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Ketogenic Diet Benefits
Health | July 01, 2015
It’s been about 2 years since I was introduced to Keto diet and began to experience and understand it’s benefits. I went in and out of Keto a few times to experiment and learn the workings of this lifestyle. I think that the Keto diet can come across as extreme and is not for everybody, however I have decided to get back on the horse and give it a longer run this time. The number one thing I love about this diet is the amount of sustainable energy it gives me throughout the day. Even though my earn your carbs diet has already been giving me plenty of energy to begin with, it’s still nothing in comparison to being on Keto. It feels like you have more clarity and you feel fresh the entire day, no matter how hard you work. This is the most important reason for me right now, because I have a lot going on and I need to be 100% focused on my work. I can use the extra energy, especially now during the summer when the heat slows me down, I’m excited to turn on the highly efficient fat burning mode and boost my metabolism.
What is a Ketogenic Diet?
The most simple way to describe this diet/lifestyle, a ketogenic diet causes the body’s liver to produce ketone bodies, which results in utilizing fat instead of glucose as a primary source of energy. Restriction of carbs is necessary in order to trigger the ketone bodies production, and the amount of carbs should not exceed 20g a day. The ratio of Fat vs Protein and Carbs is very important.
Generally, the macronutrient ratio varies within the following ranges:
What are the major benefits of Ketogenic Diet?
1. Improvement in sustainable energy production – no more blood sugar crashes that you experience when your body uses glucose as a main source of energy.
2. Decrease in insulin levels – this results in a rapid breakdown of fatty acids. When insulin levels are high as a result of high carb diet, the body’s ability to break down fatty acids is being compromised. Low levels of insulin also supports the release of many useful hormones associated with muscle growth.
3. Reduction of appetite – proteins and fats are quite filling and the ketones somehow seem to negate the sensations that come with cravings.
4. No more water retention – the foods the you eat have diuretic effect on the body. Lowered insulin levels will allow the kidneys to excrete the excess of sodium and promote fast water weight loss.
5. Rapid increase of fat loss – As your body is burning fat as the main source of energy, the metabolism is activated to burn even the most stubborn abdominal fat.
6. Say goodbye to the foggy brain – a diet that is rich in carbs provides too much glucose for he brain, causing it to become foggy and your cognitive functions to be impaired. The Keto diet will help you to think clear and your brain working at it’s full capacity.
7. Better sleep – reduced symptoms related to sleep apnea. No more daytime sleepiness or naps during the day.
8. Oral health – diet rich in carbs often leads to cavities, tooth decay and gum disease. Ketogenic diet improves the oral pH, protecting against oral health issues.
9. No more muscle stiffness or joint pain – Also, if you’ve been wanting to get more flexible, to improve your yoga practice, this diet is going to give you the advantage that you need. Diets that are rich in carbs are known to contribute to stiff muscles and inflammation in joints.
10. Better skin – Recent studies have shown a drop in acne lesions and skin inflammation over 12 weeks.
Here’s a great interview with a lot of information:
There are a lot more benefits to this diet than disadvantages. The first few days (sometimes weeks) can be hard due to “metabolic shift”, if you stick to the rules and avoid the common mistakes however, it can be a very smooth transition. It’s not a diet for everyone since it’s quite strict and can be difficult for some people to adhere to. The only real problem is the risk of developing ketoacidocis – but that’s not a concern if you’re not diabetic. A non-diabetic body keeps the blood sugar and ketone production levels under tight control.
I’ve started my Keto diet a few days ago and will be sharing with you my journey, including recipes and how to jump start the Ketogenic diet and sail smoothly through the transition.
Private Member |
I would also add the very important benefit of such diet: it’s increasing libido!!!
Private Member |
I tried Keto before and found 20g carbs really tough – I can manage 50-100g. Do you suggest keeping carbs that low for the life of the diet or just for a few days to kick-start? Sorry if this has already been posted – I tend to skim read 🙂
Private Member |
Marrissa, when you have a “refeed”, you are not automatically in ketosis the next day. But the next few days you are burning fat like made (if you go back on the keto diet) as your body goes through the process of going into ketosis again. By day 3, 4 or 5 you’re right back in ketosis, but you’re burning fat at a much more optimal speed than when you’re body is adjusted to being in ketosis and certain hormones that aid in the fat burning process get depleted. Before I did these refeed days, I noticed that after a week or so my cravings for sweets and anything carby were almost uncontrollable, and after being just straight keto with no cheating my fat loss slowed. But when I started having these “refeeds”, my abs appeared, my energy’s been through the roof, my cravings are stable. And someone mentioned those keto sticks. Those aren’t always reliable for everyone. You’ll pretty much know you’re in ketosis by the way you’re feeling. It’s not easy going into ketosis the first few times, but once you’re used to it like Zuzka said your energy soars. It only really sucks the first couple times. Phew! Long post over!!!
Private Member |
Thank you for your response Lisa! I was just skimming the comments though and I saw Zuzka recommends no refeed ,or cheat. I also read that when you refeed they call it a Cyclic keto diet where you have more carbs one day a week. All the information is confusing but i appreciate your response. I really thought there was one way to do a keto diet? hahah well, I’m hoping from Zuzka’s recipes and others i’ll be able to handle no refeed as i think it will set back my progress. Plus Zuzka has an AWESOME pizza recipe low carb and I’m a sucker for pizza so i’ll just have that frequently 🙂
Private Member |
How can you keep performing high-intensity workouts on this diet? In most of the literature I read, anaerobic (i.e. sprint, HIIT) exercise is discouraged while on this diet. Also, is it possible to maintain or keep gaining muscle mass while on this diet, due to the reduced protein intake? I am currently redoing the Summer Shred series because I couldn’t the first time round, and want to get all the benefits. But I’m curious about this diet too!
Private Member |
Hi Zuzka,
You say that it is really important to keep an eye on your macro ratios , ie: fats and protein, but surely that is impossible without actually knowing roughly what your daily calorie intake should be. So what is your rough daily calorie intake because i know you don’t count calories?
Private Member |
Your calories are irrelevant on keto diet. Ponder this math. If you overeat by 20 calories a day for next 20 days you will weigh nearly 20 kilos heavier (3500 calories per fat/ muscle). Try restricting your protein to 2 grams per kilo of your weight. So if you weigh 70 eat 140 grams of protein. If you try to restrict protein severely, you will fail since you can’t just eat butter or coconut oil alone, it will make you sick and bloated. There’s conflicting stories and evidence about whether protein spikes your insulin too much. I’ve looked it up for hours and hours. One thing is for sure, if you wanna be fit, carbs got to be restricted.
Private Member |
Hi Sam,
Thanks for clarifying. I weigh 58kg, 166cm tall and about 20% body frat. My macros are 20% protein( 90g) , 75% fat(140g) and 5% carbs(20g). So, in your opinion am i eating enough protein to maintain or even build muscle?
Private Member |
santa cruz, ca
I am wondering one thing about this diet, since I’m very interested in it: Physical/mechanical energy expenditure vs. BRAIN expenditure. 🙂
By “earning your carbs”, is physical exercise the only way to do so? What about high mental exercise/work?
I ask this because I am a graduate student in a very, very tough program. I am studying Chinese Medicine, and between the Chinese and Western Medical components, I have a HUMONGOUS amount of information I am learning and a gigantic amount of memorization.
I eat about 40-100 grams of carbohydrates a day (mostly root veggies, steel cut oats, and some root veggies or tubers). I certainly don’t look like you, Zuzka, but I am very petite and fit. I don’t have a lot of fat on my body. I consume plenty of protein and eat whole, organic food. The extent of processed food I eat will be some puffed quinoa and corn thins or something and some tahini, or anything minimally “processed”.
I am also very physically active, combining your workouts (which I usually do twice the time or amount), cycling around 20 miles a week (short bursts with hills, to and from school), parkour, a lot of aerial/partner acrobatics, some capoeira, surfing, etc.
And so whenever I have attempted to reduce my carb intake, which I feel isn’t that much for my physical activity alone, I absolutely suffer with my ability to focus on studying and memorizing large quantities of information. Our brains use SO MUCH GLUCOSE. I lose concentration, focus, and even motivation to study. I am also not as sharp in the clinic where I intern, so there is no way I can sacrifice my patient and supervising practitioner relations because of fatigue.
I am 100% certain that when I stop being a student I will not “need” to consume carbs as much. But even the life of a busy acupuncturist in California can be very, very cerebral. I need my cerebellum to have all the glucose it needs. So if I am only feeding myself based on my physical activity, wouldn’t that neglect my brain??
Haha, thank you for reading this.
Private Member |
santa cruz, ca
sorry for typos. It’s early morning. 🙂
Private Member |
lake tahoe, nv, usa
Hi Francesca, there are enough studies already about high carb diets that can’t be ignored. High carb diets are causing diabetes, kidney failures, obesity, and blood sugar spikes which doesn’t help with keeping a steady energy or better brain activity. If you are losing focus when studying, it doesn’t mean necessarily that it’s because of low carb diet. There are other elements that can play role. You may be low in some important hormones, or vitamins. I’m not trying to convince you to do Keto or to stay in this diet, but since you asked, I’m giving you my most sincere and honest opinion. Our brains do use a lot of glucose when we are using glucose as a main source of energy, however, our brain can also utilize ketones for energy and there’s enough research to show that ketones increase brain function. Here’s a good video that explains it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LDc5TxOcvA
Private Member |
santa cruz, ca
Wow, thank you!!! My nerdy self is quite pleased. And my inquisitive mind is happy. 🙂
I am watching this video right now. I’m so impressed because it immediately mentioned the need for glucose in the brain from the very beginning…..and how this works in this diet. I love the physiological explanation. Thank you! I feel research is very important when it comes to modern science-based diets (even if they resemble traditional diets).
I’m very interested in this diet because I have benefited in the past few years from an overall reduction in grains, especially gluten. Although I still don’t think my body actually digests all the carbohydrates that I eat… I think I will stick to eating grain just for breakfast, and the occasional addition of some rice to my daily stews. 🙂 That seems enough.
Also, I think it is important to note that all foods are of a unique chemical composition, even if they are considered “carbohydrate” foods. Not all “carb” foods are the same, and they are not digested the same. People’s digestion capabilities and tendencies also vary based on their genetics, environment, and ESPECIALLY gut flora. So I think this is important to address. Gut flora plays a gigantic role in weight and body fat production.
Thank you, Z.
Private Member |
santa cruz, ca
I love the emphasis on the harmful effects of sugar, in this video. That sugars feed cancer cells. This is such important information. There is so, so, so much evidence and research on sugar, showing that it is the cause of pretty much most problems. Yes, we may be assaulted by toxicity in our environment, diet, and by stress. But by eating sugar we not only create inflammation in our body (leading to……….every problem that exists), but we create an internal body environment of vulnerability to disease.
It’s also pretty amazing how cravings for sugar, and substances that break down into sugar, magically disappear after a while of toughing through a reduction of these inflammatory substances. Such a simple fix….but sugar is also a very profitable drug, so industry doesn’t really help……Addicted people are very exploitable.
Private Member |
santa cruz, ca
OMG, Zuzka, this interview is so great. I just listened to it again, more closely. It is so so fascinating. And it is so in line, as well, with the medicine I am learning, which emphasizes strengthening our bodies so that they are resilient.
This diet seems to help the body protect itself and be resilient to all the various causes of disease. It makes sense that there are so many causes of the common diseases, and the most simple approach is to strengthen ourselves, rather than try to fight every assault to our health.
Private Member |
santa cruz, ca
By the way, I figured I’d post a nice study that supports this diet, which I found on PubMed. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2716748/
Private Member |
santa cruz, ca
AND, even though this is not a traditional scientific study, this website demonstrates a more long term effect(s) of this diet. Which also kind of makes me more interested…..
http://body.io/following-ketogenic-diet-5-years-story-glucose-transporter-1-deficiency-syndrome/
Because I mean, we should know what ketosis means to our bodies over longer periods of time.
Our Livers are very important. 🙂 We don’t want to exhaust them.
Private Member |
Hi Nadine, it depends. If you’re not hungry all the time and you don’t crave carbs ( sugars, rice, etc), then that seems fine. I’m not sure about building muscle. It’s a very controversial topic. If muscle building was easy then everybody would be building muscle. I’m trying to drop my fat % and everything has failed (I’m probably about 20%). Keto works perfectly but I don’t go below 20% body fat. Look up Gary Taubes, her argues it’s all got to do with fuel partitioning and he argues exercise is useless. But what Zuzka does is different. It’s low carb, extremely tiring ( and consistent) and probably makes you burn most of the carbs you eat . What’s clear is carbs for most people are a no go zone. But it also spends on the individual.
Private Member |
Took 3 days for ketosis for me but finally in! 🙂 Zuzka, your guidance and advice is such a blessing. I don’t think you try to persuade people to do anything at all. I am thankful you shared with us that you’re giving keto another go! It inspired me to try it and now looking forward to all the benefits! Thank you for everything! 🙂