In this post, we discuss what is a keto diet? Its side effects, benefits, what are its types, and which supplements are recommended by us.

What is Ketogenic Diet?

It’s not a plan you have to buy or sign up for. It’s not special food you have to have delivery or even a complicated book you have to read. The keto diet is simply a shift in how you eat that claims to turn your body into a fat-burning machine. The ketogenic diet is a high fat, low carb eating plan. Eating faster and very true carbs put your body into “ketosis.” A metabolic state where your body burns fat instead of carbs for fuel. Often leading to rapid and substantial weight loss.

Steak, burgers, bacon even cheese and you lose weight. The keto craze has thousands of people trading in their carbs for a high-fat frenzy and they say they don’t miss the sugar or the bread.

Different Types of Ketogenic Diets

There are various variations of the ketogenic diet, including:

• Standard ketogenic diet (SKD): It is a high-fat, moderate protein, low carb diet. Macro-wise – 75% fat, 20% protein and only 5% carbs.
• Cyclical ketogenic diet (CKD): This is great for athletes but also for people who just want a break from the psychological stress of not eating carbs. It is gonna be five to six days of your standard keto and then one to two days of a higher carb or refeed days.
• Targeted ketogenic diet (TKD): This is great for who is involved in high-volume training or high-intensity training. What it does is you’re eating your standard keto diet every day but on the days that you do train you’re eating carbs around your workout.
• High-protein ketogenic diet: In this diet, it has more protein than the standard ketogenic diet. Macro-wise – 60% fat, 35% protein and 5% carbs.

Ketogenic Diets Can Help You Lose Weight

You probably already know this, but one of the most popular health benefits of the Keto diet is the fact that it is a significant weight loss diet.

When you cut carbs out of your diet you will lose weight. Low carbs get rid of the excess water in your body.

Once you attain your desired weight you may introduce “healthier” carbs in your diet but stick to the Keto diet for as long as you can. Make it a lifestyle!

Other Health Benefits of Keto

One of the reasons so many people around the world are excited about Keto is the myriad of health benefits it offers.

Yes, weight loss is a leading benefit, but aside from weight loss, there are other great health benefits you can experience from adopting the diet.

Belly fat loss

Visceral fat accumulates in the abdomen. Low carb diets can aid in quicker tummy fat reduction. When you have too much belly fat it can be hazardous to your health by causing metabolic issues.

A Keto diet helps you get rid of belly fat thus increasing fitness and a slimmer appearance.

Blood pressure goes down

When you experience high blood pressure it can be a significant trigger for other types of diseases.

When people suffer strokes, kidney failure, and other ailments, it is usually traced to high blood pressure. A low-carb diet reduces blood pressure thus lowering your risk of these diseases.

Helps control blood sugar

Diabetes is linked to blood sugar. When you change the amount of sugar that gets into your body it will affect your insulin level. This may have side effects that could impact your health.

The best step to take would be to cut carbohydrates out because the body doesn’t need that much insulin.

A person who is diagnosed as having diabetes will be able to manage insulin levels with a low-carb diet like Keto.

It helps to suppress appetite 

When people diet they complain about hunger pangs. For some people, they fall back into making unhealthy food choices.

The Keto diet will help you attain better control of your appetite thus leading to weight loss. There will be a reduction in carbs and increase in fat.

Foods to Avoid and Eat

To Avoid	To Eat
Sugary foods	Meat
Grains or starches	Fatty fish
Sugar-free diet foods	Eggs
Alcohol	Condiments
Unhealthy Fats	Low-carb veggies
Some condiments or sauces	Avocados
Low-fat or diet products	Healthy oils
Root vegetables and tubers	Nuts and seeds
Beans or legumes	Cheese
Fruit	Butter and cream

Side-Effects & Remedies

• Muscle cramps: It usually a low potassium situation is seen to increase your potassium levels.
• Palpitations: Increase more potassium because as you lose the glycogen Reserve because you’re not going to use as much of it anymore, you lose a lot of water and with the water comes the electrolytes. So the need for potassium will go way up so we want to increase potassium.
• Weakness: It usually means you need more sodium (sea salt) would handle that.
• Bad breath: It means you’re consuming too much protein. Cut down the protein maybe add a little outside of vinegar for digestion.
• Dizzy: That can mean three things but when we’re doing keto it usually means that you need to increase your sodium because you’re losing more fluid and the blood pressures going to low so salt retains water. So you just need more sea salt and water for that.
• Fatigue: You need to up your b1 + b5. Nutritional yeast works great for that.
• Cold: If you feel colder especially when in fasting. Take some iodine to seek help.
• Not satisfied: Not satisfied after a meal that means you need more fat. When your body adapts to ketosis and you actually start healing insulin resistance. The need for fat goes down because your body can now run on your own fat.
• Shoulder Pain: It means you’re consuming too much fat or too many nuts which is irritating the gallbladder. There’s a nerve that goes to the right shoulder. It could be going up to your neck or jaw or head or even a headache.
• Constipation: You want to avoid too much cheese. Cheese can constipate people, too much meat could constipate a person. Increase vegetables or potassium.

Common Keto Mistakes

Doing it without intermittent fasting

Now the whole purpose of keto is to fix insulin, to actually lower insulin, to fix insulin resistance. And why not add intermittent fasting? Because every time you eat, you raise insulin.

So if you just do ketosis without intermittent fasting, you may not lose weight especially, if you’re eating like six meals a day.

Eating when you’re not hungry

So it’s like, if you’re not hungry and you eat, what’s going to happen if you’re going to spike insulin again.

So here you were, you’re sleeping all night, you’re burning fat, you’re not hungry in the morning, yet you eat. Well, your body was in fat-burning all night long.

So now it’s going to not be in fat-burning because you just ate.

Eating too much protein

So when you consume too much protein, you can stimulate insulin as well.

So in your mind sometimes, if you’re working out, you think, “Oh, I need more protein.” But in reality, all you need is between three to six ounces per meal.

It’s much better to consume more vegetables, a little more fat than excessive amounts of protein.

Omitting the vegetables

So in this situation, if you don’t consume enough vegetables, you’re not going to get the potassium you need to form the protein on your body parts.

You’re not going to get the potassium to help regulate the heart, the muscles because it’s the main electrolyte.

You need a tremendous amount of potassium and that comes from vegetables.

Seven to ten cups of vegetables every single day. You’re going to have to bite the bullet and do that.

And also, without vegetables, you can’t flush all the fat coming out through the liver.

Focusing too much on the weight

So a lot of times when you weigh yourself, you’re like, “Wow, I’m not losing much weight.” But your stomach is shrinking.

Realize that you’re, when you’re doing this, you are actually converting more of your energy to making muscle and you’re losing fat but you’re actually building up more muscle.

And muscle weighs a little bit more, so it might not show up on the scale. So don’t sweat it. Go by your waist to see if your waist is shrinking.

Supplements for a Ketogenic Diet

When following a ketogenic diet you are trying to improve the health of your body in a natural way. Living on a low carb diet can cause side effects at the beginning as your body has to adapt to run on fat. The good news is that there are many natural supplements which can help you to get into ketosis quickly.

Electrolyte Powder:

A good quality electrolyte powder supplies the body with important minerals such as potassium, sodium, and magnesium.The body burns through these quickly when losing weight so it’s important to keep these high. This provides a massive boost in energy levels and the potassium fights insulin resistance.

Nutritional Yeast:

This is the best natural source of the Vitamin B complex. It lowers stress levels in the body and calms the central nervous system, making you feel more relaxed. It also improves sleep quality, supports healthy digestion, skin, hair, and nails on keto.

Super Greens

You can purchase a dried blend of vegetables I n powdered or capsule form. These boost Vitamin C and potassium levels rapidly. This lowers inflammation in the body and helps you to get into a deep state of ketosis and fat burning.

Pink Himalayan Salt

Salt or sodium is very important on a ketogenic diet as it one of the main electrolytes. Himalayan salt comes from an ancient seabed within the mountains in Pakistan. This contains a vast amount of trace minerals which fight diseases in the body at the cellular level.

Krill Oil

This powerful marine oil will boost your intake of healthy omega 3. This is one of the most stable forms of fish oil and will reduce brain fog and enhance memory. It also reduces pain for those with arthritis, balances hormone levels and is generally all round supplement.

Sea Kelp Capsules

Sea kelp is one of the best natural sources of trace minerals that the body needs to function at its best. Many of our foods are lacking in trace minerals due to over farming and depletion in the soils. Sea kelp also provides iodine one of the most important minerals for healing the thyroid gland. Take this in the morning to boost energy levels.

Valerian Root

In order to lose weight and get healthy, you must be getting at least 8 hours of sleep per night. Valerian root supports the health of the adrenal gland and helps you to fall asleep at night. This also works in lowering anxiety and stress levels naturally.

Apple Cider Vinegar

The stomach needs to be strong and healthy so that it may break down foods and absorb nutrients. Apple Cider Vinegar can be taken in capsule form or as a liquid. This heals insulin resistance, speeds up weight loss and enhances overall health. Take 1-2 capsules before a meal to aid digestion.

Cod Liver Oil

Cod liver oil should only be purchased if it is extra virgin and has not been heating treated. We recommend Icelandic for the best possible health benefits. This is one of the best sources of Vitamin A for improving the health of the eyes and reducing insulin resistance. It also has vitamin D which boosts mood and helps in losing weight.