My mother who is just 45 kgs is suffering from diabetes. I have never seen her taking too much of any kind of food. Today one of my collegue who is too much conscious about her health told after doing HBA1C test she is found to be prediabetic. Seeing all these I myself an ardent nonvegetarian food lover, cannot expect more than diabetes in future.Especially in that case when my parents are both diabetics. In this context I want to write about Ketogenic diet today.
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Now the question is what is that?
Imagine you are hungry. You have a chocolate in hand. You will take chocolate. It contain glucose. The glucose will be converted into energy by insulin hormone- This is the normal process
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Now imagine you are hungry. You dont have a chocolate and somebody locked you in. You have only water. Do you know without food a person can live for few weeks? That is because the fat stored in your body will be converted into ketone bodies by liver and its inturn used as energy fuel- This is an emergency process.
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Why are we not using ketone bodies when we are hungry
Burning glucose is the easy way to obtain energy by body. So whenever we are hungry we get an urge to take food/sugar. So we are not allowing the body to get depleted of Sugar. If there is more sugar in blood stream there can be another problem also.There is a limit for storage of blood sugar level. Excess sugar will be converted into fat and its stored. The real issue is body will not use this stored fat when we are hungry.It will demands us more food or sugar. This viscous cycle continues and it lead to build up of fat in the body.Also insulin which help to breakdown glucose prevents fats cells to enter blood stream so they stay stored in the body.
So how can we make ketone bodies as primary fuel source for the body
Theoretically its very simple. Take more fats. Take less glucose.Take less proteins.
Practically it limits our options of taking food. The idea here is to starve body of carbohydrates/sugar
No sugar- No insulin-fats enter into blood stream- Ketone body production in liver-Ketone bodies as primary energy source-weightloss
What are the advantages
1)Weightloss- as body is using stored fat as energy source.
2)Natural control of diabetes- As we are not taking carbohydrates or sugar.
3)More energy- Remember body can store very less sugar. When it runs out we feel tired.Its not in this case
4)Better concentration- Ketones are excellent fuel for brain.
5)Better appetite control-Fats are more naturally satisfying
6)Other uses- Treatment of epilepsy,acne,controlling cholesterol.
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What are the foods to eat?
Meats - fish, beef, lamb, poultry, egg
Leafy Greens - spinach
Above ground vegetables - broccoli, cauliflower
Dairy - hard cheeses, high fat cream, butter
Nuts and seeds - walnuts, sunflower seeds
Avocado and berries - raspberries, blackberries
Other fats - coconut oil, saturated fats, etc.
What are foods to avoid?
Grains - wheat, corn, rice, cereal
Sugar - honey, agave, maple syrup
Fruit - apples, bananas, oranges
Tubers - potato, yams
Legumes
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I hope it will give you an insight about Ketogenic diet. Comments are welcome.
Your diet is a bank account. Good food choices are good investments-
Bethenny Frankel(American television personality)
