Recently, Ketogenc diets, like gluten-free diets, have grown enormously in popularity and use. Whether it is a diet that you put yourself together through lots of research, or you are using a pre-made ketogenic diet that features keto-like properties, lots of people are using them now. In fact, a study came out not too long ago saying that at one point, as much as 12% of all Americans were on the Atkins diet, a diet that is known to implement the ketogenic properties. But what exactly is the science behind ketogenic diets? And what foods should you be eating (and avoiding), if you are to go on your own kind of ketogenic diet?
First off, the term ketogenic is derived from ketosis, a process that your body undergoes in the right situation. To make your body enter ketosis, you have to severally limit (or cut out completely) your carbohydrate intake. Carbohydrates serve as your main source of energy, and by cutting them out you leave your body with no choice but to look for other sources of energy. Once this is achieved, your body will start to use its stored body fat, instead of carbohydrates, as its source of energy. The transition from using carbs to body fat as the body’s source of energy is called ketosis, hence the name ketogenic diets.
The foods that you are going to be eating on a ketogenic diet are going to be foods that are already good for building muscle, so it’s a win-win situation. A favorite kind of food to eat on a ketogenic diet is red meat, as red meat is completely void of carbohydrates, but is also packed with protein. Those two things – next to no carbohydrates and a high protein intake – are crucial for cutting down on fat while still building muscle. Anything with carbohydrates should be avoided for obvious reasons; so any sort of grain or bread will be a bad idea. Most soft drinks and energy drinks also contain a high amount of carbohydrates, so those too should be avoided. However, many companies offer no or low carb versions of their more popular products, so it is foods like these that are a must when putting together your own ketogenic diet.
Finally, are ketogenic diets in a box any good? There are quite a few “fad diets” that have been used over the years that use ketosis as one point to help followers lose weight, but is it more effective? And is it cheaper? The Atkins diet and the South Beach diet are just two fad diets that use ketosis, but since most bodybuilder’s aren’t interested in only losing weight, they have little to offer to the bodybuilding community. The foods that are featured in Atkins and South Beach diets aren’t catered to bodybuilders, so most of the meals they include in it have a relatively low protein intake.
So whether you decide to go with a fad diet out of a box, or put together your own ketogenic diet, if you remember to keep away from those carbs you should be losing weight in no time.
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