Louise Miller - Keto Diet for Beginners--Includes info on Keto Diet Foods, Keto Diet Recipes and Keto Diet Meal Plan

What Is the Keto Diet?

P eople often think of the ketogenic diet as a way to lose weight. It is true that when you stay in ketosis (don't worry, we will explain this in a bit), you will shed excess body weight. That is just a fact of nature. And to be honest, there are a lot of people who only want to use the keto diet to lose fat and excess body weight they have never been able to lose before.

If that is your goal, you came to the right place. As a happy side-effect, you are going to realize a lot of other health benefits.

While the keto diet is becoming increasingly popular, it is certainly not new.The keto way of eating has been around for centuries as an informal way to treat epilepsy. It can be traced as far back as 500 BC as a form of fasting for multiple health benefits. Ancient Greek philosopher and physician Hippocrates taught that epilepsy was a biological and not a spiritual problem, and he recommended fasting (a form of low-carb eating like the keto diet) to treat and prevent it.

In the 1920s a keto approach to eating was developed as a way to effectively treat the seizures that plague epileptics. Controlled fasting for two or three days reduced seizures for epileptic patients and also improved mental function. These same benefits were present when carbohydrates were strictly limited.

Doctor Rollin Woodyatt was an endocrinologist who discovered acetone and beta-hydroxybutyric acid were found in high levels in patients that fasted and limited their carb intake.Those compounds are ketones and they are at the root of the ketogenic diet.

This way of eating can lead to quick and substantial weight loss, a healthier heart, a reversal of type 2 diabetes and other benefits besides treating epilepsy.

Understanding Ketosis

K etones are created when your body reaches ketosis. This is a metabolic process that gets your body burning the fat you eat and stored fat instead of carbs for energy. As you eat fewer carbohydrates your body has to use something else for energy, and that something is fat.

This ketoneproducing state is what makes the keto diet so good at burning excess body fat.

Doctors with the Mayo Clinic found that limiting daily consumption of carbs to 15 grams was very effective for treating childhood epilepsy. The rest of a daily supply of calories was taken in fat, and our modern-day ketogenic diet was born.

Low-carb diets these days are considered either strict keto (less than 20 grams of daily carbs), medium (21 to 50 grams) and liberal (51 to 100 grams). To stay in ketosis most people have to consume less than 20 or 25 grams of carbs each day. Additionally, protein consumption should be moderate, with fat making up 60% to 80% of your diet.

The Magic Keto Fats/Protein/Carbs Ratio

K eto meals that keep you in a fat burning state of ketosis will be 5% to 10% carbs, 60% to 80% healthy fat and around 20% protein. On a sample 2,000-calorie diet those ratios would look something like this.

• 70% fat - 155 grams - 1,400 calories

• 25% protein - 150 grams 500 calories
• 5% carbs - 25 grams - 100 calories

Ketogenesis continues when you restrict carb intake to less than 20 or 25 grams per day. This forces your liver to create ketones because your insulin levels have dropped. If you begin eating more carbs and protein this process slows.

Staying in ketosis means sticking to this low-carb, high-fat, moderate-protein ratio. This is the vehicle for the many health benefits the keto diet can deliver.

You might be thinking, how do you know if you are in a ketogenic state? How can you tell if you are in ketosis? Everyone is different, and some can reach this healthy state by eating more carbs than others. Fortunately, it is easy to measure ketone production.

How to Tell If You're in Ketosis

T he production of ketones can be measured. You can have your doctor do it or handle the job yourself.

If you don't get in ketosis you don't see the best results of this low-carb eating plan. It is a nice confidence boost as well, when you know your carb-cutting efforts are paying off. This helps you see what you are doing right (and wrong), so you can make the necessary changes.

One informal way to spot ketosis is to do a sniff test.

Smell your breath. The creation of acetone, beta-hydroxybutyrate and other ketones can create a slightly less than pleasant smelling breath. Your urine may smell differently as well. You may notice a metallic or fruity taste to many foods. This change in your taste and the smell of your breath usually disappears naturally in just a few weeks.