High Fat Ketogenic Diet
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We are a society that is obsessed with diets. Among the popular these days is the high fat ketogenic diet.
There are a lot of fad diets that assure weight loss. The Cabbage Soup Diet is a 7-day diet that has specific groups of foods that you can eat each day plus unlimited cabbage soup. The 3-day military diet claims that you can lose up to 10 pounds of body weight. It also comes with a 3-day menu plan that is very low in calories.
But the high fat ketogenic diet is not to be categorized as a fad diet. Keto advocates profess that it is not a diet, but a lifestyle. The reason is that it is not a diet that you can do for a just a short amount of time and then stop when the weight goal is achieved. Because you see, aside from weight loss, the high fat ketogenic diet offers a lot of health benefits.
LCHF Diet
What is LCHF Diet? It stands for Low-Carb, High-Fat diet. The keto diet is often put under this category. But it is not accurate. Why? Because in this diet, we should not just be focused on the carbs and the fats we consume. Proteins should be monitored too. The appropriate name is Low-carb, moderate-protein, high fat ketogenic diet.
The keto diet is LCHF but not all LCHF diets are keto.
Why High Fat Ketogenic Diet?
The goal of the keto diet is to get our body into a state of ketosis. Carbohydrates are broken down by the body into glucose and act as our energy source. When fewer carbs are ingested, the body will get backup energy from ketones. The liver derives ketones from the stored fats in our body and the high fatty acids in our diet.
You are in ketosis when the ketone levels in your blood is elevated. It is in this state that your body goes fat-burning frenzy.
We now understand why it’s high fat ketogenic diet. We also know why the diet should be low in carbs.
Now why moderate protein? Because protein is converted into glucose just like carbs. This is a common mistake of people who are on a keto diet. They mainly focus on their fats and carbs intake. Too much protein in your diet can get you out of ketosis in no time. That’s also the main reason while people in keto experience weight loss plateaus. They don’t realize that they are consuming more than needed proteins while on this diet.
While monitoring your ketone levels, monitor your protein levels too. If you are still having weight loss plateaus after modifying your protein intake, intermittent fat fasting is recommended.
Fat Fasting
If you are in ketosis, you are called fat-adapted and your body is called a fat-burning machine. This results in fat and weight loss. But there are some people who are already keto-adapted (read: in keto for some time and has already lost a considerable amount of weight) and reach a weight-loss plateau. Even if you are following the recommended keto diet ratio, you are not losing weight anymore.
Fat fasting is often recommended when you reach this phase. In fat fasting, you will need to keep your calorie intake to a minimum (1000-1200 kcal per day). 80-90% of this calories should be coming from fats. You can do this for 3-5 days. There’s a risk of losing muscles if you fat fast for a longer period.
While on a fat fast, expect your ketone levels to shoot up. And the result, ketones crazy to burn the stored fats in your body.
Consider fat fasting only if you are already keto-adapted or had a cheat day.
Tips in Fast Fasting
- Take supplements/multivitamins to prevent micronutrients deficiency.
- Don’t engage in a strenuous physical activity. Skip your extensive workouts and do some light cardio activities while on a fat fast.
- Track your diet. You’ll be surprised how many available Apps are out there to help you keep records of your calorie intake.
There are also apps to help you track your progress while on a high fat ketogenic diet. Examples are diet tracker app, carb counter, and a calorie counter.
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