The Ketogenic Diet: A Detailed Beginner’s Guide to Keto
By: Talha Afzal
Tags: Ketogenic Diet, Weight Loss, Keto, Fat Burning Foods, Keto Diet

The ketogenic diet (or keto diet for short) is a low-carb, high-fat diet that offers many health benefits.

In fact, many studies show that this type of diet can help you lose weight and improve your health.

Ketogenic diets can also be beneficial against diabetes, cancer, epilepsy, and Alzheimer’s disease.

Here is a detailed guide to the Cato Diet.

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Keto basics

The ketogenic diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet that has many similarities with Atkins and low-carb diets.

This includes rapidly reducing carbohydrate intake and replacing it with fat. This reduction in carbs puts your body in a metabolic state called ketosis.

When this happens, your body becomes incredibly efficient in burning fat for energy. It converts fat into ketones in the liver, which can provide energy to the brain.

A ketogenic diet can cause a significant drop in blood sugar and insulin levels. It has, with increasing ketones, some health benefits.

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Different types of ketogenic diets

There are several versions of the ketogenic diet, including:

The standard ketogenic diet (SKD): This is a low carb, moderate protein, and high-fat diet. It usually contains 70 fat fats, 20 protein proteins, and only 10 car carbohydrates (9)

Cyclic Ketogenic Diet (CKD): This diet involves a period of high carb refills, such as 5 ketogenic days followed by 2 high carb days.

Targeted Ketogenic Diet (TKD): This diet allows you to include carbs around exercise.

High protein ketogenic diet: It is similar to a standard ketogenic diet, but it contains more protein. The ratio is usually 60 fat, 35 protein, and 5 carbs.

However, only standard and high-protein ketogenic diets have been extensively studied. Cyclical or targeted ketogenic diets are more advanced methods and are mainly used by bodybuilders or athletes.

The information in this article applies to most standard ketogenic diets (SDKs), although many other versions of the same principle apply.

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What is ketosis?

Ketosis is a metabolic condition in which your body uses fat for fuel instead of carbs.

This is when you significantly reduce your carbohydrate consumption, limiting your body’s supply of glucose (sugar), which is the primary source of energy for cells.

Following a ketogenic diet is the most effective way to enter ketosis. In general, this includes limiting carb consumption to about 20 to 50 grams per day and replenishing fats such as meat, fish, eggs, nuts, and healthy oils (6).

It is also important to keep your protein intake in moderation. This is because if used in large quantities, the protein can be converted into glucose, which can slow down your transfer to ketosis.

Intermittent fasting practice can also help you get into ketosis faster. There are many different forms of intermittent fasting, but the most common method is to limit the amount of food to 8 hours a day and to fast the remaining 16 hours.

Blood, urine, and breath tests are available, which can help determine if you have entered ketosis by measuring the number of ketones your body produces.

Some symptoms may also indicate that you have entered ketosis, including increased thirst, dry mouth, frequent urination, and loss of appetite.

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Ketogenic diets can help you lose weight

The ketogenic diet is an effective way to lose weight and reduce the risk of disease.

In fact, research suggests that a ketogenic diet may be just as effective as a low-fat diet for weight loss.

What’s more, the diet is so full that you can lose weight without counting calories or tracking your food intake.

A review of 13 studies found that after a very low-carb diet, the ketogenic diet was slightly more effective for long-term weight loss than the low-fat diet. People who follow the Cato Diet lose an average of 2 pounds (0.9 kg) compared to the group who follow a low-fat diet (13 trusted sources).

What’s more, it also lowers diastolic blood pressure and triglyceride levels.

Another study found that 34 older adults who followed a ketogenic diet for 8 weeks lost approximately five times more body fat than those who followed a low-fat diet.

Increased ketones, lower blood sugar levels, and improved insulin sensitivity may also play a role.

For more details on the effects of a ketogenic diet on weight loss, read this article.

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Ketogenic diets for diabetes and prediabetes

Characteristics of Diabetes Changes in Metabolism, High Blood Sugar, and Impaired Insulin Function.

A ketogenic diet can help you lose excess fat, which is closely linked to type 2 diabetes, prediabetes, and metabolic syndrome.

An older study found that a ketogenic diet improved insulin sensitivity by 75%.

A small study in women with type 2 diabetes also found that hemoglobin A1C levels decreased significantly after a 90-day ketogenic diet, a measure of long-term blood sugar management.

Another study of 349 people with type 2 diabetes found that people who followed a ketogenic diet lost an average of 26.2 pounds (11.9 kg) over a 2-year period. This is an important benefit when considering the relationship between weight and type 2 diabetes (Trusted Sources 24 Trusted Sources, 27 Trusted Sources).

Furthermore, they also experienced better management of blood sugar, and participants’ use of certain blood sugar medications decreased during the study (reliable source 27).

For more information, see this article on the benefits of low-carb diets.

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Other health benefits of keto

The ketogenic diet actually began as a tool to treat neurological diseases such as epilepsy.

Studies have now shown that diet can have benefits for different health conditions:

Heart disease. A ketogenic diet can help improve risk factors such as body fat, HDL (good) cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and blood sugar.

Cancer Diet is currently being explored as an additional treatment for cancer, as it can help tumor growth. (4 trusted sources, 30 trusted sources, 31 trusted sources).

Is the name of a mental illness. Cato diet can help reduce the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease and slow its progression.

Epilepsy research shows that ketogenic diets can significantly reduce seizures in children with epilepsy.

Parkinson’s disease. Although more research is needed, one study found that diet helped improve the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.

Polycystic ovary syndrome. Ketogenic diets may help lower insulin levels, which may play a key role in polycystic ovary syndrome.

Brain injuries. Some research suggests that diet may improve the outcome of traumatic brain injuries.

However, keep in mind that research in many of these areas is not final.

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Foods to avoid

Any food high in carbs should be limited.

Here is a list of foods that need to be reduced or eliminated in the ketogenic diet.

Desserts: Soda, fruit juice, smoothies, cakes, ice cream, candy, etc.

Cereals or starch: Wheat-based products, rice, pasta, cereals, etc.

Fruits: All fruits, except small portions of strawberry berries.

Beans or beans: peas, kidney beans, lentils, lentils, etc.

Root vegetables and tubers: potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips, etc.

Low-fat diet products: low-fat mayonnaise, salad dressings, and spices.

Some spices or sauces: barbecue sauce, honey mustard, teriyaki sauce, ketchup, etc.

Unhealthy fats: Processed vegetable oils, mayonnaise, etc.

Wine: Beer, wine, wine, mixed drinks.

Sugar-free diet foods: sugar-free candies, syrups, puddings, sweeteners, desserts, etc.

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Foods to eat

You should put the majority of your food around these foods:

Meat: Red meat, steak, ham, sausage, bacon, chicken, and turkey.

Fatty fish: salmon, trout, tuna, and mackerel.

Eggs: Pasture or omega-3 whole eggs.

Butter and cream: grass-fed butter and heavy cream

Cheese: Unprocessed cheese such as cheddar, goat, cream, blue, or mozzarella.

Nuts and seeds: Almonds, walnuts, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, etc.

Healthy oils: Extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, and avocado oil.

Avocados: Whole avocados or freshly made guacamole.

Low carb vegetables: green vegetables, tomatoes, onions, peppers, etc.

Spices: Salt, pepper, herbs, and spices

It is best to limit your diet to whole, single-ingredient foods. Here is a list of 44 healthy ones.

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