Do you know that ketogenic diets are effective in a cutting cycle? Do you know that low-carb diets can improve mental health? Do you know that your metabolic function can be enhanced with a keto diet?
That’s right! The popularity of ketogenic or keto diets is rising through the roof, especially amongst experienced bodybuilders, athletes, and regular fitness enthusiasts because of its effectiveness in promoting weight loss through the process of ketosis.
Whenever you plan on having a low-carb diet over a period of time while at the same time maintaining a high fat diet, you trigger ketosis, which is a process where your body utilizes fat as a source of energy rather than breaking down the glycogen stores in your muscle tissues for energy fuel. When your body is under ketosis, you tend to lose excess body fat and weight without experiencing diminished muscle strength and/or mass.
In this article, we will unpack some of the basic principles of low-carb and keto diets. We will also highlight some of the key benefits of these two nutrition plans as well as their obvious drawbacks to help you make up your mind going forward.
Get to Understand the Keto Diet
As already indicated, a ketogenic diet is one that is high on healthy fat meals. But while maintaining this diet, you will be required to consume a moderate amount of protein while your carb intake is kept on the low side.
When it comes to determining what ratio of macronutrients will be best for your keto diet, you can adapt your meals to consist of between 5 to 10%of carbs, 20 to 25% of protein, and 70 to 75% of healthy fats.
Furthermore, when you run a keto diet, you promote the metabolic state of ketosis, and as explained already, your liver generates ketones which is then made available as a principal source of energy to keep you going during your training regimen.
What is a Low-Carb Diet?
While both the keto diet and the low-carb diet rely on a nutrition plan consisting of a low intake of carbohydrate, the main difference between the two is that the goal of the low-carb diet is not primarily to trigger ketosis.
The main goal of low-carb diets is to boost your insulin sensitivity by regulating your blood sugar. Basically, your diet should consist primarily of proteins and healthy fats while your daily carb intake should be on the low side which is anywhere from 50 to 150 grams. A low-carb diet is known to boost metabolic health and stimulate weight loss.
What are the Key Benefits of Running Keto and Low-Carb Diets?
Weight Loss Gains
The most obvious benefit of running these diets is that they both promote weight loss gains. When you cut your carb intake, your body reduces insulin levels which then lowers fat stores by boosting the use of available fat as a primary source of energy fuel for your workouts. This leads to considerable weight loss gains.
Blood Sugar Regulation
When you cut down on your carb intake, you will considerably regulate both your insulin sensitivity and your blood sugar. This makes low-carb and keto diets perfect for anyone with insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes medical concerns.
As your blood sugar is regulated through these diets, you are less likely to experience either crashes or spikes in your blood sugar level which results in hunger pangs, excessive or binge eating. These diets will therefore help you to manage both your metabolic health and weight in the long-run.
Mental Health Boost
With low-carb and keto diets, you are more than likely to experience a boost in your mental health with improvements in your overall cognitive skills, concentration, focus, mood, and alertness.
In addition, the ketones that are generated by your liver during the ketosis process provides the necessary source of fuel that your brain requires for proper brain functioning and prevents dips in energy levels as well as brain fog.
Enhanced Performance
You are bound to experience a boost in your energy levels when your blood sugar is regularized during a low-carb or keto diet and your body depends on fat reserves for energy fuel instead of glycogen. With greater energy levels, you will be able to perform at your optimal level during your training sessions which leads to you achieving your expected gains.
Foods to Include in Your Low-Carb and/or Keto Diet
There are a host of clean, healthy foods that you can choose from when structuring the meals for your low-carb or keto diet plan and these foods can be peculiar to your location. However, there are some key foods that are generally available in most locations and we strongly recommend that you include them in your meal plan.
Here’s a breakdown of those foods that you should make a vital part of your daily meals for your keto or low-carb diet.
Recommended Food Sources for Healthy Fats
For your healthy fats you should include foods like avocado which is rich in fiber, and monounsaturated fats. You should also include a variety of seeds and nuts like walnuts, flaxseeds, chia seeds, and almonds which will not only supply your body with healthy fats, but also essential nutrients and protein.
In addition to these, you should also include fatty fish like sardines, mackerel, and salmon which are great sources of quality protein and omega-3 fatty acids. Don’t forget to include oil to your diet with coconut and olive oil being excellent choices. These oils offer antioxidants and coconut oil can help stimulate the increased production of ketone in your liver due to the availability of medium-chain triglycerides or MCTs.
Recommended Food Sources for Quality Protein
When it comes to quality proteins for your low-carb or keto diet plan, you can include grass-fed beef which is a rich source of antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids in addition to proteins. You can also include white meat like turkey and chicken which offers you lean protein. Add eggs to your meal plan as well as plant-based sources of protein like tempeh and tofu. Also, you can consider including full-fat dairy products like butter, yogurt, and cheese which offer high quality proteins as well as fats.
Recommended Low-Carb Food Sources
You can get your supply of low-carbs from leafy green, and cruciferous vegetables like Swiss chard, kale, spinach, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, zucchini, bell peppers, cauliflower, and broccoli. Apart from being a source for high quality low-carbs, these fiber-rich veggies will also provide you with essential minerals, and vitamins.
Foods You Should Avoid when on a Low-Carb or Keto Diet
You should avoid high-carb starchy foods and grains like rice, pasta, and bread. Also, avoid sugary beverages and foods as well as processed or refined foods.
Drawbacks to a Low-Carb and Keto Diets
There are a few drawbacks to low-carb and keto diets, such as;
Keto flu which often arises whenever your body adapts to the ketosis process. You could come down with a variety of symptoms like irritability, fatigue and headaches.
To prevent and/or combat keto flu, you need to be hydrated at all times while periodically cutting down your carb intake can also help alleviate your symptoms. Don’t forget to take time out to rest properly, as a good night’s sleep is very helpful in enabling your body to adapt to the ketosis metabolic process.
Another drawback is nutrient deficiencies as low-carb and keto diets are both restrictive in nature and you may need supplements to make up for the lack of or short supply of essential minerals, and vitamins. In addition to using supplements, you can also consume a wide variety of seeds and nuts in order to get your daily supply of nutrients.
Starting a keto diet may make you socially awkward amongst family and friends, especially at social gatherings where you may be forced to decline certain foods in order to keep up with your dietary plan. One way to beat this is to be open about your dietary choice with family and friends. When they know more about the reasons why you have decided to stick with a low-carb or keto diet, they will be more receptive to your diet preferences and they will be less critical and judgemental.
A Low-Carb and Keto Diet Sample
Breakfast:
For your low-carb diet you can have a meal of Greek yogurt and added nuts and/or berries.
As for your keto diet, you can have a breakfast of bacon, avocado, and scrambled eggs.
Lunch:
As for your lunch, you can have a salad meal with grilled chicken plus olive oil dressing for your keto diet while for your low-carb diet you can have a meal of turkey lettuce wraps, mustard and cheese.
Dinner:
A meal of roasted broccoli with baked salmon is a great dinner option for your keto diet while veggies with stir-fried tofu is an excellent low-carb meal choice for your dinner.
Snacks:
For your snacks you can try out olives with cheese sticks for your keto meal plan while a low-carb meal of cucumber slices, almonds and some hummus.
Conclusion
You can definitely benefit a whole lot from running a low-carb or keto diet today. For starters, if you are interested in a cutting program, then going on a keto or low-carb diet will help you lose some body weight while also boosting both your mental and metabolic health.
It is important to get to know the basics of these diets, so that you can fully optimize your fitness goals. If you need more information about how to start a low-carb or keto diet today, you can chat with an expert at any time of the day right here.
