Keto diet - what is it and who is it suitable for?

If, twenty or thirty years ago, someone had put all the products in two baskets, sorting them according to the principle of greatest and least usefulness, then today you would have to conduct a thorough revision of them. The strangest story happened during this time with fat - the recent main enemy of mankind is not only fully rehabilitated, but almost declared his savior. Is this so, nutritionist Chris More understands.

Recently, a patient admitted to me that she and her husband eat almost a kilogram of bacon a week - three slices for breakfast, and then two more with salad for lunch. I have been working as a nutritionist for more than twenty years, and it would seem that nothing would surprise me, but then I still could not resist and asked: why? The patient said that her husband watched a TV show about the keto diet, and they decided to try it. Six months on bacon - and now the husband has lost nine kilograms and, according to his wife, is almost bursting with energy overwhelming him.

Increasingly, I hear from people about the miracles that the keto diet does to them. They claim that it burns fat in the body, energizes and conquers disease, and that from now on it is not only possible, but also necessary to eat as much bacon as you like. But all their enthusiasm needs at least a serious test - is a keto diet that does not restrict animal fat intake really that good?

The Ketogenic Diet is a low-carb, high-fat, moderate-protein diet. It was originally used in the treatment of epilepsy in children by increasing the level of ketone bodies in the blood.

What is ketosis?

Let's start with the name of the diet: where did this "keto" come from? When the body is desperately short of carbohydrates - for example, due to diabetes or prolonged fasting - it has to break down its own fat more actively than usual to get energy. Ketosis develops: metabolism is disrupted, and more ketone bodies than necessary accumulate in the tissues. Ketone bodies are products of fat metabolism. They are produced by the liver when insulin levels drop in the blood.

"The liver makes ketone bodies all the time, but their levels depend on the carbohydrates and proteins you eat — the body needs both, " explains Jeff Volek, professor at Ohio University.

The breakdown of fat in the body of a healthy person and the formation of ketone bodies is a normal process, it is called ketogenesis. Unlike ketosis, ketogenesis does not lead to dramatic weight loss. Ketosis is a pathology that, in addition to diabetes and prolonged fasting, can be caused by a keto diet, since it almost excludes carbohydrate foods from the diet. A person who has developed ketosis loses weight dramatically, as well as due to some other pathologies.

The ketogenic diet forces the body to use fat as its main source of energy. Usually, this role is played by carbohydrates, which, when taken with food, are processed into glucose, which is extremely important for the nutrition and functioning of the brain. However, if the diet is low in carbohydrates, the liver converts fat into fatty acids and ketone bodies. Ketone bodies enter the brain and are used as an energy source instead of glucose. An increase in the level of ketone bodies in the blood (ketosis) leads to a decrease in the frequency of epileptic seizures.

In the keto diet, the main part of the daily diet - from 60 to 80% - is fats, proteins - about 15%, and only the remaining 10% are carbohydrates (this is about half of a small bun). At first glance, similar to the Atkins diet, the keto diet involves a more severe restriction of carbohydrates, according to Spencer Nadolsky, author of The Fat Loss Prescription. A number of theorists generally assure that the less carbohydrates we eat, the more fat our body burns, and for this reason, metabolism improves, immunity increases - and in general, various miracles begin to happen to our bodies.

However, in ordinary life, we get about half of the calories, and not a tenth of them from carbohydrates. So, in essence, the question is: can your body be in ketosis long enough to achieve the promised nirvana without serious health consequences? Will you literally start freaking out with fat?

Is the keto diet right for you?

It may sound strange, but the best diet for you is the one you are used to following. For Volek, who has been on keto for twenty years, she is good, but is she right for you? Unfortunately, there is no research on what happens in the body of a person who has been on the keto diet for a long time. During The A to Z Weight Loss Study, scientists studied the Atkins diet, Zone, LEARN and some other diets, but in the study, female subjects consumed 25 to 35% of carbohydrates - this is not even close to the 10% thatadvises to limit yourself to the keto diet.

The only thing that is known for certain: on the keto diet you will really lose weight. In Italy, in 2015, they studied the performance of people sitting on it, and on average over three months they lost about 10-12 kilograms. A year earlier in Spain, it turned out that in a year this way you can lose about 20 kilograms. True, over the next year, the subjects often returned to the weight that they had before the experiment, as soon as they got off the rigid diet.

What will you eat if you decide to try? First and second, the same bacon. Of the rest of the products, not much will suit you. Starchy vegetables - potatoes, pumpkin, corn - are strictly prohibited, like most fruits. Milk, beans, rice and pasta will also have to be forgotten.

The keto diet is difficult to follow and can be dangerous for some. "Extreme diets, in particular the keto diet, are strictly contraindicated in people with neurodegenerative diseases such as epilepsy, " says Dr. Alan Aragon.

The ketogenic diet is considered optimal in society for weight loss. However, according to scientific evidence, the effect of weight loss soon after switching to a ketogenic diet is caused by a decrease in the amount of water in the body, and the amount of body fat is solely influenced by energy balance. For weight loss, the energy supplied with food should be less than that spent in physical activity. One of the benefits of the ketogenic diet, like other low-carb diets, is that ketosis that occurs with low-carb diets contributes to weight loss in obesity. The difference in calories eaten can be up to a thousand kilocalories per day compared to low-fat diets. The effect of ketogenic diets is highly dependent on the protein content of the diet.

Can I take drugs that cause an increase in ketone bodies? In no case. Do not listen to those "consultants" who will assure you that even without any diet, you can induce ketosis with the help of special drugs.

So is the keto diet right for you or not? If you are an extreme athlete, ready to experiment with your body, if you like to take risks and fast results are important to you, then try it! If you just want to lose a few pounds and in the past have already encountered the "yo-yo effect" (when, after a strict diet, a person breaks down and gains more weight than he managed to lose), then perhaps you should not risk it. However, if you approach the keto diet wisely, there are three lessons you can learn from it that will definitely come in handy.

1. Reduce your intake of "empty" carbohydrates. Analyze what foods you get the most of your daily carbohydrate intake: if it comes from fruits that are rich in fiber and antioxidants, then that's okay, but if your sources of carbohydrates are candy, soda and any food made with white flour, you knowWhat to do: Feel free to send them to the trash.
2. Don't avoid fat. The passion for low-fat foods that began in the 90s can be safely left in the past. Nothing good about that. Often, to compensate for the lack of fat, manufacturers increase the amount of sugar in such products. Eat fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, or sardines at least twice a week. And whatever you cook, do not skimp on vegetable, especially good - olive - oil.
3. Eat plenty of greens. All leafy vegetables and greens go well with fatty and protein foods - fans of the keto diet eat plenty of them. And you do the same. Eat kale, spinach, bok choy, arugula and other types of salads without restrictions.

What happened to my bacon patients? Their experiments with nutrition continued exactly until the moment when their child was born. Of course, they immediately forgot about the diet (there is no time to think about it, as the young mother explained). So remember: sooner or later you will get tired of regularly stuffing bacon into yourself and you will return to normal, familiar food.

Recipes

Salmon and asparagus salad

Ingredients:

• 150 g salmon fillet;
• 80 g green asparagus;
• 1/2 head of iceberg lettuce;
• 2 eggs;
• 4 fillets of anchovies;
• 5 cherry tomatoes;
• 5 large capers (or 6–8 small ones) - take capers in salt, not brine, they must be washed before use;
• 1/2 medium-sized red onion;
• 6-8 Art. l. olive oil;
• 1 tspdijon mustard;
• juice of half a lemon.

How to cook:

1. If you've ever cooked nicoise, you can handle this salad too. It practically repeats the main dish of Nice, only fat salmon is taken instead of tuna, and asparagus is used instead of green beans (however, you can also use beans).
2. Salmon is best cooked not in a hot frying pan or in a hot oven, but steamed or in a slow cooker: 20-30 minutes at a temperature of 80-85 degrees, no higher (otherwise the protein will curl up and the fish will turn out tough). But you can also fry in a pan (just do not overdo it! ) - the fish should be tender and retain some transparency inside.
3. Cook asparagus. It should be crisp, so don't overcook it! The cooking time depends on its size, so we do not recommend leaving the stove - the asparagus is cooked quickly.
4. Put the disassembled iceberg on a plate (the salad needs to be washed, dried and torn into medium-sized pieces), asparagus, salmon disassembled into large pieces, halves of cherry tomatoes, anchovies, capers, onions chopped into rings and hard-boiled eggs (ideally, the yolk should not remainliquid but soft). Top of the fields with olive oil sauce with Dijon mustard and lemon juice. You don't need to salt the dish - anchovies and capers are already salty enough.

The ketogenic diet is used by athletes involved in staying sports that require endurance, such as ultramarathon, triathlon, cycling, etc. The body of athletes adhering to this diet uses fat more efficiently as a source of energy and thereby helps to conserve glycogen stores during prolonged exertion.

Bacon and lettuce salad

Ingredients:

• 2 palm-sized heads of lettuce
• 100 g bacon;
• 8 sprigs of mint;
• 1 egg yolk;
• 6 tbsp. l. olive oil and a little more for frying;
• 1 tspgranular mustard;
• 1 tbsp. l. sherry vinegar.

How to cook:

1. For this salad, you will have to make a slightly more complex sauce: put mint leaves and mustard in a tall glass, add egg yolk, pour in sherry vinegar. Whisk with a blender while adding olive oil in a thin stream.
2. Cut the lettuce in half lengthwise and quickly fry over high heat. It should slightly caramelize, that is, acquire a golden brown color, remaining fresh and crispy on the inside. Fry the bacon over high heat without oil or in the oven until it becomes crispy. Place lettuce, bacon and sauce on a plate. Garnish with mint leaves.