ketogenic diet to lose weight

One of the most fashionable and common ways to lose weight today is to follow a ketogenic diet. Interestingly, if this diet is observed, the person does not go hungry, but eats fatty and high-calorie foods. The positive effect is achieved by limiting the amount of carbohydrates consumed and, in fact, reducing their use in food to zero.

ketogenic diet

Researchers have shown that a ketogenic diet helps with diseases such as epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, autism, Alzheimer's disease, and cancer.

foods for a ketogenic diet

This diet is one of the types of low-carbohydrate diet, when the body does not absorb carbohydrates with food, it is forced to expend fats to gain energy. In this case, the fat burning process is very effective. Metabolic changes, or ketosis, in which ketone bodies go directly to the brain, the body uses for energy.

This diet lowers blood sugar and insulin levels, so this diet is also prescribed for diabetics, but only if the patient has type 2 diabetes.

Ketogenic diet rules

You should follow some simple rules and recommendations when following a ketogenic diet, only then you can get a positive result as soon as possible.

  1. One of the main principles of a ketogenic diet is to drink plenty of fluids per day - at least 3-4 liters.
  2. Any snacks during the day should be excluded, except for main meals.
  3. Active exercise is recommended when following a ketogenic diet.
  4. The amount of protein taken should be gradually reduced to 1. 5 g per 1 kg of body weight.
  5. The level of carbohydrates consumed per day should also be gradually reduced, so that their amount should not exceed 20 g per day.
  6. The main source of energy in the keto diet is fat, so don't worry about eating it.
fatty foods for the keto diet

Approved Products

After a ketogenic diet, you can eat the following foods:

  1. Seafood - squid, oysters, crustaceans, lobster, mussels and mussels.
  2. Fish - salmon, cod, catfish, halibut, mackerel, trout, tuna, flounder. You can eat fish in any form - fried, steamed, boiled and baked.
  3. Meat - beef, pork, rabbit, poultry, veal. As in the case of fish, meat can be used in any form - chops, roasts, steaks can be cooked, the only thing to follow is that the tenderloin is denser.
  4. Chicken and quail eggs that can be eaten both fried and boiled.
  5. Offal - the liver, stomach, tongue, heart and lungs are one of the main sources of nutrients.
  6. Sausage - pork, ham, sausage. When buying these products, you should read the ingredients carefully so that there are no additives or sugar.
  7. Raw cheeses - goat, cream, mozzarella, cheddar.
  8. Healthy oils are natural olive and coconut oils. You can also eat avocado oil.
  9. Hazelnuts - peanuts, walnuts and pine nuts, cashews, almonds, pumpkin and flax seeds, hazelnuts.
  10. Vegetables - All green vegetables that are low in starch and carbohydrates, in addition to onions and tomatoes can be eaten.
  11. Butter and cream.
  12. Strawberry.
  13. You can drink green tea, weak black tea, still mineral or boiled water.

Prohibited Products

The following foods should not be consumed during a ketogenic diet:

  1. Products with a lot of sugar: juices, drinks, sweets, cakes, marmalades, sweet pastries, ice cream, marshmallows.
  2. Foods containing grains and starch: Wheat flour dough, bread, cereals, rice and pasta.
  3. All kinds of fruits.
  4. All types of legumes.
  5. Tubers and root crops: parsnips, carrots, potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes.
  6. Diet and low-fat products - they go through several stages of processing, as a result of which they may contain excess carbohydrates.
  7. Sauces such as ketchup and mayonnaise contain sugar and unhealthy fats.
  8. Unhealthy fats, the main sources of which are margarine and processed vegetable oils, so the use of these products should also be excluded from the diet or at least reduced.
  9. Alcoholic products. Many alcoholic beverages contain large amounts of carbohydrates, so their use can eliminate all dietary measures.
  10. Sugar-free diet foods. Such products are usually heavily processed and filled with harmful chemical elements.

You should consult a specialist before starting to follow a ketogenic diet, as the list of allowed and forbidden foods may vary for each patient depending on the individual characteristics of the human body.

Ketogenic diet: weekly menu

The approximate weekly menu for people on a ketogenic diet is as follows.

Monday

  1. Breakfast. Eggs and cheese.
  2. Lunch. Cottage cheese with cream.
  3. Supper. Chicken breast, cheese and brown rice.
  4. afternoon tea. Cheese and a few nuts.
  5. Supper. Vegetable salad, fish of any shape, decorated with brown rice.
foods allowed for the keto diet

Tuesday

  1. Breakfast. Omelet, ½ grapefruit, spinach.
  2. Lunch. cottage cheese.
  3. Supper. Vegetable salad, chicken breast, cheese.
  4. afternoon tea. cottage cheese.
  5. Supper. Steak with brown rice, vegetable salad.

Wednesday

  1. Breakfast. Omelet, homemade yogurt.
  2. Lunch. Cheese, nuts.
  3. Supper. Chicken breast with broth, salad.
  4. afternoon tea. Kefir, fruits.
  5. Supper. Fish, lettuce, brown rice.

Thursday

  1. Breakfast. Cheese, boiled eggs, oranges.
  2. Lunch. Homemade kefir.
  3. Supper. Meat broth, brown rice.
  4. afternoon tea. Cheese, almonds.
  5. Supper. Fish, broccoli.

Friday

  1. Breakfast. Boiled eggs with salsa.
  2. Lunch. Bacon or ham.
  3. Supper. Meat stew with vegetables and mushrooms, salad.
  4. afternoon tea. Kefir, lettuce.
  5. Supper. Chicken breast, rice

Saturday

  1. Breakfast. Omelet, salad.
  2. Lunch. Cheese sandwich.
  3. Supper. Offal soup, fish.
  4. afternoon tea. Cheese, hazelnuts.
  5. Supper. Pork steak, toast.

Sunday

  1. Breakfast. Fried eggs, oatmeal or millet porridge.
  2. Lunch. Kefir and fruits.
  3. Supper. Vegetable soup with meat, chicken breast.
  4. afternoon tea. Kefir and boiled beef.
  5. Supper. Fish, lettuce, brown rice, cheese.

The pros and cons of this diet

After a ketogenic diet, there are a number of pros and cons that need to be considered before embarking on such a diet.

Advantages:

  1. The diet is very easily tolerated, because a person who observes it does not go hungry.
  2. Carbohydrates consumed in small amounts reduce insulin production and thus prevent the risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

Cons:

  1. Uncontrolled adherence to a ketogenic diet results in a decrease in blood acid levels, which in turn can lead to the development of ketoacidosis, which in most cases results in the death of the patient. However, this phenomenon rarely develops, especially in people with diabetes.
  2. The condition of ketosis is dangerous for human health, because in this condition the load on the kidneys is greatly increased, and therefore there is a risk of developing urolithiasis and osteoporosis.
  3. It is impossible to follow this diet for a long time, because a person develops digestive problems - constipation and nausea as a result of regular consumption of fatty foods.
what you can eat on a keto diet

Contraindications

It is impossible to follow a ketogenic diet for diseases of the cardiovascular system, liver and kidney disease, diabetes mellitus, metabolic disorders, progressive encephalopathy.

Before you start following a ketogenic diet, you should consult a specialist, weigh the pros and cons and prepare for it. When following a diet, you should always consult your doctor and strictly follow all his recommendations to avoid unpleasant consequences.