Health and Fitness Desk, Delhi Magazine: The ketogenic diet originated in the 1920s. At the time, doctors were actively looking for a solution to relieve children with severe seizure disorders . After having had mixed results on a treatment based on fasting, they decide to carry out several studies to analyze the consequences of a ketogenic diet. Thus, from year to year, scientists carry out many conclusive studies. In 1998 in particular, a study was conducted among 51 children with an average of 230 monthly attacks. This revealed very positive and encouraging results. Almost half of the children could control more than 90% of their seizures and almost 40% had control over 50 to 90% of their seizures .During the same year, a study was conducted on children aged between 1 and 16 years who were subject to more than 400 seizures per month. After a year on the keto diet, 7% of them had no seizures and almost 30% of the subjects were able to reduce their frequency by almost 90%. 

This diet is still used today to help reduce the frequency and control epileptic seizures in children. But its reputation has been created for a few years and it is used for many other reasons that we will describe below.

Ketogenic diet – what is it

The ketogenic diet, also referred to as the ketogenic diet or LCHF (Low Carb High Fat), is a nutrition based diet plan in which you need to eat a lot of fat and meat. Even vegetables and fruits are limited in favor of animal products. On such a diet, the body receives energy from fats, but not from carbohydrates. The ketogenic diet is intended to lead to ketosis, a state in which the body draws energy from fats, not sugars. This can cause the body to start burning fats, resulting in weight reduction.

The vegetarian ketogenic diet, of course, does not allow eating meat, but it assumes that you eat large amounts of products that provide protein. It should be a well-absorbed protein.

What to eat on Keto Diet ( Food Items You Can Allowed to Eat Durig Keto Diet

It is recommended to consume foods containing monounsaturated fat, as found in olive oil, nuts or avocado, peanut butter and saturated fat as in high fat meats and dairy products . Coconut oil is also highly recommended in a ketogenic diet.

In moderation, you can consume milk, natural yogurts, wine, coffee without sugar.

Foods allowed in the ketogenic diet (keto foods)t are as following:

• Vegetal oils
• Butter
• Oilseeds
• Meats
• Fish;
• Eggs
• Tofu and soy
• Unsweetened green vegetables
• Citrus
• Berries
• Dairy products.

What not to Eat on Keto Diet (Foods are not allowed on Keto Diet plan)

And what should you avoid ? What to avoid on the keto diet are all carbohydrate-rich foods, both sugar-rich and starch-rich foods. These foods contain far more than the daily amount of carbs you can eat to put yourself into a ketogenic state .

Sugars! And with that , carbohydrates

• The bread
• Pasta
• Rice
• Potatoes
• Fruits with lots of fruit sugars
• Juice
• Soft drinks
• Alcohol
• Candy
• Biscuit
• Carbohydrate-rich vegetables such as carrots, corn, parsnips,  sweet potatoes, beets, spaghetti squash or peas
• Sugar
• Grains
• Legumes
• Fresh and soft cheeses
• Compotes
• Honey, maple syrup or jam.

On average, it takes three days to activate this alternative energy pathway by allowing the body to cover its energy needs through ketone bodies.

It is a restrictive diet, usually used in the treatment of a narrow group of diseases, such as drug-resistant epilepsy. What are the principles of the ketogenic diet? Which foods can you eat there and which should you avoid?

The ketogenic diet is an extreme variation of low-carbohydrate eating strategies. It assumes the consumption of this macronutrient at the level of 10 percent. daily energy value or up to 50 g per day. With such consumption of carbohydrates, metabolic changes occur in the body, which are observed in the state of starvation, i.e. ketosis.

Popularity of Keto Diet

The ketogenic diet has been gaining popularity for several years and is used both in serious neurological diseases and more and more often as an alternative model of nutrition in people with excessive body weight. Its modern history dates back over 100 years. It was first described by William Bating in 1863 in the pamphlet “Letters to Obesity”.

Robert Atkins played a huge role in popularizing the ketogenic diet, i.e. high-fat diet . In the 70s of the last century, he began to strongly promote this alternative way of eating, proposing it as a remedy for most civilization diseases, including, above all, overweight and obesity. In his version, the keto diet consists of several phases. In the first, which lasts 2 weeks, the amount of carbohydrates is limited to 30 g / day. This ingredient comes only with non-starchy vegetables. Over time, Atkins suggests increasing sugar intake by about 10 g per week, after the metabolism has adapted to use the new energy source. After achieving a satisfactory body weight, the intake of this ingredient is set at a level that allows you to maintain the reduction effects.

Keto Diet Stategy

If we take a closer look at other known nutritional strategies, in some variations they also have the characteristics of a very low-carb or low-carb diet, such as the paleo diet or the power protein diet. So there are several types of diets that are characterized by low or very low sugar intake. However, there are significant differences in their recommendations and proposed levels of carbohydrate consumption.

Changing the diet to high-fat products, such as: fatty meat and fish, eggs, full-fat dairy products, butter, cream or nuts, makes the body draw energy from fat accumulated in the tissues. The ketogenic diet is recommended for people who want to lose weight. In addition, it will also work well in children suffering from drug-resistant epilepsy. Fat diet also helps patients with Rett-Doose syndrome, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, amyotrophic lateral and tuberous sclerosis

Ketosis is defined as the forced synthesis of ketone bodies such as acetone, beta-hydroxybutyric acid or acetoacetic acid. Under certain metabolic conditions, their production is increased. Ketosis can be a normal state of the body or a symptom of insulin deficiency in people with diabetes. It is also useful in the treatment and alleviation of epileptic seizures in children.

How to Start the ketogenic Diet at Home

The ketogenic diet or keto diet, also known as Keto diet, consists of a drastic reduction of carbohydrates in the diet, consuming 20 to 50 g per day, representing 10 to 15% of total daily calories. This amount will depend on the state of health, the duration of the diet, personal goals and the weight you want to achieve.

To compensate for this reduction, the consumption of foods rich in fats such as avocado, coconut, seeds, olive oil, nuts and almonds should be increased. In addition to this, the amount of protein should also be increased to make up 20% of the diet, making it necessary to eat meat, chicken or fish at lunch and dinner, and include eggs and cheese in snacks.

Another diet that is similar to the ketogenic diet is the low-carb diet , the main difference being that the ketogenic diet consumes more fat to make up for the lack of carbohydrates.

Characteristics of the ketogenic diet

Here are the different characteristics that make up the ketogenic diet:

• A very high consumption of lipids (75% of intake).
• Unchanged protein intake.
• A considerable reduction in carbohydrate intake.
• Causes unpleasant symptoms for the first few weeks (ketogenic flu).
• Rapid weight loss.
• The state of ketosis would have many health benefits (energy boost, protection against certain pathologies, etc.).

How Keto Diet Works?

To function, the body has three types of food fuels: carbohydrates, fats and proteins. When carbohydrates are very low – as is the case with the ketogenic diet – the liver begins to manufacture ketone bodies from dietary fat or fat stores in the body. The body is said to be in “ketosis”: it turns into a fat “burning” machine. Ketone bodies therefore become the main source of energy for most of our cells. This change occurs on average between two and four days after the adoption of the regime.

Benefits of Keto Diet:

Helps in weight loss.

It takes more work to turn fat into energy than it takes to turn carbohydrates into energy. Because of this, a ketogenic diet can help speed up weight loss. And because the diet is high in protein, it doesn’t leave you hungry like other diets.

Reduce acne

There are several different causes for acne, and one may be related to diet and blood sugar. Eating a diet high in processed and refined carbohydrates can upset gut bacteria and cause more dramatic blood sugar fluctuations, both of which can influence skin health.

May help reduce cancer risk

There has been a lot of research on the ketogenic diet on how it can help prevent or even treat certain types of cancer. One study found that this may be a suitable adjunctive treatment to chemotherapy and radiation in people with cancer. This is due to the fact that it would cause more oxidative stress in cancer cells than in normal cells.

Improves heart health

When the ketogenic diet is followed in a healthy way (which views avocados as a healthy fat rather than pork skins), there is some evidence that the diet can improve heart health by lowering cholesterol. One study found that HDL (“good”) cholesterol levels increased significantly in those following the keto diet. LDL (“bad”) cholesterol dropped significantly.

Potentially reduces seizures

The combination of fat, protein, and carbohydrates is thought to alter the way the body uses energy, resulting in ketosis. Ketosis is an elevated level of ketone bodies in the blood.

Ketosis can lead to a reduction in seizures in people with epilepsy. Specialists don’t yet know how effective this is, although it seems to be more effective in children who have focal seizures.