If, twenty or thirty years ago, someone had put all the products in two baskets, sorting them according to the principle of greatest and least usefulness, today they would have to be thoroughly revised. The strangest story happened during this time with Fat - the recent main enemy of humanity is not only fully rehabilitated, but has almost declared its savior. It does, understands nutritionist Chris More.
Recently a patient admitted to me that she and her husband ate almost a kilogram of bacon per week - three slices for breakfast, then two more with salad for lunch. I have been working as a nutritionist for over twenty years, and it would seem that nothing would surprise me, but then I still couldn't resist and I asked: why? The patient said her husband watched a keto diet TV show and they decided to give it a try. Six months in bacon - and now the husband has lost nine pounds and, according to his wife, he's almost bursting with energy.
More and more, I hear people talking about the miracles the keto diet does for them. They claim that it burns fat in the body, energizes and overcomes disease, and from now on it is not only possible but also necessary to eat as much bacon as you want. But all of their excitement requires at least one serious test - is a keto diet that doesn't limit animal fat intake really good?
The ketogenic diet is a diet low in carbohydrates, high in fat, and moderate in protein. It was originally used in the treatment of epilepsy in children by increasing the level of ketone bodies in the blood.
What is ketosis?
Let's start with the name of the diet: where does this "keto" come from? When the body is desperately short of carbohydrates - for example, due to diabetes or prolonged starvation - it has to break down its own fat more actively than usual for energy. Ketosis develops: the metabolism is disrupted, and more ketones than necessary build up in the tissues. Ketones are a product of fat metabolism. They are produced by the liver when insulin levels drop in the blood.
"The liver makes ketones all the time, but their levels depend on the carbohydrates and protein you eat - the body needs both, " says Jeff Volek, professor at Ohio University.
The breakdown of fat in a healthy person's body and the formation of ketone bodies is a normal process, this is called ketogenesis. Unlike ketosis, ketogenesis does not lead to dramatic weight loss. Ketosis is a condition that, in addition to diabetes and prolonged fasting, can be caused by a keto diet, as it almost excludes carbohydrate foods from the diet. A person who has developed ketosis loses weight dramatically, as well as due to other conditions.
The ketogenic diet forces the body to use fat as its primary source of energy. Usually, this role is played by carbohydrates, which when taken with food are converted into glucose, which is extremely important for nutrition and brain function. However, if the diet is low in carbohydrates, the liver converts fat into fatty acids and ketones. Ketones enter the brain and are used as an energy source instead of glucose. An increase in the level of ketone bodies in the blood (ketosis) leads to a decrease in the frequency of epileptic seizures.
In the keto diet, the major part of the daily diet - 60-80% - is fat, protein - about 15%, and only the remaining 10% is carbohydrate (this is about thehalf of a bun). At first glance, it looks like the Atkins diet, but the keto diet involves more severe restriction of carbs, according to Spencer Nadolsky, author of The Fat Loss Prescription. A number of theorists generally assure that the less carbohydrates we eat, the more fat our body burns, and for this reason, metabolism improves, immunity increases - and in general, various miracles begin to happen in our body. .
However, in ordinary life, we get about half of the calories and not a tenth of the carbs. So, in essence, the question is: can your body be in ketosis long enough to achieve the promised nirvana without serious health consequences? Are you literally going to start panicking with the fat?
Is The Keto Diet Right For You?
It might sound strange, but the best diet for you is the one you are used to. For Volek, who has been on keto for twenty years, it's good, but is it right for you? Unfortunately, there is no research into what goes into the body of someone who has been on the keto diet for a long time. During the A-Z Weight Loss Study, scientists looked at the Atkins, Zone, LEARN, and some other diets, but in the study, female subjects consumed 25-35% carbohydrate -It's not even close to the 10% who advise you limit yourself to the keto diet.
The only thing that's for sure: on the keto diet, you will really lose weight. In Italy in 2015 they studied the performance of people sitting on it, and on average over three months they lost around 10-12 kilograms. A year earlier in Spain it turned out that in one year in this way you can lose about 20 kilograms. Certainly, over the next year, subjects often returned to their pre-experiment weight as soon as they came off the rigid diet.
What will you eat if you decide to try it? First and second, this bacon. Of the rest of the products, few things will suit you. Starchy foods - potatoes, pumpkin, corn - are strictly prohibited, like most fruits. Milk, beans, rice and pasta should also be left out.
The keto diet is difficult to follow and can be dangerous for some. "Extreme diets, especially the keto diet, are strictly contraindicated in people with neurodegenerative diseases such as epilepsy, " says Dr. Alan Aragon.
The ketogenic diet is considered optimal in society for weight loss. However, according to scientific evidence, the effect of losing weight soon after switching to a ketogenic diet is caused by a decrease in the amount of water in the body, and the amount of body fat is only influenced byenergy balance. To lose weight, the energy provided by food must be less than that expended in physical activity. One of the benefits of the ketogenic diet, like other low-carb diets, is that the ketosis that occurs with low-carb diets contributes to weight loss in obesity. The difference in calories consumed can be up to a thousand kilocalories per day compared to low fat diets. The effect of ketogenic diets is highly dependent on the protein content of the diet.
Can I take medicines that cause an increase in ketones? In any case. Don't listen to these "consultants" who will assure you that even without a diet you can induce ketosis with the help of special drugs.
So, is the keto diet right for you or not? If you are an extreme athlete ready to experiment with your body, love to take risks and fast results are important to you, then give it a try! If you just want to lose a few pounds and you've already experienced the "yo-yo effect" in the past (when, after a strict diet, a person breaks down and gains more weight than he or she managed tolose), then maybe you shouldn't risk it. However, if you approach the keto diet wisely, there are three lessons you can learn that will definitely come in handy.
- Reduce your intake of "empty" carbohydrates. Analyze which foods you get the most from your daily carbohydrate intake: if it comes from fruits that are high in fiber and antioxidants, that's okay, but if your sources of carbohydrates are candy, soda and all. food made from white flour, you know What to do: do not hesitate to send them in the trash.
- Don't avoid fat. The passion for low fat foods that began in the 90s can safely be left to the past. Nothing good for that. Often, to make up for the lack of fat, manufacturers increase the amount of sugar in these products. Eat fatty fish like salmon, mackerel or sardines at least twice a week. And whatever you cook, don't skimp on vegetables, especially good ones - olive oil.
- Eat lots of green vegetables. All leafy greens and green vegetables pair well with fatty and protein foods - fans of the keto diet eat a lot of them. And you do the same. Eat kale, spinach, bok choy, arugula, and other types of salads without restrictions.
What happened to my bacon patients? Their nutrition experiments continued exactly until the moment their child was born. Of course, they immediately forgot about the diet (we don't have time to think about it, as the young mother explained). So remember: sooner or later you'll get tired of regularly stuffing yourself with bacon and reverting to normal, familiar food.
Receipts
Salmon and asparagus salad
Ingredients:
- 150 g of salmon fillet;
- 80 g of green asparagus;
- 1/2 head of iceberg lettuce;
- 2 eggs;
- 4 anchovy fillets;
- 5 cherry tomatoes;
- 5 large capers (or 6-8 small) - take the capers in salt, not brine, they should be washed before use;
- 1/2 medium red onion;
- 6-8 Art. the. olive oil;
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard;
- juice of half a lemon.
How to cook:
- If you have already cooked the niçoise, you can also manage this salad. It practically resumes the Nice main course, only fatty salmon is taken in place of tuna, and asparagus is used in place of green beans (however, you can also use beans).
- Salmon is best cooked not in a hot pan or in a hot oven, but steamed or in a slow cooker: 20-30 minutes at a temperature of 80-85 degrees, no more (otherwise the protein will curl up and thefish prove to be difficult). But you can also fry in a pan (but don't overdo it! ) - the fish should be tender and keep some transparency inside.
- Cook the asparagus. It should be crispy, so don't overcook it! The cooking time depends on its size, so we do not recommend leaving the stove - asparagus cooks quickly.
- Put the disassembled iceberg on a plate (the salad should be washed, dried and torn into medium-sized pieces), asparagus, salmon disassembled into large pieces, cherry tomato halves, anchovies, capers, chopped onionssliced and hard-boiled eggs (ideally, the yolk should not remain liquid but soft). Haut des champs olive oil sauce with Dijon mustard and lemon juice. You don't need to salt the dish - the anchovies and capers are already quite salty.
The ketogenic diet is used by athletes who participate in endurance sports, such as ultramarathon, triathlon, cycling, etc. The bodies of athletes who adhere to this diet use fat more efficiently as a source of energy and thus help to maintain glycogen reserves during prolonged exertion.
Bacon and lettuce salad
Ingredients:
- 2 heads of lettuce the size of a palm
- 100 g of bacon;
- 8 sprigs of mint;
- 1 egg yolk;
- 6 tbsp. the. olive oil and a little more for frying;
- 1 teaspoon of mustard grains;
- 1 tbsp. the. Sherry vinegar.
How to cook:
- For this salad, you will need to make a slightly more complex sauce: put the mint leaves and mustard in a tall glass, add the egg yolk, pour in the sherry vinegar. Whisk with a blender, adding the olive oil in a stream.
- Cut the lettuce in half lengthwise and fry it quickly over high heat. It should caramelize slightly, that is, acquire a golden brown color, remaining fresh and crisp inside. Sauté bacon over high heat without oil or in the oven until crispy. Place lettuce, bacon and sauce on a plate. Garnish with mint leaves.