What is the ketogenic diet and how does it work?

The ketogenic diet has been used for decades to treat epileptic patients, but should it be used as a weight loss diet for the long or short term? The principles of ketogenesis require a bit of understanding of physiology. Our body and brain use glucose as a primary energy source. However, humans are not able to store much glucose — only a couple of days’ worth. If we deprive our bodies of carbohydrates — our main source of dietary glucose — we will start to break down stored fatty acids into a usable energy source called ketones.

The theory behind the ketogenic diet hypothesizes that it leads to increased levels of fat loss by using stored fat converted to ketones as the main source of the body’s energy. Furthermore, insulin levels directly follow carbohydrate intake. If carbohydrate levels are low, then insulin levels will be low as well. Lowered levels of insulin lead to a decrease in appetite. Insulin levels are not greatly affected by dietary fat or protein intake. Keep the carbs low, keep the insulin low.

The studies behind this are a mixed bag as always, but they lead to some pretty interesting takeaways. If done correctly, everyone loses weight on the ketogenic diet. This means beginning with a 24-hour fast, calculating the amount of carbs you personally can eat while staying in ketogenesis, tracking your carb intake, and monitoring urine with dip strips to verify. The diet is restrictive — there are no “cheat days” or your body will bounce out of ketogensis and you must start all over. In practice I have found that very few are able to follow the diet properly but those who do are very successful. The ketogenic diet is one tool in a toolbox. It is not the perfectly optimized diet for everyone but there exist plenty of people who have used it and continue to use it as an effective means of weight loss and healthy living. For a great resource to learn more about the keto diet, check out DietDoctor. com (we have no financial or professional relationship).