Ketogenic Diet for Weight Loss

The main idea behind the ketogenic diet weight loss is to minimize carbohydrate and protein intake and maximize fat intake. The concept of ketogenic diet is to limit carbohydrate intake, diminish cravings for foods rich in carbohydrates like pasta, bread, potatoes, sugar, etc, which will automatically reduce the calorie intakes in the body. The diet rich in fats and low in carbohydrate and protein results in ketosis which is an abnormal increase of ketone bodies in the blood.

What are Ketones?

Ketone bodies are a by-product of fat burning which act as the normal physiological defenses in our body for starvation or hunger. Generally used as an alternative source of fuel by different body parts, ketone bodies are normal products of lipid and pyruvate, found within the liver and normally utilized at the time of carbohydrate restriction or extended periods of exercise.

What is a Ketogenic Diet?

A diet containing less than 100 grams of carbohydrates per day is considered to be ketogenic diet. The main objective of ketosis diet weight loss is to exhaust the liver of it's glycogen stores as early as possible so that fat burning occurs. Glycogen is the polymeric form of glucose, which we get from the carbohydrates in our diets and is primarily stored in the liver and the skeletal muscles. When there's an inadequate carbohydrate intake, the glycogen gets depleted in the liver, the body starts using other fuels like free fatty acids (FFAs) as the source of energy. But some organs in the body like brain or central nervous system can't use FFAs and so the body increases the production of ketone bodies through the process of ketosis and metabolizes these bodies as an energy source. Therefore, while on a ketogenic diet weight loss, ketosis lowers the insulin production in the body, which in turn increases the glucagon production by the pancreas. As a result the body's fat burning ability increases and the fat storage is brought to an abrupt halt, hence the body actually goes into a dramatic fat burning mode.

Ketogenic Diet Plan

• Breakfast: Bacon, eggs, ham and flourless crepes.
• Lunch/Dinner: Tuna salad, cheeseburgers, shrimp, chicken, chili, tacos and grilled steak.
• Snacks: Split pea soup, coleslaw, pecans, chicken salad and cheese sticks.
• Desserts: Cheesecake, peanut-butter cookies and strawberry-banana trifle.

The aforementioned diet plan is quite flexible and provides 4:1 ratio of fat to protein and carbohydrates. Use of alternative sweeteners over sugar, and coconut oil and flax oil is also recommended to increase the levels of ketones in the body. But for those who crave for foods rich in carbohydrates and finding extremely difficult to continue the ketogenic diet can try cyclic ketogenic diet weight loss in which the carbohydrates restriction lasts for about 5-6 days and the dieter can include complex carbohydrates in their diet by limiting dietary fats like sucrose and fructose. This will not only make rest of the diet easier to bear but will also refill depleted glycogen stores and up-regulate hormones and thyroid activity which is depressed during dieting. Read more on weight loss diets.

Following ketogenic diet weight loss is not as simple as it looks and requires structure, planning and dedication. The dieter has to realize that even a minimal amount of carbohydrates will shift the body right out of the ketosis/fat burning mode. Therefore, if done properly, the ketogenic diet fat loss can do absolute wonders for those who want to lose weight and be healthy.