What Is Keto?

If you’ve been trying to lose weight and researching diets, you’ve likely run into the term keto along the way. But what is keto and what does it mean to be on a keto diet? Today, Nutrivein is going to dive into the topic of keto, what it is, where it comes from, and how you can boost your progress while on a keto diet.

Keto Diet

A keto, or ketogenic, diet is a high-fat, middle-protein, and low-carb diet that forces the body to burn more fats than carbs. The idea behind keto is that if you don’t have as many carbs for your body to convert into glucose and spend on energy, it will instead take fats and burn those to give your body energy, which in turn helps you lose weight after you burn through the fats you eat in a day. The term ketogenic came from the fact that this forces the body to burn ketone bodies.

Keto diets are not designed for long-term use, as your body does need carbs to produce energy. That said, keto diets are highly effective at helping people burn excess fat, and that was one of the reasons it was originally designed. However, if you continue on a keto diet for too long, it can cause long term liver and kidney problems, so once you achieve your weight goals on your diet, you should switch to a different, long-term diet plan.

History Of Keto

Keto diets were originally made to help with pediatric weight loss in kids whose bodies struggled to burn fat. The diet was first designed to help with difficult cases of paediatric epilepsy, where it continues to help about two-thirds of all children who switch to the diet still. Keto as a concept has been around for centuries, though we’ve known it by different names.

The original principles of keto started with fasting, which has been a cultural concept since Ancient Greeks practiced it, if not further back. Combinations of eating less and modified diets have been used as treatments for years, and they continue to prove useful, like in the case of epilepsy. Where keto diverged was the use of medication designed to help individuals with certain conditions, whereas individuals on ketogenic diets don’t need to add medications. However, since the reintroduction of keto-style diets into the mainstream, there have been health supplements to help regulate weight loss and boost vitamins that might be missed from cutting carbs from an individual’s diet, like vitamins B and C, selenium, magnesium, and phosphorus.

Improving Your Keto

Keto is not a long-term diet solution. It is a sound temporary solution to help with weight loss, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t still have its risks. To help reduce those risks, there are vitamins and supplements that can boost health without adding significant calories, keeping your body working better longer before you switch back to more sustainable diet plan. These supplements contain bonuses of the vitamins you would be getting from fruits, veggies, and grains that are cut out of keto.

It’s also important to remember that the long-term effects of keto aren’t entirely proven since keto is a relatively new diet plan. If you’re going to switch to a keto diet, it’s important to listen to your body, support is with missing vitamins through other means like natural supplements, and to even temporarily break your diet if you start seeing adverse effects.