What the ***! is Keto and What makes it so Special!

You probably have seen the term Keto flung around – Keto this, Keto that, and the like. But you might be wondering, “What the ***! is Keto? Why is this good for me at all?”

Well, get out the goggles and the lab coats! It’s science time!

How the Body Uses the Food You Eat

When you stuff your face with food the digestive tract breaks it down. Some of the components in the food end up in the bloodstream for further processing. The ones we are concerned about are carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.

The digestive tract processes Carbohydrates into glucose as they swim through. Their presence alerts the pancreas, an organ in the abdomen. This organ produces a hormone known as insulin, which opens the hatch in the cells for the glucose to fuel them. What doesn’t get used is converted to fat and stored for later use.

The tract absorbs Proteins as amino acids. Like on-call technicians, they fix cells in your body. The body stores unused amino acids and enzymes as fat for later use as energy.

As further digestion the stomach and intestines pass Fats into the lymph system, the military, also provides energy, aids in cell repair and fights infection. What is left over is, again, stored as fat.

Of course, the point in all this is, that the body stores what it does not use as fat. Over time, you will have a hoard of fat that, like hoarding in real life, causes many different problems.

Body Haxing Time: Using Fat for Fuel

What happens when the body uses all the glucose in the blood but still needs energy? The pancreas releases a hormone, called glucagon, to ask its buddy, the liver, to take over. The liver is a very large, blood-filled, organ responsible for storing fat, purging toxins, and tasting good with onions. It rips open fat cells and chomps on them, producing ketones that the body can use in place of glucose and insulin to fuel cells.

The process of ripping fat cells and producing ketones is known, creatively, as ketosis.

To enter ketosis, one needs to consume about 50g of carbohydrates a day. Once in this state, the body will remove fat from the body as opposed to burning whatever glucose is in the blood.

Cool. Why would I want to do that?

We can start with the two obvious benefits: losing weight and controlling the symptoms of Type 2 Diabetes.

Consuming fat for fuel causes the fat to be taken away from your gut, lovehandles, arms, thighs, and even feet and fingers. Keto-friendly foods also tend to be very satiating, as the process of converting them to fat and then breaking them down takes way longer than simply having insulin open the cell and toss in the glucose. Those two things combined will help with your goals of weight loss.

Which leaves us with controlling Type 2 Diabetes. Type 2 Diabetes is a disorder where the pancreas just can’t make enough insulin to escort all that glucose, or the cells in the body have decided not to let the insulin in causing insulin resistance. Blood sugar is a measure of how much unburned glucose is in the blood, and ketones are not glucose. So inducing ketosis is something the glucometer will love you for.

There is also data to indicate that the Keto Diet will lower blood pressure, improve cholesterol levels, and control epilepsy, Parkinson’s, and various forms of dementia.

What’s the Catch?

The Keto diet isn’t without its woes. Known side effects include:

“Keto Flu” (upset stomach, headaches, and fatigue)
Bad Breath
Insomnia
Dehydration
High Cholesterol
Kidney Stones
Low Bone Density

Before making any drastic changes to your diet you should consult a doctor or nutritionist. As scary as that list might be, it might be the best option for you. Of course, it’s not for everyone, and everybody is different.

Keto is challenging to follow for one simple reason: junk food. Most of it has sugar or starch. Follow this site to learn about Keto alternatives to your favourite snacks and treats!

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