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The ketogenic diet

The ketogenic diet

 

Today I'm going to tell you about a little-known diet that was used in the 90s by some pro bodybuilders. It's called the ketogenic diet or the Keto diet.

What is the ketogenic diet?

The ketogenic diet is a low-carbohydrate (less than 50g per day), high-protein, high-fat diet. The aim of this diet is to get the body to use ingested and body fat as fuel, to the detriment of carbohydrates.

The term ketogenic refers to the body's ability to produce glucose by synthesizing stored and consumed lipids in the liver. It produces ketones or ketone bodies when deprived of carbohydrates, hence the name ketogenic diet.

These ketone bodies are metabolites, i.e. waste products normally produced when lipids are broken down into glucose. They include acetone, beta hydroxybutyrate and acetoacetate. These ketone bodies regulate the use of energy substrates by skeletal muscles.

How does the ketogenic diet work?

The Ketogenic Diet consists of 75% fat, 15% carbohydrates and 20% protein per day. Unlike the more usual diet, which is 30% protein, 60% carbohydrate and 10% fat.

By depriving the body of carbohydrates and increasing lipid consumption, the body will synthesize glucose from lipids to produce energy. The hormones responsible for this synthesis have an impact on satiety. This reduces appetite.

What's more, gluconeogenesis, which breaks down fatty acids into glucose, requires greater caloric expenditure than the breakdown of carbohydrates into glucose.

Finally, less insulin is produced, so less sugar is stored as fat reserves.

The Ketogenic Diet in practice :

In practice, it takes three days for the body to enter a state of ketosis, but it will take several weeks for the body to become completely accustomed to it. What's more, it will take some dietary adjustments to switch from a carbohydrate-based energy diet to a fat-based diet.

Protein levels remain the same as on a traditional diet, but since carbohydrate levels are limited to 50g, they will be reached very quickly by vegetables alone. It will therefore be necessary to exclude the consumption of cereal products, legumes, quinoa, sugars and fruit. Lipids, on the other hand, will have the lion's share, with avocados, eggs, oilseeds and cheeses. And don't hesitate to eat good omega-rich oils.

Why follow a ketogenic diet?

Initially, the ketogenic diet was used therapeutically, as it could have effects on diabetes, epilepsy and certain neurodegenerative diseases (Parkinson's, etc.)

Then, in the 90s, some bodybuilders put this diet into practice in preparation for competitions. In fact, the diet seemed very promising for fat melting and, consequently, lean bodybuilding. Mobilizing body fat seemed to be the solution for optimizing the quality of the lean.

However, this type of diet soon showed its limitations. In fact, the ketogenic diet leads the body into acidosis, i.e. the blood has an acidic ph. This is damaging, as it leads to muscle and bone loss, and slows metabolism. In other words, it's counter-productive.

What's more, the ketogenic diet causes vitamin and mineral deficiencies that will have a negative impact on your health. And finally, in extreme cases, the diet can lead to coma.

This promising diet for bodybuilders in the dry period has not lived up to its promises. In fact, the undesirable effects of this diet outweighed its advantages. While it did melt adipose tissue and therefore dry the body, it left athletes amorphous, lacking in energy and in a permanent state of catabolism.

the coach's opinion

As each person is different and reacts differently, this diet, however restrictive it may be, is still worth trying out over a short period to lose weight, but it's difficult, even dangerous, to practise it over the long term.

Author Alexandre CARPENTIER

Bodybuilding Champion N.A.C 2012

Alexandre shares his bodybuilding experience with MegaGear blog readers

 
Posted in: Sports nutrition