As a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, I often get asked, “What is that Keto diet?”
The Ketogenic diet is the latest buzzword in the diet industry, but it’s actually not new at all. It’s been around since the 1920s and was originally used as a treatment for epilepsy.
The generally-accepted principles of the diet involve adjusting your macronutrients (carbohydrates, protein and fat):
- reducing carbohydrates to a minimal level , usually 20 grams or less
- keeping protein within a specific range, usually between .6-.8 grams per pound of lean body mass
- consuming your remaining calories from fat
Eating this way allows your body to burn through stored energy, called glycogen, and then use stored body fat for energy. Your body can’t use fat directly for fuel though, so it must first convert the fat to ketones and then use those ketones for energy. When your body is making and using ketones for fuel, you are said to be in a state of ketosis.
After you have been in ketosis for a while, usually about 6 weeks, your body becomes fat-adapted and can then efficiently switch back and forth between using ketones and glucose for energy.
While some people can (or need to) adjust their macronutrient ratios a bit to get or stay in ketosis, others find that they must be diligent and keep their ratios exact to be in ketosis. Other people, by choice or necessity, vary the diet a bit by adding further restrictions, such as avoiding processed foods or sugar alternatives. There’s also controversy within the keto world about the impact of fiber and sugar alcohols on ketosis.
In general though, ketosis simply refers to being in a state where you are burning fat for energy and being/going/doing keto means that you are working toward that goal.
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Mandal, A. (2018, August 23). History of the Ketogenic Diet. Retrieved from https://www.news-medical.net/health/History-of-the-Ketogenic-Diet.aspx