Should You Go Keto? Eat fat to burn fat. Sounds crazy, right? But it turns out that ramping up your fat intake - and ditching most carbs - is the quickest, most effective way to lean out. A ketogenic diet was originally developed in the 1920s as a drug-free way to treat epilepsy. Today, it's taken the fitness world by storm, and with good reason. It can reset your body so that it burns fat - including stored body fat - for energy instead of glucose. Keto Basics When you're on a ketogenic diet, at least 70 (yes, 70!) percent of your daily calories come from fat. Twenty percent comes from high-quality animal protein. The remaining 10 percent is allotted to carbs (20 to 50 grams per day). That may sound counterintuitive to conventional wisdom, but redistributing your macronutrients works - and it definitely has its perks: No calorie counting! So long as you keep your carb intake low, you shouldn't have to worry about calories. Less hunger. Research suggests that the production of ketone bodies lowers your levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin. Because ketones have a damping effect on appetite, most people spontaneously reduce their food intake when they eat a high-fat diet. Fast initial weight loss. When you first limit carbs, your body uses the glycogen in your muscles and liver. This also causes rapid water weight loss during your first week or two as you fully transition into ketosis. As a result, you may be more motivated to stick with keto. Are you ready to jettison the carbs and lose weight? Click here to learn more. |
