, it is best to make your keto diet menu after setting your daily calorie goal.

3) Steer Clear Of Starchy Vegetables In Your Keto Diet Plan

Starch is one of the main carbohydrates which should not be in your keto meal plan. As the goal of the keto meal plan is to have foods with low carbs, starchy vegetables can be a big problem. Beginners may find it tough to exclude all such vegetables from their keto diet plan. But it is crucial and can have a huge impact on your ketogenic lifestyle. It is best to add cabbage, broccoli, tomato, and other non-starchy vegetables in your keto meal plan instead of the starchy ones. It is because the starchy vegetables are 3-4 times richer in carbohydrates than the non-starchy ones.

4) Add Proteins In Your Keto Meal Plan

Typically, a keto meal plan for beginners does not contain foods with proteins in them. It is because the classic keto diet menu did not have such foods to treat kids with epilepsy. So the keto diet menu for beginners still lacks protein-rich contents. But your goal is weight loss without exercise and not to treat epilepsy. Experts agree that you should have 10-20% protein foods in your keto menu. Protein helps to control your appetite and helps you against weight regain. Eggs are one of the versatile and healthiest foods to use in a keto plan with 6 grams of protein in a single healthy egg.

Keto Diet For Vegetarians

Are you a vegetarian who is trying to adapt to ketogenic diets? Well, it is possible to make the best of both lifestyles. It can be challenging for some people to maintain a vegetarian keto diet plan without common fats. But, especially for those who are well-prepared and well-informed it certainly is achievable and sustainable.

Guide to the Vegetarian Keto Diet Meal Plan

• Vegetables

Eat tons of low carb vegetables. You can go for all types of mushrooms, leafy greens like spinach and kale, and above-ground vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower. Other keto vegan meal plans also include avocados, seaweeds, nuts and seeds, and fermented foods like kimchi and sauerkraut. These keto veggies can go with any kind of ketogenic diet plan.

• Plant-Based Fats

You must get at least 70% of your calories from plant-based fats. Avoid sour cream, ghee, bacon, or lard as much as you can. Fortunately, many monounsaturated fats such as coconut, avocado oil plant-based butter, and MCT are entirely healthy plant-based fats.

• Vegetarian Keto Diet without Eggs

There are various vegan egg replacements that are pretty convincing. These egg replacers can be used to bake keto-friendly cookies, cakes, and muffins. Some of the flax egg recipes also include scrambled eggs or omelets.

Keto Vegetarian Recipes

• Caprese Salad Keto

Remove the seeds and chop up the tomatoes into small squares. Then take your buffalo mozzarella and chop that up into squares as well. Put chopped mozzarella and tomatoes into a bowl. Now put 5 grams of pine nuts and a tablespoon of headbangers kitchen pesto. Then give all of that a good mix. That’s it, your keto Caprese salad is ready.

• Creamed Spinach Keto

Get your olive oil nice and hot then add spinach. Chop up the spinach if you want a creamier taste. Season it with some pepper and salt. Once the spinach has wilted add a knob of butter and put some cream over that. Cook keto creamy spinach out for a minute and your keto creamed spinach is ready.

Best Vegan Keto Cookbooks

• Vegetarian Diet Meal Plan

If you are looking for a more comprehensive intake then you should buy a keto diet for vegetarians books. Ketotarian meal plan is one of the best vegan keto cookbooks in the market. Ketotarian will cole include over 75 keto diet recipes vegetarian which can be of great assistance.

• Liz MacDowell Keto

Another keto diet for vegetarians book that offers varieties of vegetarian keto meals. It has over 60 recipes that you can add to your keto vegan food list. All of the recipes are meat, dairy and eggs free making it quite suitable for people who are on a keto diet vegetarian plan. So, if you are looking on how to start a vegetarian keto diet then the vegan keto book Liz MacDowell is a perfect guide for you.

Challenges Keto Vegetarian

The most important part of achieving a nutritional keto diet plan veg is to keep the carbs low. This is achieved by keeping the carbs below 20 to 30 grams of net carbs per day. This is where most of the vegetarians face a challenge. Because many vegetarians are used to getting protein from legumes like beans and lentils.

Many vegetarians are used to eating a lot of fruits which are mostly high in sugar. So, in a vegetarian keto diet meal plan fruits should be replaced by vegetables that are high in nutrients. If you are not getting enough protein it may not be a bad idea to use protein powders like whey protein.

So, be cautious and analyze the effects of the vegetarian keto plan before jumping on the bandwagon.

4 Side Effects Of Keto Diet

The keto diet is one of the best diets in the world. A “deserving title” perhaps, but you can never be sure. Alongside the benefits of the keto diet, it has numerous side effects. One should not take the keto diet side effects lightly. As they can create a lot of problems for an individual. So, what are these side effects of keto pills that everybody ignores?

A) Keto Flu

We all know that the keto diet changes your body state into ketosis. In the state of ketosis, your body has to burn ketones. Due to these changes, a person may not feel well. Thus, given the name keto flu or keto flu fever. The keto flu symptoms are:

• Keto flu headache
• Keto flu sore throat
• Insomnia
• Dizziness
• Issues in the digestive system

The keto flu symptoms mostly last for a few days or a few weeks. In some cases, the keto flu symptoms can also last for a month. So, how can you prevent the keto flu? The basic way to avoid the keto flu is to do the keto diet at a slow pace. Switch to the low carb diet slowly, so that your body can have time to adjust.

B) Ketoacidosis

The ketoacidosis can be life-threatening. Ketoacidosis comes in the domain of metabolic acidosis. Basically, people with type one or two diabetes can be the victims of deadly ketoacidosis. Ketoacidosis occurs when there is a storage of a large amount of ketones in your body. To carry out the process, your body has to produce acid to burn fat.

This makes the blood of the human body too acidic. This can damage your liver, kidneys, and brain. Some common DKA symptoms can be: dry mouth, frequent urination, nausea, and breathing difficulties. If one does not take the DKA treatment sincerely, the outcome can be disastrous. Moreover, many people have encountered ketoacidosis without diabetes as well.

C) Diarrhea

When one goes for the keto diet, the amount of fiber in the body can get low. This happens due to the reduction of carbs. This can make the consumer an easy target for keto diarrhea. Another cause of low carb diet diarrhea can be the intolerance to dairy or artificial sweeteners. Further, keto diarrhea is not the only threat. Many people experience keto bloating, constipation, and painful cramping.

The diarrhea with keto can be painful, and it may take some time to get things back on track. But, how to avoid diarrhea on keto? You can prevent keto diarrhea by increasing your amount of fiber intake during the keto diet. You should eat those things that do not impact your keto diet. Such as nuts, leafy greens, seeds, and cruciferous veggies. Also, try to avoid dairy consumption.

D) Risk Of Heart Attack

Many doctors believe that a low carb diet may raise the cholesterol level of a person. Individuals who go for the keto diet may also get diagnosed with cancer. Furthermore, consuming a lot of fats can take you a step closer to a keto heart attack. Besides, many people have witnessed an escalation in their heart rate. You may encounter keto heart palpitations during the first few weeks of your ketogenic diet. The actual cause for the keto diet risk of heart attack is dehydration. As well as the reduction in salt consumption.