Ask anyone who is currently trying to lose weight by going on a diet program, you’ll definitely hear fancy names such as Atkins Diet, WW (Weight Watchers) Diet, South Beach Diet, Nutritarian Diet and many more being mentioned. But above all, one of the most popular and easy to follow program is the Keto diet.
The ‘Keto’ diet is actually in short for ketogenic diet. Gaining in mass popularity these days, not many people are actually aware that the keto diet was created back in the early 1920’s. It wasn’t designed as a weight-loss diet but as part of a program to treat epilepsy. Doctors were keeping their patients on low-carb diets, thus forcing their bodies to burn body fats instead of glucose as their first source of energy. This actually helped in reducing seizures in epilepsy patients. But with the emergence of advanced epilepsy medicines, this practice was abandoned.
With the increase in popularity of low-carb diets such as the Atkins diet in the early 2000’s, the keto diet came back into mainstream recognition again. In a nutshell, the keto diet is a very low carb but high fat diet that involves reducing carbohydrates intake drastically and replacing them with fats. The severe reduction in carbs intake will put the body into a natural metabolic state known as ketosis.
There are many known benefits of being in a ketosis state. First of all, the body will get highly efficient in burning fats for fuel. As the body is starved of glucose, which has been the most basic source of energy for the cells, the body will start to actively convert more fats and protein from the body into ketones that are stored in the liver, as the ketones will then be burned into energy. Besides providing energy to the body, ketones is also a good supply of energy to the brain in the absence of glucose.
To get started on a keto diet, basically you can consume not more than 50 grams of carbs per day. High carbohydrate food such as rice, noodles, grains, bread and potatoes along with sugary food such as sweets, soft drinks, fruit juices have to be eliminated from your diet. Next, you will start to fill up the majority of your diet with fatty food such as nuts, avocado, meat, eggs, cheese, seeds, butter, cream, fatty fish and healthy oils.
To some people that prefers to have mostly proteins and meat in their meals, going on a keto diet is almost natural. However, people that are used to high carb diets will need some adjustments. Small steps can be taken by replacing snacks such as potato chips to nuts, milk chocolate to dark chocolate, sandwiches to lettuce wraps, before replacing the mains in their meals from mainly rice and noodles to steak and seafood.
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Do take note that certain sauces and condiments such as ketchup, honey mustard, barbeque sauce, sweet chili sauce and mayonnaise have high concentrated levels of sugar and corn syrup, making them unsuitable in preparing keto meals. Consumers have to consciously look for alternative options.
One of these alternative yet simply irresistible condiment options is the local made Keto Sambal Chili by Chef Benson Tong. Made with keto friendly ingredients such as palm oil, dried shrimps, red chili, shallots, candle nut and fermented Lactobacillus, it also contains zero sugar, no added salt, MSG, thickener and preservatives. This is a perfect condiment to add that guilt-free spicy kick to your meals and cooking.
A keto diet is great for people that is looking to lose weight quick yet keeping their energy levels optimal. Without the need to constantly calory count as you knowingly consume your favorite protein and fat-based meals, going on a keto diet might be an enjoyable experience with proven results after all.
