If there is anything that the onset of coronavirus has taught us all is that we need to eat healthy in order to lead a healthy life. There has been a sharp rise in the number of people who have started resorting to diet and workout regimes in order to ensure that the body is fit and does not fall prey to any kind of infections. The diet world is a very popular world which attracts everybody to join. Earlier directive followed only by those people who underwent any medical surgeries or have certain medical conditions. However, in the light to reduce weight or gain weight to maintain optimum BMI levels of the body, people have started following diet in the name of health or in the name of fad trends.
In the ever growing world of diet and lifestyle, it is the ketogenic diet that has gained a lot of popularity. It has become popular because of effective quick weight loss results and the numerous health benefits that come along with it.
For those of you who are still unaware of what exactly a ketogenic diet is, here is a simple explanation: the ketogenic diet is also popularly called the keto diet. It is the diet that includes low carb intake, moderate proteins, and high fat intake in your diet. It typically follows the ratio of 70% of fat and 20% of protein and 10% of carbs in your everyday diet. Ketogenic diet is known to benefit people who are suffering from cancer, epilepsy, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease. The entire concept of a ketogenic diet is that when you drastically reduce your carbohydrates intake and you are replacing this with fat intake. The reduction in the amount of carbohydrates that is put inside your body takes you into a metabolic state called ketosis. And in this stage your body starts to burn fat instead of carbohydrates to produce energy. Following this diet leads to a significant reduction in your blood sugar levels and your insulin levels.
Different versions of ketogenic diets
You can find several versions of this diet, some of the most common ones are:
- SKD-standard ketogenic diet: in this type of diet, you are consuming very low carbs with moderate amounts of protein and high amounts of fat in your diet. It is in the ratio of 70% fat with 10% carbs, and 20% protein.
- TKD-targeted ketogenic diet: this type of Quito diet will allow you to consume carbohydrates during your workouts.
- CKD-cyclical ketogenic diet: this type of keto diet will allow higher carbohydrate free feeds such as you will be following five days of the SKD ketogenic diet and follow it up with two days of a high carbohydrate diet.
- High-protein ketogenic diet: It is very familiar to a standard ketogenic diet, just that this one includes more protein. The ratio here is quite different: it is 60% of fat with 5% of carbs, and 35% of proteins.
A new research was presented at the American Academy of neurology during their annual meeting — this particular study shows that having fewer carbohydrates and fewer sugars will not only help people lose weight, but it will also contribute to positive mental health, and also lower the symptoms of certain critical diseases. As early as in the 1920s, studies were developed that showed how children who were consuming a high fat and low carbohydrate diet like the keto diet helped them to stay away from seizures as the diet pushes the body into the stage of ketosis or in simple words a fasting state. The study also shows that keto diet has helped manage certain health conditions right from obesity to diabetes to inflammation related health problems such as MS that is multiple sclerosis.
What the study says
For those who don’t know multiples sclerosis is considered to be an autoimmune disease that finds itself into our body when a body attacks the installation that is wrapped up around our nerves – this leads to numbness, bladder problems, more issues, fatigue , and mobility problems that will interfere with our daily life. They say that there is absolutely no cure that has been found yet for multiple sclerosis.
However, there are definitely several ways with the help of which one can ease symptoms of MS. And this particular study showed that when patients were made to follow a ketogenic diet for at least six months, they showed less depression and fatigue, and also enjoyed a better quality of life. The study claims that these ketogenic diets need to be medically supervised when imposed on MS patients. As we know, ketogenic diets include restricting your carbohydrate intake while increasing your protein and fat intake. The goal of this diet is to shift from burning your blood sugar for energy purposes to burning fat.
How exactly does following a Keto diet help improve the problems of easing depression and fatigue amongst people suffering from multiple sclerosis?
The answer to this is not completely understood yet, however researchers have certain theories – for example weight loss induces a reduction in inflammation and this helps in rebalancing the bacteria in the gut of people who are diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The amount of fat that is present in the body contributes to a poor quality of life and negative mental health scores which can lead to fatigue and severe depression. And a ketogenic diet helps in reducing fat in the body!