The Ketogenic Diet - what's the craze?!?

Hey guys, for this post I am going to be discussing the ketogenic diet. What is it, where did the craze come from and what makes our body use these ketones? All are important questions when it comes to the simple ketone. 

But what exactly is a ketone? A ketone can be defined as a class of organic compounds characterized by the presence of a carbonyl group in which the carbon atom is covalently bonded to an oxygen atom. The remaining two bonds are to other carbon atoms or hydrocarbon radicals. These ketone bodies are always present in the body. Some examples of ketones are Acetone, Acetoacetate and Beta-Hydroxybutyrate as seen in the image below. 

Our liver is responsible for producing ketones and these are readily available during states of prolonged fasting or exercise. To put it easily, Ketones are used by the body as the main fuel source when glucose is not available. For that reason, if we put our body through a state of prolonged fasting, we aren't going to have any glucose molecules to provide us with the energy needed. Ketone bodies are present in small amounts in the blood of healthy individuals during fasting or prolonged exercise and they play an important role in sparing glucose utilization and reducing proteolysis (The breakdown of proteins into smaller amino acids). 

The brain, is one tissue in the body which cannot utilize fatty acids for energy when blood glucose levels become comprimised. As a result, ketone bodies provide the brain with an alternative source of energy.

As we already know, Ketones are always present in the body and their levels increase during states of fasting and prolonged exercise. After an overnight fast, ketone bodies supply 2-6% of the body's energy requirements, while they supply 30-40% of
the energy needs after a three day fast. So, if you are fasting for longer than 3 days (for example during Ramadam) ketone bodies are supplying your body with the majority of it's energy requirements. 

The presence of elevated ketone bodies in the blood is termed 'ketosis' while in the urine it is called 'ketonuria'. Diabetes is the most common pathological cause of elevated blood ketones. But is an elevated presence of ketones a good thing or a bad thing? Well, it can be either and really it is a personal preference. Each individual human being is different and so we react in different ways to different things. Some people will love the ketogenic diet and others will despise it. 

To put it in simple english, the 'ketogenic diet' is defined as a high fat, low carbohydrate diet. In essence, people on the keto diet cut out almost every source of carbohydrate and rely on only fats to provide them with their daily calories ("A calorie can be defined as the energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1°C"). 

By relying on fats alone, our bodies need time to adapt to this change as we won't all react in the same way. Consuming healthy fats such as: cheese, eggs, avocados, Greek yogurt and also low carbohydrate meats such as seafood, shellfish, meat and poultry are all part of the keto diet. As we can see in the 'Ketogenic food pyramid' displayed, it shows that these diets rely 70% on fat consumption, 25% on protein, while only a mere 5% should be carbohydrates. 

For those of us who are partial to their minerals, for example, coke and fanta we should instead opt for diet versions (diet coke) or else opting for sparkling water instead. Tesco sell simple flavoured sparkling water in different flavours (summer fruits, elderflower, lemon and lime). Sparkling water is a low-carbohydrate option so could still satisfy your cravings without needing to splurge on that fizzy drink. 

This diet has taken everybody by surprise and has made lots of people I know want to try it out. All it is, is a high fat (healthy fat), low carbohydrate diet. It has been labelled a good diet for fat loss which is why so many people have made the switch to this type of diet. However, we must remember that in order to lose fat our calorie intake must be less than what we burn (Calories in is less than calories out). If calories in is greater than calories out, we are in a calorie surplus and will not lose weight.

I hope that you found this topic interesting as a few people had been asking me about it. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to leave a comment here or else on facebook (The Sport Slice) or instagram (@thesportslice) and I will try and answer any questions in future posts. I hope to hear from you! As always, please share with friends and family!

Talk soon!


References:

1. Keto Diet Living. (2019). Ketogenic Diet Quick Start Guide | Keto Diet Living. [online] Available at: https://www.ketodietliving.com/ketogenic-diet-guide/ [Accessed 29 Aug. 2019].
2. Clipartstation.com. (2019). Keto clipart 3 » Clipart Station. [online] Available at: https://clipartstation.com/keto-clipart-3/ [Accessed 30 Aug. 2019].