What is a Keto Diet?

The keto diet is a high-fat and very low carbohydrate diet that has several similarities with low-carb and Atkins diets. Keto diet involves reducing carb intake considerably and substituting it with fat. The reduction in carbohydrates puts the body into ketosis (a metabolic state).

When this takes place, your body becomes extremely effective at burning fat for energy. Also, it changes fat into ketones in the liver, which in turn supplies the brain with a dose of energy.

Keto diets can lead to significant reductions in insulin levels and blood sugar. This, together with the increased ketones contains several health benefits.

Types of Keto Diets

Ketogenic diets come in several forms including:

Standard ketogenic diet:

SKD is a high-fat, moderate-protein and very low-carb diet. It usually contains 5% carbs, 20% protein, and 75% fat only.

Cyclical ketogenic diet:

CKD diet consist of periods of higher carbohydrate refeeds, for instance, 5 keto days trailed by 2 days of high-carb intake.

Targeted ketogenic diet:

TKD diet lets you add carbs during workouts.

High-protein ketogenic diet:

HKD is like a standard keto diet, but it contains more protein. The difference is in the ratio and it’s often 5% carbs, 35% protein, and 60% fat.

Though, only the high-protein and standard keto diets have been studied comprehensively. Targeted or cyclical ketogenic diets are advanced methods and are majorly used by athletes or bodybuilders.

One of the major advantages of a ketogenic diet is that it is very effective in lowering risk factors for disease and for losing weight.