Chapter 1: Introduction to the Keto Diet
What is a keto diet?
A ketogenic diet is an eating regimen that includes high amounts of fat, low to moderate amounts of protein, and very few carbohydrates. The keto diet is usually rich in foods such as butter, cheese, eggs, meat, nuts, oils, seafood, and seeds. It leaves little room for fruits, vegetables, grains, potatoes, sweets, and other carbohydrate-rich foods.
Although there are variations of the ketogenic diet, they all have the common goal of limiting carbohydrate intake. A typical ketogenic diet plan aims to get about five percent of calories from carbohydrates, 20 percent from protein and 75 percent from dietary fats. With a ketogenic diet of 2,000 calories per day – this equates to about 100 calories (25 grams) of carbohydrates, 400 calories (100 grams) of protein and 1,500 calories (167 grams) of dietary fat. Although some ketogenic diets, depending on their phase and caloric needs, may include up to 70 grams of carbs per day, 50 grams or less is the typical maximum intake goal.
By limiting carbs and controlling protein intake, the ketogenic diet aims to bring your body into a state of nutritional ketosis, a metabolic process that increases the production of ketones, which are produced by the liver and can be used as the body's primary source of energy. When we are not in ketosis, glucose (derived from carbohydrates) is our body's main source of energy.
What are ketones?
Ketones are water-soluble byproducts of fat breakdown in the liver. Ketone production is a normal bodily process that occurs regularly, including during sleep. Our liver always produces some number of ketones, but when our daily carbohydrate and protein intake is high enough, our ketone production remains relatively low.
How do dietary carbohydrates provide energy?
There are two kinds of carbohydrates: those that we can digest and dietary fiber that we cannot digest. When we consume digestible carbohydrates, our bodies break them down into their simplest forms: monosaccharides, fructose, galactose and glucose. Most of the carbohydrates we consume are eventually converted to glucose because glucose is the most common monosaccharide found in nature, and our body can convert fructose and galactose to glucose.
