The Ketogenic Diet: What You Need to Know
The ketogenic diet has been gaining traction in recent years, and it’s not hard to see why. The benefits of this way of eating are extensive, and include everything from increased weight loss to lowered blood sugar levels. It may even have some protective effects against dementia! You can learn all about the keto diet by reading this article, so keep reading if you’re interested in making a change for the betterment of your health.

What is a Ketogenic Diet?
The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet that shares many similarities to the Atkins and Paleo diets. It involves drastically reducing carbohydrate intake (usually by cutting out all grains, legumes, root vegetables) in order to force your body into fat-burning mode instead of glucose-burning mode.
When you cut carbs from your carbs-heavy diet, your body has to find an alternative energy source. The keto diet is designed with this process in mind. It’s a high-fat diet that encourages the use of ketones as fuel instead of glucose or sugar.
Basics of Keto Diet
- The ketogenic diet, unlike other diets out there, is not a quick fix. It takes focus and dedication to stick with the plan. Let’s get into what you need to know about it.
- The whole point of this diet is that when your body has no carbs coming in from food sources, it turns fat cells into molecules called ketones. Ketones are used as fuel in the absence of carbs or glucose, which is what you’ve been using to power your body up until now.
- The keto diet works by getting your body into a state called “ketosis.” To do this, all grains (including rice), legumes (like beans and peanuts), root vegetables, dairy products, and fruit are removed from the diet.
- When you remove these food sources, your body has to make a switch in fuel- and that’s when ketones take over as an alternate form of energy for your cells.

The first few weeks of this plan can be difficult since it requires such drastic changes to what you’re used to eating, but the rewards are worth it.