The Benefits of The Ketogenic Diet

The Benefits of The Ketogenic Diet

So far, there are a lot of great benefits of the keto diet, but no negative effects have appeared yet at all; which makes it the delicious diet that fits everybody. Here are other health benefits of keto diet:

1. Increases the level of HDL: One of the best aspects of the ketogenic diet is that it increases the level of HDL in the body, which is the good cholesterol that helps in lowering the risk of heart diseases.

2. Helps in Alleviating Diabetes Type 2: By removing carbs from your daily meals, you say goodbye to sugar and insulin because your body already has what it needs, and you won’t have to be worried about what you eat.

3. Lowers Blood Pressure: High blood pressure is a catastrophe because it might lead to kidney failure, heart diseases, strokes... With this diet, you can say goodbye to all those worries and live a healthy life away from all those malignant diseases that threaten your life.

4. Gum Disease:

Gum disease is one of the worst and most painful diseases which is commonly caused by the consumption of too much sugar. When you eliminate sugar from your daily meals, you can avoid gum diseases and toothaches. While on the keto diet, most of your diet will consist of foods high in fats coupled with a measured intake of proteins and low carbohydrate intake. Some of the food categories allowed in this diet include:

1. ProteinsPoultry: Free-range Cornish hen, quail, goose, pheasant, chicken, duck, and turkey.

Fish and Seafood: Cod, tuna, scrod, anchovies, mackerel, flounder, catfish, trout, mahi-mahi, halibut, sole, sardines, salmon, halibut, snapper, and calamari. Always opt for wild caught fish to avoid toxins present in commercially reared fish.

Grass-fed Meat: These include beef, venison, goat, and lamb. Meat from wild animals are also acceptable; however, avoid sausages and meats that come with sugary sauces and those covered in breadcrumbs. Choose the chunks of meat with more fat since they contain less protein and more fat.

Pork: Boston butt, pork chops, ham pork, and loin. When choosing ham, be on the lookout for added sugar.

Bacon and Sausages: Preferably, you should buy these at specialty health food stores. If this is not possible, always read the labels to avoid those which contain fillers such as soy or sugars.

Canned Tuna and Salmon: Canned tuna and salmon are okay to consume while you are on the keto diet. However, avoid seafood rich in fillers, breaded seafood, and fried seafood.

Vegetable Protein Powders: Protein supplements such as whey protein, hemp protein, pea, and rice are acceptable.

Whole Eggs: This includes chicken eggs, and quail eggs which you can prepare through any mean desired; fried, soft or hard boiled, deviled, scrambled, or omelet style.

Shellfish: Oyster, mussels, lobster, shrimp, crab (not imitation crab that contains additives), clams, scallops, and squid.

2. Fats and Oils

Because these are your main sources of energy while you are on this diet, go for the types of fats and oils you enjoy. These may include:

* Omega 3 fatty acids from fish such as tuna, shellfish, and salmon

* Fish supplements or krill

* Monounsaturated fats such as egg yolks, avocado, and butter

* Vegetable oils such as olive oil, coconut oil

* Non-hydrogenated beef tallow, ghee, and lard.

* Duck and chicken fat In order to make it easier to stick to this diet, be aware of which types of fat your body can tolerate. Many people seem to have zero or very low tolerance of vegetable oils and mayo. This may be a good thing because most of these oils are rich in omega 6 fatty acids - the kind that is bad for your body’s cholesterol levels. In this case, work with the listed monounsaturated fats to reduce the inflammatory effect brought about by polyunsaturated fats. Nevertheless, work to balance both fats because you cannot survive on monounsaturated fats alone (You need a lot of fats and oils). Even then, avoid hydrogenated fats such as margarine to reduce the amount of trans-fats you eat.

3. Fresh Vegetables

For these foods, opt for organic ones or better yet, grow your own to avoid all pesticide toxins. Avoid starchy vegetables (corn, sweet potatoes, potatoes, peas, and winter squash) that are high in carbs. Instead, opt for moderate intake of sweet vegetables (squashes, peppers, tomatoes, and carrots). Vegetables that make it to the list are:

Celery

Collard Greens

Onions (high in sugar; moderate intake)

Alfalfa Sprouts

Beet Greens

Broccoli

Spinach

Dandelion Greens

Bamboo Shoots

Cabbage

Brussels sprouts

Garlic

Mushrooms

Shallots

Kale

Bok Choy

Sauerkraut

Chives

Celery Root

Swiss chard

Cauliflower

Snow Peas

Bean Sprouts

Olives

Cucumbers

Salad greens and lettuces: Romaine, Arugula, Fennel, Bok Choy, Boston lettuce, Endive, Mache, Escarole, Sorrel,Radicchio, Chicory Water Chestnuts

Turnips

Scallions

Dill Pickles

Leeks

Radishes

Chard

Asparagus

4. Dairy Products

Mascarpone cheese Unsweetened whole milk yogurt (limit intake of this type of yogurt because it is a little high in carbs) All soft and hard cheeses Cream cheese Full fat sour cream (do not forget to check for additives) Full fat cottage cheese Heavy whipping cream In any case, always go for raw milk products and if you do not have easy access to them, go for the organic ones.

5. Beverages

Bulletproof coffee

Decaf Tea

Flavored seltzer water

Decaf coffee

Water

Herbal tea

Lemon and lime juice (limit intake)

Clear broth or bouillon

6. Nuts and Seeds

Nuts: almonds, macadamias, pecans, and walnuts are the nuts with the lowest level of carbs meaning you can consume them in small amounts. Other nuts such as chestnuts, pistachios, and cashews contain a higher amount of carbs; thus, you should carefully monitor their intake. Nuts are best soaked for some time before roasted.

Nut flours: these are necessary because while you are on this diet, it does not mean baking no longer fits into your life. Nut flours such as almond flour will suffice.

7. Sweeteners

Some options include:

Erythritol

Splendor-liquid

Inulin and Chicory root

Lo Han Guo

Liquid Stevia

Xylitol

Swerve

8. Spices

Here are spices allowed on the keto diet:

Sea salt

Peppermint

Ginger

Basil

Chili pepper

Cloves

Thyme

Cilantro or coriander seeds

Rosemary

Black pepper

Cumin seeds

Oregano

Turmeric

Cayenne pepper

Cinnamon

Mustard seeds

Parsley

Dill

Sage

As you can see from the above very detailed list, keto diet is NOT a highly-restrictive dieting lifestyle, it also offers you a variety of foods to choose from; thus, you should not feel overwhelmed. However, there are foods you should avoid to achieve optimal ketosis as your body makes the switch from using glucose to synthesizing fats for ketones.In the next section, we shall outline the foods you should

avoid:

Achieving Optimal Ketosis:

Foods to Avoid If you stick to the food listed in the previous section, you do not have to worry about not achieving optimal ketosis. On the same note, as you increase intake of those foods, you should also be on the lookout for the following foods that may hinder

ketosis:

Avoid all grains, whole meal included (rye, wheat, oats, barley, corn, millet, rice sorghum and buckwheat). Also, avoid all products made from grains; these include foods such as crackers, pasta, pizza, and cookies. Avoid refined fats and oils like sunflower, canola, grape seed, corn oil, soybean, and Trans-fats such as margarine. Avoid milk (only full-fat raw milk is acceptable). For coffee, replace milk with reasonable amounts of cream. Avoid tropical fruits such as bananas, pineapples, mango papaya, etc., and some high carb fruit. Avoid fruit juice. Avoid factory-farmed pork and fish. Avoid all artificial sweeteners containing Aspartame, Sucralose, Saccharine, etc.

Avoid alcoholic sweet drinks such as beer, and sweet wine Avoid Soy products Now that you know what to eat and what to avoid, is there a way to guarantee faster adoption of ketosis? The answer is yes. The following section illuminates such tips:

How to Get Into Ketosis ‘Fast’: Invaluable Tips It takes 48 hours to get into ketosis. To get there, you must correctly adapt the keto diet. Below are tips that should help you do just that and get your body into ketosis faster:

Tip 1: To get into ketosis faster, eat less than 20g of carbs a day.

Tip 2: Drink water, about 100 ounces per day. Drink more to lose more.

Tip 3: Purchase some Ketosis. Getting some validation that the diet is actually working will be a great motivation to keep you on a diet considering the intimidating nature of the first few days of the diet.

Tip 4: Do not panic. Be aware of the keto flu coming your way. The dizziness, the irritability, and fatigue you will be feeling on the first three days may have you experiencing mood swings; but don’t give in just yet. Reward yourself with bacon and delicious keto friendly foods as you crave for carbs and sugars. The craving will disappear as long as you’re full.

Tip 5: Consume more salt. This is really important. While on a keto diet, your body does not retain water as it normally would; hence, electrolytes like sodium quickly flush out of your body. Therefore, you need constant replenishing; otherwise, you will feel awful. As indicated earlier, opt for sea salt.

Tip 6: Never open the door to hunger. When you feel the tiniest bit of a hunger pang, immediately eat high-fat low-carb foods. The moment you get too hungry, it forms the temptation pathway. Remember: go simple. Do not over plan things because when you do, you may end up making everything strict and less fun. The keto diet is fun; keep it so.

Tip 7: Remember: this is not a high protein diet. The keto diet is high fat, low carb, and moderate protein diet. Moderate is the key word here.

Tip 8: Embrace the fat. Eat fat to lose fat that is your new motto. Do not shy away from the fat because it is your ticket to a healthier you. Common Keto Diet Mistakes You Should Avoid Nobody is perfect, and no diet is perfect. As you adopt this diet for good health and weight loss, you are bound to make several mistakes; this is normal. The best way to avoid, or minimize the effects of mistakes is by learning and preparing for common mistakes. Below is a list of common keto diet mistakes dieters make: Eating Too Many Carbs There is no exact definition of what ‘low carb’ means. Some would say it is simply anything under 100 to 150 grams a day simply because they get amazing results with this range. However, this may be excessive if your aim is to have plenty of

ketones in your bloodstream. Most keto dieters go for under 50-grams of carbs per day to get into optimal ketosis. Anything beyond that is termed as excessive. Eating Too Much Protein Remember: the keto diet is all about protein moderation. Impatience As you adopt a keto diet, you need patience: patience to get into ketosis and patience to adapt to ketosis. Understand that previously, your body’s main source of energy was carbs; now, it has to adapt to a new source of energy, fats. The body requires time to do this; therefore, be patient. Obsessing Over The Scale

The number on your weigh scale should not determine your keto diet success. Let this be the least of your worries. Just live life and enjoy your diet. Weight loss will happen; do yourself a favor and keep away from that scale. Not Eating Enough Fats The unrestricted consumption of fats may seem excessive. However, the keto diet is a high-fat diet. Just trust keto and enjoy the fat. However, you should eat the right kind of fats, preferably monounsaturated and saturated fats.

Eating Processed Keto’ Foods When you are on a keto diet, always think about it this way:

the intention is to eat natural ingredients and not foods that come in wrappers such as Atkins bars and Quest bars. Although you can occasionally eat these, the idea is for a large portion of your diet (we are talking about 70-80% of your entire diet) to consist of natural ingredients. Being After A Quick Fix If this is your aim, do not start the diet. The Keto diet is more of a lifestyle change than a short-term diet plan. Dropping a few pounds and then going back to your normal bad eating habits will be a waste of time. Indecisiveness Half-heartedly adopting the keto diet could be the worst thing you could do to yourself because you are just wasting time. If you are not all in, you will not survive through the temporary effects that come with adopting the diet. Decide on what you want and think of everything you will gain by going keto to keep you motivated.