According to a study, roughly 70% of men in America struggle to lose weight.
But many men feel that the going on a diet will mean eating only salads and tofu while watching their friends enjoy steak and all the high-fat foods they love.
For these men, the solution is the Ketogenic diet. Though many people have heard of it few people can define it and most write it off as the newest diet fad.
But this isn’t true the keto diet has been around since the 1920s and has been used by bodybuilders and doctors alike to put on muscle and treat medical conditions.
Just what is the ketogenic diet? And with so much confusing information about it how can people begin to understand how this diet works and how to achieve their weight loss goals?
Well, read on to find out.
How Does the Keto Diet Help People With Weight Loss
The keto diet is a high fat, low-carb diet.
That works by changing the body’s way of burning energy, moving the body away from burning sugar from carbohydrates for energy to fat stored in the body.
The high-fat portion of the diet allows you to adjust your body to mobilize fat cells and thus lose weight.
This state of metabolizing fat rather than sugars is called Ketosis. For the Keto diet to be effective the body must first enter this Ketosis state which occurs between three days and a week of beginning the diet.
How to Know If Ketosis Has Started
One of the most complicated parts of the diet is knowing when Ketosis has begun. Because if ketosis has not started weight loss isn’t possible with the keto diet.
Some physical changes occur that show the body is going through ketosis.
The first is acetone breath, “keto breath” or “metal breath” this is when the mouth takes on a metallic taste and an ammonia-like smell. This symptom is caused by the ketones in the body being turned into acetone.
The next physical symptom is urine that is covered in a slight film and takes on a strong odor.
Don’t want to wait for ammonia breath or cloudy pee to see if ketosis has started?
Well, the easiest way to see if ketosis has started is to use Ketosticks which are test strips that detect ketones in urine by changing color.
Keto Can Help Build Muscle
Though Ladies definitely love the Dad Bod. Some prefer their men a little more chiseled.
This is what makes the keto diet perfect for men. As the keto diet makes it easy to burn fat and build muscle.
A study from the University of Connecticut showed that a group of people who followed a ketogenic diet gained more muscle than those that didn’t.
There Are Three Different Kinds of Keto Diets
The most important part of Ketogenic nutrition are macronutrients comprised of fats, proteins, and carbs.
Although there are many ways of practicing the keto diets the three primary ways of following the diet are:
The Standard Ketogenic diet also is known as the SKD is the most well known and usually allows for low carbs, 5% or less, moderate protein around 20% and a high 75% of fat.
High-protein ketogenic is almost identical to the SKD but requires 35% protein, 5% carbs, and 65% fat.
Cyclical ketogenic diet also is known as the CKD is a more flexible than SKD or high protein keto plan that allows for 2 ketogenic days followed by 2 high carb days.
Targeted ketogenic diet also is known as the TKD which varies the number of carbs that can be eaten depending on a customized workout schedule.
Ultimately it’s up to each dieter to decide how to follow the keto diet in a way that helps them achieve their goal.
What Can You Eat
One of the most important steps to following a diet is knowing what kinds of food off limits. But because the keto diet is a high-fat diet many people feel that they can eat any high-fat food and lose weight but not all fats are created equal.
Some fats like monounsaturated and saturated fats are more easily burned by the body while the body while polyunsaturated fats aren’t as easily broken down.
This means your Ketogenic diet menu should have more monounsaturated and saturated fats from foods like butter, olive oil and coconut oil and less polyunsaturated fats like corn and soy.
This is because fats like coconut oil and olive oil closely mimic the fat in the human body and therefore the body can burn them for energy.
What Can You Drink
The good news is you can still enjoy alcohol while on keto… sort of.
While most alcoholic beverages are high calorie and full of sugars many more neutral beverages like vodka and gin can be safely consumed without breaking your diet.
One thing many keto dieters must watch out for is reduced alcohol tolerance leading to painful hangovers and alcoholic ketoacidosis or a buildup of ketones in the blood leading which can be potentially fatal.
The Keto Diet Has Benefits Beyond Losing weight
The Keto diet may have benefits for the brain.
Scientists have long since known about these benefits, in the 1920s Keto was used as a treatment for epilepsy and its potential as a treatment for other medical issues is still unknown.
But according to Scientific American, the Keto diet may provide treatment for neurological conditions like sleep issues, headaches, bipolar disorder and certain brain cancers.
Keto can be helpful for people with Type 2 diabetes.
Currently, many studies have shown that Type 2 diabetes can be successfully treated with a keto diet. A study showed that when 262 patients with the disease followed a keto diet 218 of the patients showed an improvement and management of the disease.
Improve Attractive After Weight Loss
One of the benefits of losing weight is not just about feeling good about yourself and your body but also being more attractive to women.
If you want to know how to be attractive to women beyond just losing weight we have some tips for you.
