Ketogenic, the name may sound fancy to you, but the diet is really basic. It
doesn’t require you to over consume a specific food element or any of that
stuff. This diet, in fact, promotes a low-carb, high-fat diet, which may sound
unusual at the first go. Low-carb and high fat seems like two extremes, but it
is the magic formula that can balance out the fat levels in your body and also
help you lose weight.

So, what exactly is the meaning of the word “ketogenic?” When you up your
fat intake while reducing the carbohydrates in your meals, your body switches
into a state called, “ketosis,” meaning instead of burning glucose, your body is
burning fats. Now this is exactly what you need in order to shed off those
excess pounds.

The ketogenic diet has been used for about a century to treat
seizures. Although it’s unclear as to how the ketogenic diet exactly helps in
curing the seizure, but it is known to work wonders for epilepsy patients.

3 major benefits of Ketogenic diet

1. Helps in weight loss
When our meals are rich in carbohydrates, our body releases insulin owing to
elevated levels of glucose in the blood. Now the job of insulin is to signal the
cells for storing as much energy as they can. The energy is first stored in the
form of glycogen and then converted to fats.

The ketogenic diet eliminates the
carbohydrate from your meals, which helps in preventing excessive insulin
from releasing in the body. When the body’s insulin levels are low, it starts
burning down the fats much faster, eventually resulting in a good amount of
weight loss. Now this could mean that your body will also continue burning fat
even while you are asleep. This way, the fat burning process can go on 24/7.
Keep in mind that the type of fat you consume while on a ketogenic diet is
extremely important. Consume food items that are higher in fatty acids but
help to burn your fats faster as well.

Following are some of the recommended food items you can eat while on a
ketogenic diet.
• Grass fed meat
• Seafood and wild caught fish
• Pastured poultry and pork
• Gelatin, ghee and butter
• Monosaturated fats (olive oil and avocados), polysaturated, and
saturated fats
• Non-starchy veggies like spinach, broccoli, kale, chives, chard, bok choy
etc.
• Beverages such as black coffee, tea.
Condiments like mayonnaise, mustard sauce, sauerkraut, Kombucha,
pickles and fermented foods.
• All kinds of spices and herbs
• All veggies that are non-starchy, mushrooms and all fruits.
• Macadamia nuts, almonds, walnuts, pecans, pumpkin seeds, flaxseeds,
chia seeds etc.
• Fermented soy products

2. Treats Alzheimer’s and seizures
There has been a lot of evidence showing how ketogenic diet helps in treating
Alzheimer’s disease in people. The ketogenic diet is made up of about 70% of
healthy fats, which are essential for a healthy brain. And Alzheimer’s
treatment requires you to support the nerve system of your brain. This is
exactly where the ketogenic diet proves to be helpful in treating a disease like
the Alzheimer’s. As mentioned earlier, this diet is also useful in treating
people who suffer from seizures.

3. Helps people suffering from type 2 diabetes
Since this diet requires you to consume high level of fats, it is only
recommended for people who suffer from type 2 diabetes. If you were
someone who requires an insulin dosage, we would recommend you to contact
your GP before you take up the ketogenic diet. Others, who are not on insulin,
can actually benefit from this diet to a large extent, as it helps in maintaining a
balance of your blood sugar levels.

Ketogenic Dieting Tips Continued.

A Ketogenic diet is simple and easy to follow as long as you follow some simple
rules. You don’t need to make huge changes but there are some things you
should know.

So, here goes!
If you are on a Ketogenic diet you can’t eat:
Grains like corn, cereals, rice, etc
Fruits like bananas
Sugar
Dry beans
Honey
Potatoes
Yams

If you are on a Ketogenic diet you can eat:

Greens like spinach, green beans, kale, bok choy, etc
Meat like poultry, fish, pork, lamb, beef, etc
Eggs
Above ground veggies like cauliflower or broccoli, napa cabbage or
regular cabbage
Nuts and seeds
Cheese
Ghee or butter
Avocados and all kind of berries
Sweeteners like erythritol, splenda, stevia and others that contain
only a few carbs
Coconut oil
Avocado oil
Olive oil

Recipes

Delicious Breakfast Bowl

You will feel full of energy all day with this keto breakfast!
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Servings: 1
Ingredients:
4 ounces beef, ground
1 yellow onion, chopped
8 mushrooms, sliced
Salt and black pepper to the taste
2 eggs, whisked
1 tablespoon coconut oil
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
1 avocado, pitted, peeled and chopped
12 black olives, pitted and sliced
Directions:
1. Heat up a pan with the coconut oil over medium heat, add
onions, mushrooms, salt and pepper, stir and cook for 5
minutes.
2. Add beef and paprika, stir, cook for 10 minutes and transfer to
a bowl.
3. Heat up the pan again over medium heat, add eggs, some salt
and pepper and scramble them.
4. Return beef mix to pan and stir.
5. Add avocado and olives, stir and cook for 1 minute.
6. Transfer to a bowl and serve.
7. Enjoy!

Nutrition: calories 600, fat 23, fiber 8, carbs 22, protein 43

BTW paprika is sweet bell pepper.

Starving yourself is actually making you fatter!
Did you know that concentrating only on cutting calories off the food you eat is actually making you gain weight instead of lose?
The body needs a specified amount of calories daily to function normally. If the body doesn't get as much calories as it needs, it goes into something called starvation mode in which it stores as much fat and doesn't burn fat as it should.
Read more on foods you can include in your diet to enhance weight loss while still regularising your calorie count http://9jafood.com.ng/tips/starving-actually-making-fat/