6 Ketogenic Diet Rules That You Should Know

You should consider trying the ketogenic diet if you are trying to lose weight and you have not succeeded. This diet is commonly used to manage type 2 diabetes although some people are relying on the diet if they are trying to lose weight.

The requirements are low-carb intake, high fats and sticking to nutritional ketosis. Nutritional ketosis is a metabolic state of the body where it starts to burn ketones and fats instead of glucose to produce energy. If you are on a ketogenic diet, the rules that you should follow include:

1. Regulate your carb intake.

As you start a ketogenic diet, you should eat about 20 grams of carb but you can have at least 50 grams of net carb as you advance. Non-starchy vegetables are the most ideal sources of carb with green, fibrous vegetables being the best choices. You are supposed to eat food rich in protein or fat.

2. Eat a lot of healthy fats.

Since fats are 90% ketogenic, it is the main source of energy in ketosis. Therefore, if you want to control carb intake, you need to eat a lot of fats to generate energy and remove hunger. You need to eat fats that are either monounsaturated or saturated, for example olive oil. coconut oil, red meat.

Eating foods that have natural whole fats is good, but you should limit the intake of polyunsaturated fats such as corn oil, soybean oil, and cottonseed oil.

3. Eat enough protein.

Although you need to eat proteins to generate energy, there is a limit to the amount of protein that you should take. If you eat a lot of proteins, you will disrupt ketosis but eating an adequate amount of proteins provide the energy that’s required in your body. If you live a sedentary lifestyle, 0.69 to 0.8 grams per day is enough. However, mildly active lifestyle requires 0.8 to 1 gram of proteins a day while bodybuilding exercises need 1 to 1.2 grams of proteins daily.

Some of your protein choices include eggs, fish, seafood and deli meat.

Suggestion: You need to limit the intake of foods that have higher carbs.

4. Eat when necessary.

You need to eat every time you feel hungry to avoid depleting your reserved energy. Therefore, avoid starving yourself.

Suggestion: Keep some keto snacks handy.

5. Increase your salt intake.

As your body adjusts to ketosis, you will experience some side effects such as headache or muscle cramps because of electrolyte imbalance. These side effects are known as keto flu, and they can affect you greatly if you don’t take enough amount of salt. Therefore, you can increase your salt intake because the ketogenic diet is naturally diuretic. However, if you have a health condition that requires you to minimize sodium intake, you need to seek professional advice from your doctor before increasing your salt intake.

Suggestion: Try Himalayan salt or Celtic salt.

6. Drink a lot of water.

Drinking a lot of water is highly recommended because the water helps you digest and reduce the amount of proteins and fats in your body. If you are hydrated, you promote weight loss while drinking less water can increase the fat deposits in your body. Remember, the amount of water you need to drink in a day can be determined by your location and the size of your body.

Suggestion: You should drink at least two liters of water each day.

Hopefully, these six recommendations will help you to succeed as you are on your way to losing weight on the ketogenic diet. And remember before beginning any diet plan, be sure to consult your physician or healthcare practitioner to be sure that the plan is best suited for you.