What does it mean, Ketogenic Diet........11/6/2013

Ketogenic diet is a healthy, satisfying, fully nutritious diet that will help you normalize your Blood Glucose levels, Your Cholesterol Levels and your Blood Pressure levels. Ketogenic diet means your body has switched from using glucose as its main source of energy to using fats.  Human body has evolved to use both glucose and fats as a source of energy.  Using fats as an energy source will reduce your body's inflammation levels.  This in turn reduces your body's need for Cholesterol.  Cholesterol is used to repair the damage that was caused by the inflammation of having high blood glucose levels and high insulin levels.  If you reduce the inflammation you reduce your body's need to keep making more and more cholesterol.

In order for your body to become ketogenic you will have to consume less than 50 grams of carbohydrates a day and your level of natural fats will have to exceed that of your protein consumption.  A simplistic approach to a ketogenic diet would be consuming real whole foods, natural fats, moderate proteins, reduced carbohydrates.  All the carbohydrates you need will be found in the numerous low carbohydrate vegetables.

Ketones are formed in your liver when your brain determines that your incoming carbohydrates are not at a level to support your energy needs. Your muscles will then start to use stored fats or ingested fats as an energy source.  The byproducts of your muscles using fats travel to your liver where they are converted to ketones (ketosis).  The ketones are then used by your brain, your heart and all other organs that cannot use fats directly as an energy source.

Ketogenic diets are not something new; they have been employed by doctors for many years to control seizures in children and adults.  Your brain functions differently on ketones than it does on glucose.   If you're interested in this type of treatment plan for your health please come and visit us.