Ultimate Keto Diet Plan for Weight loss – Foods & Recipes.

What is a Keto Diet?

Keto diets mainly involve the drastic reduction of one’s carbohydrate intake, and replacing it with fats. Reducing the carb content like this puts the body in a metabolic state known as ketosis.

In this state, your body is able to efficiently burn fat for energy. It can also convert fats in the liver into ketones. This helps supply energy for the brain.

Keto diets can have several health benefits, such as reduced blood sugar and insulin levels. However, they can also come with side effects that we will discuss later.

5 Keto Diet Tips for Beginners

While following a keto diet, one must take special care in certain cases. The following tips can help you follow the diet a lot better:

1. Decrease Stress

The stress hormone cortisol ends up elevating the body’s blood sugar levels. Thus, this prevents the body from burning fat for energy due to the presence of excess sugar in it. Chronic stress can, therefore, severely hinder the body’s ability to enter ketosis.

2. Prioritise Sleep

Less sleep plays a major role in higher stress levels. As discussed earlier, this can prevent your body from being able to burn fat. Maintaining a proper schedule can help improve one’s quality of sleep. This, in turn, helps reduce stress and thus, make the keto diet effective.

It is ideal to get about 8-9 hours of sleep every night. Plenty of studies have found that sleeping for fewer hours can hurt one’s weight loss attempts.

3. Increase Salt Intake

While we have always been taught to reduce our sodium consumption, this is necessary only in the case of high-carb diets. High-carb diets have naturally higher levels of insulin, leading to the kidney retaining sodium.

When you reduce your carb intake as you do with a keto diet, insulin levels are a lot lower, and the body excretes a lot more salt. Therefore, you can increase your salt consumption by 3 to 5 g while in ketosis.

4. Exercise Frequently

While on a keto diet, a regular exercise schedule can help boost ketone levels, and transition into a low-carb, high-fat diet a lot faster. Getting rid of any glucose present in the body is key to the body getting into ketosis.

While exercising, the body uses different types of energy for fuel including carbs, amino acids and fats. Frequent exercises helps the body get rid of its glycogen stores quicker.

5. Drink Plenty of Water

Staying hydrated is important at all times, but it is much more so in the case of a ketogenic diet. This is because the body releases more water from the body when the carb intake is a lot lower. Ideally, one should drink more water on days where they are likely to sweat more.

CHECK NOW ON THE ORIGINAL WEBSITE 

5 Foods to Eat on a Ketogenic Diet

The Keto diet has several food requirements that must be met. Keto foods are normally low on carbs and high in fat. Here’s a list of foods that one can consume while on a keto diet:

1. Seafood

Although rich in B vitamins, selenium and potassium, salmon and other fish are almost carb-free. This makes them extremely keto-friendly.

The carb content varies across the various types of shellfish, however. You can always choose the low-carb variants to include in your keto diet. Two servings of seafood a week would be of great help to any individual on a keto diet.

2. Cheese

Considered both nutritious and delicious, cheese is generally low in carbs and rich in fat. Thus, they are a great fit for a ketogenic diet.

Although rich in saturated fat, cheese hasn’t been known to increase the risk of heart disease. On the contrary, some studies claim that this dairy product can in fact reduce these risks.

3. Low-carb Vegetables

Non-starchy vegetables, such as broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms and lettuce, are low in calories and carbs but they are rich in several nutrients, including vitamins and minerals. Vegetables contain fiber, that your body will not digest, unlike carbs.

The antioxidants present in these vegetables help protect the body against free radicals, or unstable molecules that cause cell damage.

4. Eggs

A single large egg contains less than one gram of carbohydrates, and less than 6 grams of protein. This makes them an ideal food for the ketogenic diet.

Eggs are also known to make an individual feel full, while keeping their blood sugar levels stable. This leads to lower calorie intake for almost 24 hours.

5. Meat

Meat and poultry are considered staple food of the keto diet since they contain no carbs and are rich in B vitamins and several minerals. They are also a great source of high quality protein, helping preserve muscle mass in the absence of carbs.

It is ideal to choose grass-fed animals for meat since they consume more omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants than grain-fed animals.

5 Foods to Avoid on a Ketogenic Diet

Foods that are rich in carbs, and low on fats, must be avoided by any individual following a keto diet. Avoid eating the following foods while on a ketogenic diet.

1. Cereal

While sugary breakfast cereals are known to contain a lot of carbs, the amount of carbs present in the healthy cereals will surprise you. One cup of regular or instant oatmeal provides 32 g of carbs, only 4 of which are fiber.

A bowl of cereal can easily help you cross the carb limit on a keto diet, even before the milk is added.

2. Juice

Fruit juice contains several important nutrients. However, they also contain fast-digesting carbs that cause one’s blood sugar levels to rise rapidly.

The liquid carbs in juice may not allow your brain to process them in the same way as solid carbs. Thus, drinking juice could lead to more hunger and increased craving for food later in the day.

3. Starchy Vegetables

Plenty of vegetables are high in fiber, thus aiding in weight loss, and blood sugar control. However, some high-starch vegetables contain more digestible carbs than fiber, and should be avoided on a low-carb diet.

Ideally, vegetables like corn and sweet potato must be avoided while one is on a low-carb diet like the keto one is.

4. Sweetened Yogurt

While plain yogurt is fairly low in carbs, the sweetened version can contain as many carbs as a dessert. A cup of nonfat sweetened fruit yogurt can have almost 47 g of carbs, which is higher than the carbohydrate content for a similar serving of ice cream.

Ideally, sweetened yogurt can be replaced by Greek yogurt topped with blackberries or raspberries while on a keto diet.

5. Beans and Legumes

Beans and legumes provide several health benefits such as reduced risk of heart disease and inflammation. Although they are high in fiber, they do have a fair amount of carbs.

While you may include them in small amounts, it is better to avoid beans and legumes altogether while on a keto diet.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q. Is it safe to follow the keto diet?

A: Keto diet was meant as a diet for epileptics to give their brains rest and shift energy from glucose to ketones. It is being widely used for weight loss but it has its limitations. Keto is a very rigid diet and cannot be continued in the long term. Brain fogging, altered lipid profile, lethargy and deficiency of some micronutrients are common disadvantages of the diet.

Q. What happens if you cheat on the keto diet?

A: Body needs to produce ketones as a source of energy from fats and hence the carbohydrate content is minimal in keto. By cheating, the body can go off ketosis immediately and there will be no results. To get back into ketosis again takes time and the carbs will need to be flushed out first.

Q. How much protein should I eat on a ketogenic diet?

A: Proteins can account for 15 to 20% of one’s total calories. This will be enough to carry out the body’s functions efficiently, and help build and repair tissues in the body.

Q. How many grams of fat should you eat on a keto diet?

The fat percentage in a keto diet is about 75-80% and its amount in grams can be calculated according to one’s daily requirement of calories.

CHECK OUT FOR OFFICIAL PAGE LINK