Example Ketogenic Diet

Premise

The following indications are for information purposes EXCLUSIVELY and are not intended to replace the opinion of professional figures such as doctor, nutritionist or dietician, whose intervention is necessary for the prescription and composition of CUSTOMIZED food therapies.

Ketogenic diet

Premise

WARNING! With this article we will search for an example of a diet based on the discharge of food carbohydrates and the parallel increase of ketone bodies in the blood. It is essential to remember that we refer exclusively to ONE ketogenic diet (in a generic sense) and not to the ketogenic diet (a more or less specific method that can be claimed by some professionals); this little clarification is intended to safeguard the author of the article and my-personaltrainer.it from any revenge on the intellectual property of the ketogenic diet or from any conceptual-methodological disputes.

The ketogenic diet is a NON-balanced diet that NEEDS A CONSTANT MONITORING BY THE SPECIALIST DOCTOR (through the analysis of ketone bodies, for example by testing urinary pH). The ketogenic diet can be useful for the treatment of two totally different clinical conditions:

• Overweight and replacement diseases WITHOUT complications (kidneys and liver must be perfectly healthy)
• Drug-resistant epilepsy, especially in children (see article: Epilepsy diet)

Below is an example of a ketogenic slimming diet and not a ketogenic diet to reduce the symptoms of epilepsy.

Ketogenic diet

The ketogenic diet is based essentially on 3 concepts:

• Reduction of simple and complex carbohydrates : foods containing carbohydrates must be totally eliminated (even if this is practically impossible). The portions of the vegetables are kept, which contain fructose, causing the percentage collapse of the complex carbohydrates in favor of the simple ones (which, however, we remember to be quantitatively very low). These nutrients are the body's primary fuel and reducing them "to the minimum" forces the body to dispose of excess fat reserves; furthermore, carbohydrates are nutrients that significantly stimulate insulin (anabolic and fattening hormone), which is why their moderation should also have an important metabolic significance.
• Quantitative increase and percentage (therefore absolute) of fats, and only percentage of proteins, keeping the caloric intake constant: after eliminating carbohydrates, the portions of protein foods should be kept constant, increasing in parallel only the quantities of high-content foods of fats (oils, oilseeds, oily fleshy fruits, etc.). In theory, doing so compensates for the caloric reduction in glucose deficit due to the greater amount of lipids. In practice, for obvious reasons of appetite (indeed, of hunger!), It is also necessary to increase the portions and the frequency of consumption of protein foods. Some justify this "correction" by stating that more protein is useful in preserving the lean mass. It should however be specified that many amino acids are glucogenic (they are converted to glucose by neoglucogenesis) and have a metabolic action similar to food carbohydrates, partially negating the effect on lipolytic enzymes and on the production of ketone bodies (see below). Moreover, in clinical practice, with the "calculator in hand" the menu of the ketogenic diet is NEVER normocaloric and always provides less energy than necessary. It might as well be worth trying a balanced, well-structured balanced diet before attempting a jumble of this kind.
• Production of ketone bodies : the hepatic neoglucogenesis necessary to synthesize glucose (starting from certain amino acids and from glycerol) is not fast enough to cover the daily glucose requirement. At the same time, fat oxidation (closely related and dependent on glycolysis) "jams" and causes the accumulation of intermediate molecules (in my opinion, waste) called ketone bodies. These ketones, which at physiological concentrations are easily disposed of, reach levels in the ketogenic diet that are toxic to the tissues.

  Toxic does not necessarily mean poisonous, but "that causes intoxication". This effect is clearly distinguishable with the reduction in appetite, ie the anorectic effect on the brain, although, like the heart, even the nervous tissue is partially capable of using ketone bodies for energy purposes.

  The healthy organism is capable of functioning even with high blood quantities of ketone bodies, the excess of which is eliminated (we do not know how much fatigue) from renal filtration. Obviously, people suffering from certain pathologies (defect of insulin secretion - typical of type 1 diabetes mellitus - kidney failure - also triggered by advanced type 2 diabetes mellitus - liver failure etc.) have a very high risk of evolving into metabolic ketoacidosis risking the coma or even death.

Perplexity on the ketogenic diet

Personally I consider the ketogenic diet a rather extreme method and I do not believe that its application can be defined deontologically correct; however, as many clinicians demonstrate, it is sometimes necessary to act quickly on obesity to safeguard the health of the critical patient. For my part, I leave the doctors the responsibility to evaluate and apply a dietary regime of this kind.

The PROTRATTA and FATTENATA ketogenic diet (as we said above, in case of pre-existing disease) can favor the manifestation of:

• Syndrome called " keto flu ", or a condition of generalized discomfort caused by the metabolic imbalance still not fully compensated by the body
• Mood changes and fatigue from physical activity
• Acidosis or lowering of blood pH
• Liver fatigue (although not always measurable in healthy subjects)
• Kidney fatigue (although not always measurable in healthy subjects)
• Tendency to systemic dehydration
• Various types of ailments, such as hypoglycemia and low blood pressure that can start with a blackout
• Hypovitaminosis, saline and dietary fiber deficiency
• Depletion of muscle tissue, especially in the case of motor activity.

Note : It is curious to see how many of the symptoms and clinical signs mentioned above are common to marasmus (generalized malnutrition).

The ketogenic diet cannot and should NOT be practiced for a long time and, if one decides to undertake it, it should be remembered that it is necessary to alternate periods of ketogenesis with days of restoration of glycogen stores. The organism, especially the nervous tissue, needs about 180g / day of carbohydrates to work effectively and efficiently (although 50-100 grams should prevent ketoacidosis - Calloeay 1971), but this also means that following the ketogenic diet one does not you will NEVER enjoy an OPTIMAL psycho-physical form. Moreover, many professionals who advise taking the ketogenic diet suggest NOT to interrupt it because the ketosis itself (which occurs after a few days from the beginning) is fundamental to the proper functioning of the system.

The ketogenic diet does not concern itself with the relationship between complex carbohydrates and simple sugars, since carbohydrates are so scarce that their metabolic impact takes on an almost marginal value.

The ketogenic diet is NOT applicable to sportsmen and endurance athletes.

Useful supplements

The supplements useful in the case of a ketogenic diet are those that guarantee the coverage of hydrosaline and vitamin needs. Many readers will think that to reach some vitamin and salt levels in ketogenic it is sufficient to increase the intake of vegetables, but unfortunately it is not so simple. The vegetables are rich in both mineral salts and vitamins, as well as fiber and chelating anti-nutritional molecules; therefore, excessively increasing the vegetables consequently increases the risk of malabsorption or partial absorption of nutrients (iron, calcium, vitamins, etc.). Moreover, according to the principle of the ketogenic diet, it is essential to reduce the intake of carbohydrates to a minimum, however present (although to a varying extent) in all vegetables.

The dosage of hydrosaline and vitamin supplements cannot be accurately illustrated or suggested since, given the heterogeneity of the products on the market, it would be an approximate and misleading indication. I therefore suggest to consult the label and to make a daily MASSIMO quantity of supplements based on mineral salts and / or vitamins equal to 50-80% of the total requirement (personal opinion). It is also advisable to consult your doctor or pharmacist. Furthermore, it is desirable to give preference to supplements containing minerals with an alkalizing action, such as citrates (potassium citrate, magnesium citrate, sodium citrate) or bicarbonates (sodium bicarbonate, potassium bicarbonate, etc.).

Note : the ketogenic diet does not respect the principles of nutritional balance of the classical method and, by definition, is a UN-BALANCED food style since it is hypoglucidic, hyperlipidic and tendentially hyperproteic (in the context of the Mediterranean diet). It requires regardless of the needs calculation, maintaining a TOT intake of glucides not exceeding 50-100g / day even if, according to what some experts write, the lower the intake of carbohydrates, the greater the ketosis and the effectiveness of the system.

The ketogenic diet also suggests providing a portion of unsaturated lipids greater than that of saturates.

The protein intake can reach values ​​decidedly out of the ordinary (up to and over 3g / kg of physiological weight), sometimes even reducing the quantity of the "very precious" total lipids.

Example

Note : This example of a ketogenic diet represents a compromise between different currents of thought. It is therefore tendentially "unfair" if evaluated in the context of "PURE" ketogenic diets, both as regards the daily intake of carbohydrates, and as regards the choice of inserting one or two days of carbohydrate recharge per week. However, this type of ketogenic diet can also be used by people who choose NOT to give up motor activity, provided they are of moderate volume and intensity. Obviously, it needs to be personalized.

• Subject: middle-aged woman, she works as a secretary and does not practice motor activity; is overweight, suffers from impaired blood glucose and hypertriglyceridemia

Example Ketogenic Diet - Day 1

Example Ketogenic Diet - Day 2

Example Ketogenic Diet - Day 3

Example Ketogenic Diet - Day 4 - RECHARGE

Example Ketogenic Diet - Day 5

Example Ketogenic Diet - Day 6

Example Ketogenic Diet - Day 7