John Myers
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The ketogenic diet is widely considered healthy. We will show you how to eat accordingly and which foods are best suited. There are also voices against it. Therefore, we also deal with the criticisms of the diet.
The ketogenic diet – what is it?
In general, nutrition experts recommend eating as little meat and fat as possible. Different principles apply to the ketogenic diet, it is considered an extreme form of nutrition.
- With this diet, you almost completely avoid carbohydrates (saccharides). So eat lots of healthy fats.
- The aim is to get the body to form so-called ketones from fat. This process is called ketosis. These ketones then provide the cells with energy.
- Fat does not mean animal fat. Meat or bacon contains a lot of proteins in addition to fats. However, too much of it can prevent ketone formation despite avoiding carbohydrates. The diet should be 70 percent fat and only 20 percent protein. You can consume 20 to a maximum of 50 grams of carbohydrates per day.
- The body switches to this form of metabolism when it has hardly any sugar or saccharides available. This is the case, for example, in times of hunger, but also when fasting.
- The body can easily form ketones. The body is only unable to do this in the case of liver diseases and some rare metabolic disorders. You can read more about the ketogenic diet in another article.
Carb-free lifestyle – is that healthy?
Ketone diets are even offered in some clinics.
- For cancer patients, the ketogenic diet is offered as an alternative diet in some hospitals. The diet was also tested for diabetes and epilepsy.
- The previous scientific studies on the effectiveness of the heavily carbohydrate-reduced diet in certain diseases and the effect on health do not yet allow any reliable conclusions.
- When transitioning to the ketogenic diet, most people will feel tired and listless until the body adjusts to producing ketones.
- Often the diet is started to lose weight. You actually lose weight, but initially only in the form of liquid. Only later is body fat burned for energy?
- A major criticism of the ketogenic diet is the lack of essential nutrients and vitamins. These are present in fruit, for example – but this is rarely on the menu, as fruit also contains a lot of carbohydrates.
Healthy through ketogenic diet – these foods you should eat
This diet is all about good fats.
- You can find these in avocados, macadamia nuts, and products made from coconuts, such as oil or milk.
If you like to fish, go for herring and sardines. - Butter, cream, and cheese are also considered good foods on the ketogenic diet.
- In order to get enough vitamins and minerals, you should not miss out on low-carb vegetables such as cabbage and broccoli. Lettuce and herbs should also be a regular part of the menu.
- Spices provide you with important secondary plant substances, and they also make the food tasty.
- Most people will probably have the biggest problems with giving up bread, rice, pasta, and potatoes.
- Homemade grain bread can make the transition easier here.
- To do this, mix 125 grams of ground almonds with 60 grams each of soy flour, ground flaxseed, and neutral protein powder. Add 30 grams each of chopped walnuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, peeled sesame, whole flaxseed, and wheat bran as well as 15 grams of wheat germ, 5 grams of salt, a packet of dry yeast, and half a packet of baking powder:
- To this mixture add 30 grams of melted butter, three beaten eggs, and 180 milliliters of lukewarm water. Put the dough in a greased baking pan and let it rise for about 45 minutes. Then bake the grain bread for about an hour at 180 degrees.
