Ketones and Ketogenic diets

Happiness and contentment come with good health and to nurture within you the garden of joy, staying healthy is very crucial. For humans to stay healthy, they have to stick on to specific diets and perform necessary physical activities and exercises. The inclusion of all kinds of nutrients in your diet is essential for the proper functioning of your body. 

Ketogenesis and Ketones

In cases of fasting and elimination of certain calories from your diet, the body tends to develop a habit of breaking down the fatty acids into forms that get consumed by the body for energy. While fasting, people will knowingly or unknowingly exclude certain nutrients from their diet. In circumstances where the body lacks enough glucose or carbohydrates to produce energy, it naturally behaves in the format as mentioned earlier. The process of breaking down of these fatty acids is known as ketogenesis, and the products are called ketones. The ketones are usually produced in the liver (mitochondria cells). And this energy produced through these fats is used up by the heart, brain, and skeletal muscles.

         

Ketones, therefore, nurture a healthy diet by not allowing a margin for diseases, by reducing the levels of carbohydrates from your body. The settlement of these carbohydrate by-products is the primary reason for obesity, and the extraction of all these carbohydrates for energy, backed by a lack of exercise leads to health issues.

 

Ketogenic diets

These are diets that include low-carbohydrate content and high-fat content in it. With obesity and its branched diseases increasing at a high rate these days, it is always recommended to inculcate a diet within your daily life to reduce the carbohydrate consumption and increase fat consumption. This diet should always contain low carbohydrates since with its high levels come diseases that put your life at stake. Medium levels of protein should also be present in this diet to make sure that your body is provided with all the necessary nutrients. Read this article to find out the best keto diets for athletes

With the current food culture, which includes more of oily, fast foods, people are likely to be afflicted with diseases that are a result of such unhealthy diets. So, to make sure that you live a healthy life, incorporate proper exercises and body workouts, and a healthy diet in your daily routine. Doctors strongly recommend low-carb and keto diets to people suffering from obesity. With the increased levels of glucose and insulin in your body, the chances for diabetes also increases. Having discussed the health effects of such unhealthy diets let us now take a look at the keto diets that are widely accepted by all doctors and dieticians.

There are different types of Ketogenic diets:

• Standard Ketogenic Diet: It is a type of Ketogenic diet that includes high-fat contents (75%), medium-protein content (20%) and low-carbohydrate content (5%).
• High-protein ketogenic diet: This is a diet that includes high-protein content (60%), medium-fat (35%) and low-carbohydrate content (5%).
• Targeted Ketogenic diet: This is the diet in which you are allowed to include carbohydrates in your diet, but only by sticking to certain levels depending upon one’s requirement. This diet is permitted when the body conditions allow it and is equally backed by frequent workouts.
• Cyclical Ketogenic diets: In this diet, you have to stick to a particular routine of fixed calories. It usually comes in a way that you have to take two days of high-carbohydrate meals and five days of the standard ketogenic diet.

 

Foods to include and avoid from your diet

• Meat, fatty fish, eggs, butter, cheese, low-carbohydrate vegetables, nuts and seeds, and healthy oils are some foods that you should include in the diet.
• Sweet foods with high sugar content, fruits, alcohol, beans, root-vegetables and sauces are some of the foods that need to be avoided from your Ketogenic diet.

 

           

Conclusion

Always consult a doctor/dietician before adopting the Ketogenic diet so that it does not produce unfortunate results and create further issues in your body. Keep a balanced diet (be it Ketogenic or any other) to keep your body functions at its productive high

Photo by Elle Hughes from Pexels