What is the Keto diet?

'Keto' stands for Ketogenic diet, an extreme form of the low-carbohydrate diet. In short, this means that you eat large amounts of fats, a modest amount of protein and very little carbohydrates. But it is certainly not a matter of 'eat it.' Ideally, the Keto diet provides about 70 to 80 percent of your daily calories from fats, about 10 to 20 percent from protein, and about 5 to 10 percent from carbohydrates. Fat contains more calories per gram than carbohydrates and proteins. When you eat more calories than your body needs, it can eventually lead to weight gain. But it is possible to lose weight with a diet that focuses on fat as long as you stick to the program carefully. At first you lose weight because your body loses fluid in response to the drastically reduced carbohydrate intake . Because you have to leave a lot of foods out of your normal diet (in this case carbohydrates), you may also eat less, so that you lose weight even further. There is some evidence that you can lose fat if a large portion of your calories come from fat. This works as follows: The cells in your body usually prefer to get their energy from glucose (sugars that come from the carbohydrates you consume). If you follow a diet with very little carbohydrates and a lot of fats, your body will switch to fat burning instead of sugar burning . This process takes place in the liver, releasing so-called Ketones as a by-product, which form an alternative energy source. Whether you are on a high-carb or low-carb diet, you will only lose weight if you eat fewer calories than your body burns. Is the Keto diet new? Despite the recent hype, the Keto diet is not new. This type of diet was first developed in the 1920s to treat children with epilepsy. In recent times, it has gained popularity in the diet world. Does the Keto diet help you lose weight for good? Not necessarily. We already told you that your body loses fluid with this diet. As soon as you eat more carbohydrates than allowed by the Keto diet, you can gain weight again because you absorb more fluid. And most people can - or want to! - do not cut carbohydrate foods from their diet for the rest of their lives. Which foods can you eat with the Keto diet? With the Keto diet you eat considerably less carbohydrates , such as bread and pasta plus fruit and a large number of vegetables, than with an average diet. What types of carbohydrates can you eat in the Keto diet? The Keto diet only works if you eat drastically less carbohydrates. This means that you should especially omit pasta, bread, oatmeal, potatoes, most fruits and many vegetables from your daily diet, so that you also miss the nutritional value of these foods. It turns out that carbohydrates are hidden in many nutritious foods, such as whole grain bread (47 grams of carbohydrates per slice), bananas (37 grams each) and oatmeal (27 grams per cup (cooked). Is the Keto diet difficult to maintain? While the Keto diet has been shown to help you lose weight over a period of targeted weighting, research shows that it can be difficult to maintain the diet in the long run. In addition, the diet contains a lot of red meat and fatty foods, which are increasingly thought to be unhealthy for you. Is the Keto diet safe? If you follow the Keto diet, it means that you increase the amount of fat in your diet. Keto makes no distinction between the quality of fats (saturated or unsaturated fat) and only prescribes that you eat a lot of them. There are 'good' and 'bad' fats (or saturated fats): foods rich in saturated fat pose more health risks, including a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. ALSO READ: The importance of healthy fats The Keto Diet does not meet the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines (prepared from American research) , which emphasize eating fruits, vegetables, and whole grains for optimal health. Experts agree that the best nutritional programs are those that consist of a wide variety of foods and are sustainable in the long run. That is, you should not be required to choose from a list of "allowed" foods. Some people have found that Keto works well for them, others that it can be difficult to maintain the diet. If you suffer from an existing liver or kidney disease, heart disease or diabetes, talk to your doctor before making major dietary changes.