INTRODUCTION

What is Ketogenic diet?

Nowadays lots of disease start with the food intake of an individual. Although the

technologies were advanced in time but same goes with diseases. The most common

diseases that came because of food taken is diabetes mellitus type 2 and cardiovascular

diseases. Our body commonly use glycolysis as one of the metabolic pathway in providing

energy to our body. The awareness of the citizens towards making a better life was the

main reasons in a new research on the ketogenic diet. The ketogenic diet is a very low-

carb, high-fat diet that shares many similarities with the Atkins and low-carb diets.

This is accomplished by drastically reducing your consumption of carbohydrates,

increasing the intake of fat, and consuming only an adequate amount of protein to meet

your bodys needs. Nutritional ketosis is a state of health in which your body is efficiently

burning fat as its primary fuel source instead of glucose. The reduction in carbs

introduced the body into a metabolic state called ketosis. When this happens, the body

becomes incredibly efficient at burning fat for energy and automatically converting

yourself from a sugar burner to a fat burner. It also turns fat into ketones in the

liver, which can supply energy for the brain. Ketogenic diets can cause massive reductions

in blood sugar and insulin levels. This, along with the increased ketones, has numerous

health benefits.

Ketogenic diet consists of?

The chart showed the typical macronutrient ratios for a

ketogenic diet. This ratio can be vary according to various

factors such as current state of health, level of metabolic

damage, level of insulin sensitivity, physical activity,

weight, body composition, genetic makeup, age, gender,

etc. For example, someone who is young, lean, fit, works out

on a regular basis, and who doesnt have a genetic predisposition towards insulin

resistance may have a higher threshold of carbohydrate intake and be able to enter
ketosis more easily than someone who is older, overweight, and diabetic who has

sustained a great deal of metabolic damage due to years of excessive carbohydrate

consumption. The latter individual may initially have to be more restrictive about the

carb intake in order to induce nutritional ketosis, but they may eventually be able to

increase their intake of carbs after they have been able to regulate their blood sugar

and repair their metabolic damage over time.

Who are the researchers?

The term nutritional ketosis is claimed to have been coined by Dr. Stephen Phinney

& Jeff Volek, two of the leading experts and researchers in the field of low carbohydrate

Ketosis is achieved by following a ketogenic diet which is high in fat, very low in

carbohydrates, and adequate in protein. By consuming more lipids you are enhancing your

bodys fat burning function by up-regulating the enzymes and other metabolic

machinery needed to burn fat more efficiently, therefore making it easier for your body

to tap into stored adipose tissue as an energy source.

MECHANISM OF KETOSIS

Ketosis is a process that the body does on an everyday basis, regardless of the

number of carbs that was consumed. The body can adapt very well, processing different

types of nutrients into the fuels that it needs. Proteins, fats, and carbs can all be

processed for use. Eating a low carb, high fat diet just increase this process, which is

a normal and safe chemical reaction.

When eating carbohydrate based foods or excess amounts of protein, the body

will break this down into sugar which known as glucose. This is because glucose is needed

in the creation of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is a fuel that is needed for the

daily activities and maintenance inside our bodies. The body will use up much of the

nutrients from the food intake just to maintain itself on a daily basis.
There are two main things that happen to glucose if the body doesnt need it:

Glycogenesis. Excess glucose will be converted to glycogen, and stored in

your liver and muscles. Estimates show that only about half of your daily

energy can be stored as glycogen.

Lipogenesis. If theres already enough glycogen in your muscles and liver,

any extra glucose will be converted into fats and stored.

Once the body has no more glucose or glycogen the Ketosis will start to take place.

When the body has no access to food, like during sleeping or when a ketogenic diet is on,

the body will burn fat and create molecules called ketones.

These ketones are created when the body breaks down fats, creating fatty acids,

and burned off in the liver in a process called beta-oxidation. The end result of this

process is the creation of ketones, which are used as fuel by the muscles and brain.

Although glucose is the main source of fuel for most people, these fatty acids are

used by the brain cells when carbohydrate or food intake is low. In simpler terms, since

there is no more glucose or glycogen, ketosis starts to take it role and the body will use

the stored or consumed fat as energy.

Ketosis is pretty amazing, and in fact, gets even better. Studies show that the body

and brain actually prefer using ketones, being able to run 70% more efficiently than

glucose. From an evolutionary standpoint, this makes perfect sense.

So, How Does Ketosis Work?

When fat is broken down by the liver, glycerol and fatty acid molecules are released. The

fatty acid is broken down further, in a process called ketogenesis, and a ketone body

called acetoacetate is produced.

Acetoacetate is then converted into 2 other types of ketone bodies:

Beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) After being keto-adapted for a while, the

muscles will convert the acetoacetate into BHB as it is preferred by the brain as

fuel.

Acetone Can sometimes be metabolized into glucose, but is mostly excreted as

waste. This gives the distinct smelly breath that most ketogenic dieters know.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF KETO DIET

Advantage 1

Blood Sugar Balancing. Ketogenic diets are being utilized more and more for improving

health conditions related to insulin dysregulation and blood sugar abnormalities, such as

Type 2 diabetes, PCOS, and Alzheimers disease (which is often referred to as diabetes

of the brain)

Advantage 2

Improved Mood & Mental functioning. Many keto adapted people report major

improvements in brain function in regards to clarity in thought, memory, and mental

functioning that they never experienced previously in their life! Vast improvements in

mood disorders such as depression and anxiety are also commonly reported.
Advantage 3

Lean tissue preservation (Increases muscular retention & prevents muscular

atrophy). A ketogenic diet is a highly muscle-sparing diet and it is being explored not

only by body builders, athletes, and other fitness aficionados, but also for muscle-

wasting conditions like ALS and sarcopenia in the elderly.

Advantage 4

Long-lasting ENERGY. When your body is in a fat-adapted state it can easily tap into

your adipose tissue to give you more sustained energy without the constant need to eat

and refuel yourself every couple of hours

Advantage 5

Reduced Hunger. A meal that is high in fat and protein leaves us feeling satiated much

longer than a high carbohydrate meal and helps regulate blood sugar levels, thusly

balancing our appetite, especially in those with diabetes or other metabolic abnormalities.

Being ketogencially adapted also allows your body to access its fat stores more readily

when your body requires more energy to meet

This informative read by nutritional ketosis blogger

Jimmy Moore provides a personal account of the many
other health benefits a ketogenic diet can offer
Although there are some advantages that can be taken from this ketogenic diet, there

are still some adverse effects which are generally less severe than those of

anticonvulsant medications used to treat epilepsy. Individuals following the diet may

experience a number of short and long term undesirable effects

Short Term Side Effects

There are several short-term side effects that are most evident at the beginning of

therapy, particularly when an individual doing the diet with an initial fast. The most

common side effect is effect Hypoglycemia and some signs may include:

- Excessive thirst

- Frequent urination

- Fatigue

- Hunger

- Confusion, anxiety and/or irritability

- Tachycardia

- Lightheadedness and shakiness

- Sweating and chills

Additionally, patients may also experience some constipation and low-grade acidosis.

These effects tend to improve when the diet is continued, as the body adapts to the new

diet and adjust the ways in which it sources energy.

As a result of the changes in dietary consumption and the bodys adaptive

mechanisms to cope with the reduced carbohydrate intake, there are several changes in

the blood composition of individuals following the ketogenic diet.In particular, the levels

of lipids and cholesterol in the blood are commonly higher than what is considered to be

normal. More than 60% of patients have raised lipid levels and more than 30% have high

levels of cholesterol.
Long-Term Side Effects

When the ketogenic diet is continued for extended periods of time, there are

other adverse effects that become more evident and have a greater impact on

individuals.

Kidney stones, also known as nephrolithiasis, are a common complication for

children following the diet, with approximately 5% of patients suffering from the

condition. It is, however, treatable and the current recommendations suggest that the

diet should be continued. The formation of kidney stones is believed to be linked to

hypocitraturia and hypercalciuria, when acidosis causes the bone to demineralize.

Additionally, low pH in the urine can encourage the formation of crystals and, eventually,

kidney stones.

Children following the ketogenic diet may be affected by stunted growth, due to

reduced levels of insulin-like growth factor 1. This hormone usually plays an important

role in the growth of children and is reduced as a result of the diet. For this reason,

patients have an increased risk of stunted growth.

Additionally, patients have an increased risk of bone fractures. This arises from

the altered levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 and the effects of acidosis. Acidosis

leads to the erosion of bone, weakening the bones and leaving them prone to fractures.

In order to manage these side effects, supplementation of vitamins and minerals are

routinely administered to patients following the ketogenic diet. This commonly comprises

of a multivitamin, calcium and vitamin D supplements.

The other problem that might happened is keto rash. This is not a common

problem on low carb, but for the few people experiencing it, it can be really annoying

because of the itching. It can be troublesome, sometimes even interrupting sleep. The

itching and rash are almost always symmetrical on both sides of the body. It most often

develops over the chest, back, armpits and sometimes in the neck.
What is the reason for this problem?

The itching usually starts soon after people get into ketosis. It stops within a day

or so if people eat more carbs and exit ketosis. It can often get worse in hot weather,

or after exercising. The usual distribution of the itch and rash matches areas where

sweat can accumulate. When in ketosis sweat can contain the ketone body acetone.

Acetone can be irritating at high concentrations. The itching that some people

experience in ketosis is caused by ketones in sweat as it dries on the body.

SUCCESSFUL STORY OF KETOGENIC DIETERS

CONCLUSION

Ketogenic diet do have lots of benefits that can be taken but it should be practice in

correct way so that it can work out and give the actual result. Being in low carb and high

fat diet really needs motivations and supports from surrounding as it requires individual

discipline in changing the most important thing in the daily life.