What is the Ketogenic (Keto) diet?

The Ketogenic Diet re-programs your metabolism to burn stored body fat for fuel rather than using the glycogen stored in your muscles.

This allows your fat cells to releasing fatty acids, which your liver breaks down to produce what are called "ketones." Ketosis is the physiological state that is achieved when your body breaks down ketones for energy rather than the glucose from carbohydrates. The increase in ketones helps lower blood sugar and balance fat-burning hormones, which enables the body to burn more fat for fuel everyday. This source of energy is twice as dense, longer-lasting, and more evenly released in the body than carbs. The result can be a dramatic decrease in inches around many problematic areas (e.g., belly, hips, and thighs), which usually translates to much lower numbers on the scale.

Keto diet macro ratios are:

75% fats

20% proteins

5% carbs

Benefits:

In addition to dramatic weight and inches loss, the Keto diet is a preferred diet for individuals that suffer from certain types of seizures and those undergoing cancer treatment.

Seizures

According to research done by Florida Hospital, a ketogenic diet is a high-fat and low carbohydrate regimen that has proven to help the body produce natural anticonvulsants and control seizures.

Cancer

The use of a Keto diet has been linked to the successful treatment of different types of cancers. One study found that the ketogenic diet may be a suitable complementary treatment to chemotherapy and radiation in people with cancer. This is due to the fact that it would cause more oxidative stress in cancer cells than in normal cells.

Challenges:

Some of the challenges associated with the Keto diet includes:

Sustainability.