Ketogenic Diet

Peacock2468
Peacock2468 Posts: 11
edited November 10 in Health and Weight Loss
So, has anyone herd of the Ketogenig diet. There is a guy at my work that is having good success with it. He has managed to lose more weight in the last week than I have in the last month with a regular calorie restricted diet and 6 days a week of exercise.

Apparently it is a form of Carb restricted diet. NOT ATKINS, this diet focuses on training your body to use fat, not protein like atkins, as the main source of fuel. You go through an induction phase which is really carb restricted, but high fat and protein. The main break down is Fat = 60% of caloric intake, protein is 35%, and carbs are 5% for the induction phase then go up.

Here is a link to a blog that goes into great depth on the subject:

http://josepharcita.blogspot.com/2011/03/guide-to-ketosis.html

I was just wondering if anyone had any experience with this diet. I have done a lot of research on people that have used it and it seems to work well for most people that can make it through the induction period. The results I am seeing first hand with my co-worker are pretty impressive also.

Replies

  • dg09
    dg09 Posts: 754
    Yep, lots of people have success with it. Google: "r/keto", click the first result.

    I don't do it though, I can't live without my whole wheat pasta or brown rice, haha.
  • LabRat529
    LabRat529 Posts: 1,323 Member
    A ketogenic diet is any diet, including Atkins, that puts your body into ketosis. It doesn't really matter what the name is... if you go into ketosis, you are on a ketogenic diet. And the principles of inducing ketosis are always the same- low carb, high protein, and sometimes high fat.

    You can lose weight on a ketogenic diet, and the weight will come off quickly in the beginning, but in the long run, it isn't going to give you an advantage over a more "traditional" diet that includes carbs.

    The first few weeks of ketosis are pretty rough for many but not all. Many people feel sick. They experience "brain fog", low energy, nausea, difficulty with relatively easy mundane tasks like walking up a few flights of stairs... and so on.

    Some people don't feel ill.

    Some people like the ketogenic life style.

    Others don't.

    The choice is yours. Good luck.
  • Peacock2468
    Peacock2468 Posts: 11
    Sorry, I was led to believe that atkins was different because of the focus on protein instead of fat. I still dont know, still learning. Thanks for the info.
  • kathyc609
    kathyc609 Posts: 258 Member
    I am on low carb, low fat, high protein diet. I am sure it got me in ketosis. I have been doing it a little over 3 months with great success. I have not felt sick or had any problems. It has very fast results.
  • mncardiojunkie
    mncardiojunkie Posts: 307 Member
    The old Atkins diet does not focus on protein intake. I can't speak for the one written after 2002 when a corp purchased the Atkins name.

    I am on the Old Atkins diet, it is Ketogenic. I take measurements every day. There's a ton of misconceptions about what Atkins originally wrote in 1972.

    I'm on this diet and I drop weight like mad and I maintain it for years without problems and it does not focus on protein.

    I've only gained weight on this nutritional lifestyle three times over the last 13 years I've been on it. And it's because I've had a depressing holiday season and start eating too much chocolate.

    I've gained 15-25 pounds three times. It's not the 219 I was originally at.
  • rsouthland
    rsouthland Posts: 75
    The sickness or brain fog is actually something that the Atkins program talks about, commonly referred to as the Atkins flu. Your body will feel just a little bit different. You'll know somethings happening and not quit the same. Ketosis is a challenge for many, myself included. I use ketone test strips on a daily basis to ensure I'm there or not. Unfortunately, if your not in it, it can take some people quite a bit of time to get there. it certainly doesn't happen over night. Ketosis is definitely the sweet spot for anyone on low carb.
  • mncardiojunkie
    mncardiojunkie Posts: 307 Member
    The sickness or brain fog is actually something that the Atkins program talks about, commonly referred to as the Atkins flu. Your body will feel just a little bit different. You'll know somethings happening and not quit the same. Ketosis is a challenge for many, myself included. I use ketone test strips on a daily basis to ensure I'm there or not. Unfortunately, if your not in it, it can take some people quite a bit of time to get there. it certainly doesn't happen over night. Ketosis is definitely the sweet spot for anyone on low carb.

    Absolutely and do you know what finally gave up to get from the pink to the dark purple? Diet pepsi.....I stopped drinking diet soda-pop and weight started falling off of me and my strip is now dark purple. It has no sugar in it, either...

    Weird!
  • mncardiojunkie
    mncardiojunkie Posts: 307 Member
    Yep, lots of people have success with it. Google: "r/keto", click the first result.

    I don't do it though, I can't live without my whole wheat pasta or brown rice, haha.

    Yeah, it's not for everyone. :smile:

    I don't miss that stuff. There's fake pasta out there made with tofu. I don't even know what whole wheat pasta tastes like anymore.
  • kishicatta
    kishicatta Posts: 1
    There's a good resource here for this type of diet:
    http://www.ketogenic-diet-resource.com/index.html
  • mncardiojunkie
    mncardiojunkie Posts: 307 Member
    There's a good resource here for this type of diet:
    http://www.ketogenic-diet-resource.com/index.html

    Thanks! Very helpful! Nice resource to have!
  • veganfoodie
    veganfoodie Posts: 10 Member
    Sorry, I was led to believe that atkins was different because of the focus on protein instead of fat. I still dont know, still learning. Thanks for the info.

    You were right originally... ketogenic diet emphasis high fat. There are great resources on it on YouTube. I just started this week but it will be challenging as I don't consume animals so I'm pouring in the olive oil and whole coconut milk. Good luck!
  • Happyme2009
    Happyme2009 Posts: 233 Member
    I did Atkins a few years ago. It worked. I lost weight. But I didn't feel good with extremely low quantities of fruits and veggies. It isn't my nature. I gained it all back when I started eating normal... And it was a pain in the butt to count carbs too.... having a peach or an apple was a giant treat.....
    My body didn't agree with it, although as I said, it did work.
  • HypersonicFitNess
    HypersonicFitNess Posts: 1,219 Member
    So you are going to consume large quantities of fat to lose weight quickly? So you will have heart disease but as long as you have it while not being overweight it is okay?

    Just stop and think about what you said the diet was....it is a bad diet.

    You should not restrict vegetables and fruits and eat large quantities of fat. You will be a thin "fat" person and a very unhealthy one. Just saying...

    there are no "quick" ways to lose weight...if it sounds too good to be true, it absolutely is...

    It should not be a short term "diet"; it should be a life time commitment to being healthy
  • Asphere79
    Asphere79 Posts: 41
    So you are going to consume large quantities of fat to lose weight quickly? So you will have heart disease but as long as you have it while not being overweight it is okay?

    Just stop and think about what you said the diet was....it is a bad diet.

    You should not restrict vegetables and fruits and eat large quantities of fat. You will be a thin "fat" person and a very unhealthy one. Just saying...

    there are no "quick" ways to lose weight...if it sounds too good to be true, it absolutely is...

    It should not be a short term "diet"; it should be a life time commitment to being healthy

    I was just perusing old posts and I saw this one. Actually, a high fat, low carb diet does not correlate to increased heart disease at all. That is a major misconception. Here is the science from a peer reviewed journal:

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2129159/

    If it did wouldn't you expect all of our nomadic ancestors to be having early heart attacks due to their high fat low carb diets? They weren't exactly hunting loaves of bread and bowls of pasta were they? Even their fruit was much lower in carbohydrates. High carb fruits like oranges have been cultivated over thousands of years to be sweeter and sweeter. Most fruit you find in nature (like blackberries) are low in sugar.

    You can peruse the reddit keto subforum and read hundreds of cases of people's cholesterol dropping dramatically on keto. I have yet to see any strong evidence that it is bad for your heart if followed properly.

    Another science article on the subject:

    http://jn.nutrition.org/content/132/7/1879.full

    And a more down to Earth reading for those less science inclined:

    http://www.ketogenic-diet-resource.com/what-causes-heart-disease.html
  • bluflu2003
    bluflu2003 Posts: 12
    The Ketogenic Diet is not the same as Atkins. Atkins is high protein, low carb. The Ketogenic is high FAT, moderate protein & low carb.

    Your body will use either glucose or ketones for fuel. You do not need to eat anything that converts to glucose (i.e. pasta, fruit, etc) as your body can make it's own glucose. When you do not eat glucose your body will convert PROTEIN into glucose. In the absence of glucose your body will use ketones. The idea of the Ketogenic Diet is to become efficient at using ketones (utilizing fat). With a high fat diet, you (re-)train your body to use fat as its main energy source instead of glucose. Once you've used the dietary fat (the diet stresses healthy fats), your body will easily transition to utilizing body fat. Protein is kept moderate to provide you with the essential aminos your body needs but not so much that your body starts to convert it to glucose. Green leafy vegetables (kale, spinach, etc) are highly encouraged as the net carb is minimal.

    This is why a lot of runners who fuel themselves with carbs will 'hit a wall' (unless they replenish with goo or some other type of glucose). Their body is use to running on carbs and when they’ve used up all the glucose, their body feels like its crashing. Since they are efficient carb burners, the transition to utilizing fat is harder (hence the crash feeling). I am a runner and I can say that my runs have improved tremendously on high fat. I do no longer get the 'burn out' feeling half way through my run.

    Yes, the Atkins Diet is effective for losing weight. Anytime you bring your insulin levels down (from being high on carbs) weight usually follows. However, it is not the same as Ketogenic.
  • Kfarrell6
    Kfarrell6 Posts: 18 Member
    Thanks for your info about running. I was really concerned about how it would affect performance.
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