A Beginners Guide to the Ketogenic Diet

The ketogenic diet is a popular style of eating, most used for its powerful weight loss results. Yet the ketogenic diet has several other additional benefits that can be useful for long term health.

What is Ketosis?

Ketosis is a metabolic state in which the body burns fat instead of carbohydrates for energy. A reduction in carbohydrate foods and an increase in fats, puts your body into a ketogenic metabolic state. During ketosis, the liver produces chemicals called ketones which your body uses for energy and your body starts to burn fat for fuel (1).

Other Benefits

Ketones are not just used as fat burning fuel, they are also used in the brain to repair neurons (brain cells) through their anti-inflammatory action which can improve cognition (2). Ketones also increase GABA, your calming neurotransmitter, to calm your brain and keep you relaxed (3).

Autophagy is another benefit of the ketogenic diet. “Auto” means self and “phagy” means eat, so it’s translation is “self-eating”. This is when cells clear out all the damaged, broken cells to heal and regenerate new healthier cells (4).

How do I begin?

Start by consuming no more than 50g of net carbohydrates per day, approx. 5-10% of your daily nutrient intake. Protein should make up approx. 20% with the bulk of your food coming from fats 75%. These macronutrient amounts are a general rule and after a few weeks on the diet, you will be able to find your optimal levels to achieve ketosis. Some people may need to eat less while others can eat more, it is very individual. A staged approach maybe more suited to you, especially if you have a high carbohydrate diet initially to reduce side effects. This approach includes slowly reducing carbohydrates over a four-week period.

Foods to Enjoy

• Fatty Fish – salmon, trout, tuna, mackerel, sardines
• Eggs – organic and pastured where possible.
• Meat – organic and grass-fed red meat, pork, organ meats, colostrum, gelatine
• Poultry – organic and free range where possible
• Fruit – low sugar fruits such as blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, coconut, cranberries, lemon, lime, ¼ banana.
• Dairy – ghee, butter, cheese unprocessed and organic
• Nuts & Seeds – almonds, walnuts, brazil nuts, macadamia nuts, flax seeds, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, pecans, hazelnuts, coconut flour, tigernut flour, hemp seeds, pistachios.
• Healthy Oils – Ghee, MCT oil, cocoa butter, cod liver oil, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Coconut oil, Avocado oil, butter
• Vegetables – avocados, asparagus, bitter greens, bok choy, leafy greens, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, celery, chard, collard greens, kohlrabi, lettuce, nori, zucchini, tomatoes, onions, capsicum, cucumbers, olives, spinach, radish
• Drinks – bone broth, diluted coconut milk, coffee, filtered water, green tea, mineral water, herbal tea.
• Sweeteners – allulose, erythritol, maltitol, monk fruit, sorbitol, stevia, birch xylitol
• Spices – apple cider vinegar, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, parsley, cocoa powder, coconut amino’s, ginger, mustard, oregano, rosemary, Himalayan pink or sea salt, thyme, turmeric, vanilla bean, paprika, black pepper.

Foods to Avoid

• Sugary foods – soda, fruit juice, smoothies, cake, ice cream, lollies
• Grains or starches – wheat-based products, rice, pasta, cereals
• Fruit – bananas, oranges, apples, tropical fruit such as pineapple, dragon fruit, papaya, lychee.
• Root vegetables and tubers – potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips, swede, pumpkin
• Beans and legumes – peas, kidney beans, lentils, chickpeas,
• Low fat or diet products
• Unhealthy fats – canola oil, sunflower oil, rice bran oil, vegetable oils, mayonnaise
• Alcohol – wine, beer, cider, dark liquors such as rum and brandy, sugary mixers.

Tips for Success

• Measuring your ketone levels each day can be useful, so you know when you have hit ketosis. The best way to measure ketones is by blood, breathe or urine.
• Use an app to track your food and macros each day for the first few weeks until you get used to the diet. My favourite is MyFitnessPal as you can set your macro targets. As you become used to the foods you can eat, slowly transition to an intuitive eating style, as you begin to feel when your body is in ketosis.
• Drink plenty of fluids and add high-quality salt to both food and drinks; bone broths are a great way to up your salts, such as Best of the bone or Gravity RX which we have in store. Electrolyte sachets may prevent keto flu symptoms.

If you have any questions, feel free to pop into store and have a chat with one of our friendly Naturopaths!

Written by: Mandy Astrop, Naturopath

References:

Sumithran, P., Prendergast, L. A., Delbridge, E., Purcell, K., Shulkes, A., Kriketos, A., & Proietto, J. (2013). Ketosis and appetite-mediating nutrients and hormones after weight loss. European journal of clinical nutrition, 67(7), 759–764. https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2013.90

Davie J. R. (2003). Inhibition of histone deacetylase activity by butyrate. The Journal of nutrition, 133(7 Suppl), 2485S–2493S. https://doi.org/10.1093/jn/133.7.2485S

Yudkoff, M., Daikhin, Y., Horyn, O., Nissim, I., & Nissim, I. (2008). Ketosis and brain handling of glutamate, glutamine, and GABA. Epilepsia, 49 Suppl 8(Suppl 8), 73–75. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1528-1167.2008.01841.x

Wang, B. H., Hou, Q., Lu, Y. Q., Jia, M. M., Qiu, T., Wang, X. H., Zhang, Z. X., & Jiang, Y. (2018). Ketogenic diet attenuates neuronal injury via autophagy and mitochondrial pathways in pentylenetetrazol-kindled seizures. Brain research, 1678, 106–115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2017.10.009