Ketogenic and Low Carb Diet Plan

The ketogenic diet is a way of eating that takes advantage of ketosis, an extremely fascinating part of human physiology.

When we consume carbs in such small amounts that fatty acid oxidation takes over as our primary fuel source, we enter a metabolic state known as ketosis.

The body starts to produce ketone bodies when fatty acid oxidation reaches a particular threshold and the availability of carbohydrates is sufficiently low.

Then, certain tissues—the brain foremost—use these ketone molecules preferentially.

With the ketogenic diet, we can go for extended periods of time without eating or with very little—almost no—carbohydrates.

According to biological, biochemical, and evolutionary theories, ketosis seems to be a survival tactic or mechanism.

The main selling point of the ketogenic diet, when it comes to helping people lose weight, is that it enables us to go for extended periods of time with almost no carbohydrate intake and, in theory, lower insulin levels than usual.

One of the main idea about the ketogenic diet is the theory that insulin regulates fat accumulation, which may have an impact on body composition.

The Keto Diet History

The ketogenic diet has a fascinating history. The ketogenic diet most likely originated in the medical industry, unlike the majority of other diets that have emerged from popular text books or health and fitness circles.

Since brain metabolism can be more “evenly” regulated when in ketosis, the ketogenic diet was first used to help manage seizures in children with epilepsy.

It was embraced by the general public and used as a fat-loss diet throughout time.

Overview of Components & Principles of the Keto Diet

Low dietary protein and carbohydrate intakes combined with either fasting or excessive dietary fat consumption cause ketosis.

The body, more specifically the liver, starts producing ketone bodies (beta-hydroxybutyrate, acetoacetate, and acetone) when fat metabolism reaches a point where the vital Krebs Cycle substrates (oxaloacetate) are depleted. These ketone bodies subsequently become a significant fuel source for certain bodily tissues (e.g. the heart and the brain).

Low-Carb versus Ketogenic

The foundation of a low-carb diet is the same as that of a ketogenic diet: cut back on carbohydrates to lower insulin levels and consumption of calories. Despite sharing the same basic principles, they differ greatly medically, particularly in how they affect blood ketones.

During a low carbohydrate diet ketones do not accumulate in the blood to any appreciable degree, this changes the type of substrates used in key tissue like the brain and the heart. It could probably be argued that if you go low-carb you should probably go ketogenic to help tissues adapt better; however, that remains to be debated.

The Ketoacidosis: What Is It?

The main way that the ketogenic diet and diabetic ketoacidosis vary from one another is that the former involves low insulin levels, while the latter involves no insulin at all (diabetes keto acidosis).

Insulin is absent in diabetic ketoacidosis, which controls the process of ketogenesis. The blood ketones for “normal” levels, nutritional ketosis, and diabetic ketoacidosis are listed below:

Normal Levels of Ketones: 0.0 – 0.5 mmol/L

Ketosis in Nutrition Levels of Ketones: 0.5 – 3.0 mol/L

> 5.0 mmol/L of diabetic ketoacidosis combined with high blood sugar and insufficient insulin

Ways to Maintain Ketosis

Dietary carbohydrate consumption must stay below a specific threshold in order to enter and maintain ketosis. Although everyone has a different threshold, for the majority of people, 5–15% of daily caloric consumption should be the beginning point.

Usually, measuring one’s ketone levels can assist each individual in determining the range of food that keeps them in a ketogenic state.

To maintain  a ketogenic state, protein intake is also necessary. Beyond a certain point, protein consumption is glucogenic—that is, it can create glucose that your body can use as fuel. Your body may be “kicked” out of ketosis by this.

In real terms, your ketogenic diet may become non-ketogenic if you consume protein at a level equal to or higher than 15% of your daily caloric intake.

Food Timing and Frequency

on theory, there is no explicit recommendation about the frequency or time of meals on the ketogenic diet. But since it’s usually  simpler to stay in a state of ketosis when fasting a lot of people mix ketogenic diets with other fasting practices, most commonly intermittent fasting.

Having said that, one can maintain ketosis by eating regularly if they follow a very high fat, low protein, and very low carbohydrate diet.

Limitations/Restrictions

Although the ketogenic diet does not specifically ban certain foods or food groups, it frequently excludes significant food groups due to the necessary intake of macronutrients.

Foods like rice, potatoes, bread, pasta, fruit, and other carbohydrate-rich foods become nearly impossible to incorporate in one’s diet, unless in very small quantities, as carbohydrate intake must be limited to 0–15% of daily energy intake. To maintain ketosis, protein consumption must also be kept relatively low, ranging from 5 to 15% of total daily energy.

Are Phases Included?

Phases are not included in the ketogenic diet as they are usually recommended and followed.

A cyclic ketogenic diet is embraced by some individuals, who follow a ketogenic diet, enter ketosis for four to five days at a time, and then refeed on carbohydrates.

For whom is it most appropriate?

The ideal candidates for the ketogenic diet are those who don’t mind having food restrictions, prefer not counting calories, and aren’t serious sports.

With a few minor adjustments, those with rapid fat loss goals (such as figure competitors getting ready for a show) can achieve success.

Ease of following?

It would be like asking who people voted for on Thanksgiving to find out how simple it is to follow the ketogenic diet. Answers will be hurled passionately at you from all directions. There are those who claim it is the hardest diet in the world to stick to and those who claim it is the easiest.

It seems that following the ketogenic diet is not all that different from following other dietary regimes when you really look at adherence rates to the diet in the scientific literature7, 8, 9.

There are various factors that may make it challenging to comprehend. The “adaptation phase” is the first one. A lot of people complain about having the “low carb flu,” which is a condition when their body switches from using fats and carbohydrates as fuel to a more ketone-based metabolism. This frequently results in fatigue and in some cases, even flu-like symptoms.

The second is that in order to maintain ketosis, individuals must consume relatively little in the way of protein and carbohydrates; nevertheless, for some, this means making drastic dietary changes. On the other hand, this diet appeals to a lot of individuals because it eliminates the need to calculate calories and allows for unlimited eating.

Common Views Regarding Diet

The general consensus regarding the ketogenic diet is that it exploits a fascinating part of human physiology to enable prolonged periods of very low carbohydrate intake.

This is thought to enable us to maintain reduced insulin levels, which could promote fat reduction

Scientific Research and Data Interpretation

Perhaps the Mediterranean diet is the one that has had the most scientific research done on it of all the diets available. There is a lot of interest in the issue of “ketogenic diet” as seen by the 1913 references that come up in a pubmed search for the term.

A lot of researchers proved regarding the benefits of the ketogenic diet for cancer, epilepsy, weight loss, and most recently, human performance.

Fat Loss:

Despite the fact that ketogenic diets has a long history of being associated with improved fat loss, it has been suggested that eliminating carbohydrates from the diet will inhibit insulin signaling.


These studies did not offer strong enough control for decades to eliminate important covariates such as total caloric intake. It is only in the recent past that research with sufficient control have been carried out to offer sufficient empirical evidence to address this query.

In one trial, participants were given a baseline diet for five days, followed by either a restriction fat or carbohydrate diet for six days1. As expected given that the body often adjusts to the fuel it is provided, this study demonstrated that reducing the amount of carbohydrates consumed enhanced the oxidation of fatty acids and lowered the oxidation of carbohydrates.
It’s interesting to note that the group that restricted carbs lost less body fat than the one that reduced fat intake. The primary finding of this research was that eating more fat does not always boost fatty acid oxidation, and in fact, the converse may be true. Therefore, eating fat in order to burn fat is probably not the greatest way to lose weight.

With regard to the ketogenic diet in particular, the second study is among the most meticulously planned and regulated dietary investigations that have ever been conducted in the field of nutrition2. In this study, individuals who were overweight or obese were admitted to metabolic wards, which were essentially testing facilities. They were given the option to follow a regular diet low in calories or diet that is ketogenic.

Overall, on the higher carbohydrate diet, the subjects shed around 1 pound of body fat in 15 days, compared to approximately 0.5 pounds on the ketogenic diet.

These two studies demonstrate that the ketogenic diet does not seem to provide any undiscovered metabolic benefits. However, this does not exclude it from being a useful tool. Numerous studies have demonstrated the ketogenic diet’s great efficiency in aiding in fat loss, primarily because to its ease of calorie control.

Performance

The effect of the ketogenic diet on performance is one of the most contentious topics. Examining the research that have been conducted on the subject in more detail will enable us to emphasize the advantages and drawbacks of using this diet in terms of performance.
In one research looking at how ketogenic diets affected moderate-intensity running, athletes lost weight, including lean mass, but their VO2 max3 did not change. However, their ability to recover was reduced.
A different study examined how a ketogenic diet affected cycling performance and found that it enhanced both body composition and relative VO2 max. This study has a significant limitation: since VO2=ml/kg/min, lowering body mass lowers the denominator’s number, which raises the relative value.

This is supported by the study itself, which found that their lower body weight was the real cause of the improvement in relative VO2 as well as the fact that their maximum effort work fell.

What does this precisely mean? Ketogenic diets likely help with weight loss by reducing caloric intake; nevertheless, they often cause a decrease in maximal effort during metabolically demanding tasks.
Numerous further investigations have revealed the similar pattern of weight loss, typically due to an unplanned decrease in caloric intake without any alteration in performance.5, 6.

Muscle biopsies from studies revealed that the keto diet lowered muscle glycogen to nearly half of normal, which is another important piece of information. That is sufficient evidence to suggest that high-intensity performance may be compromised.

In conclusion

The ketogenic diet is a tool that can be applied correctly or incorrectly. As a practitioner, you are aware of the extent and situations in which you ought to and ought not utilize this instrument.

The importance of ketogenic diet in helping weight loss has been shown in various studies, in comparison to other dietary approaches that limit protein and calorie intake, they may not possess any unique properties.

However it appears that people with less active lifestyle or low-intensity athletes can benefit from ketogenic diet without suffering major performance losses. However, athletes who train hard and eat a lot may discover that their performance and recovery are compromised after starting a ketogenic diet.