What is Keto Anyway?
If you look around grocery stores or search social media or TV, you will see the new buzzword, keto. What does that really mean? Keto is short for ketogenic. The ketogenic diet is a way of eating that changes the type of fuel that your body runs on from sugar (glucose) to getting its energy from fat. When you restrict carbohydrates or fast for some time, your body will convert stored fat into energy molecules called ketones. Hence, the name ketogenic. Hang on, we are going to get all “sciency” for just a minute.
How Are Ketones Formed?
As stated, ketones are energy molecules. They are created when your body breaks down a fat molecule into fatty acids and glycerol. I know you’ve heard the term “triglyceride,” right? Well, triglycerides are fat molecules stored in our body’s fat cells. Let’s take a closer look at the word. Tri- meaning three. Glycer- meaning glycerol, and ide- meaning something is attached to the glycerol molecule. That something is three fatty acids attached to one glycerol molecule. These are the molecules that get broken down in our liver. So in “sciency” terms, ketones are produced when the body performs fat metabolism, or the breaking apart of the fat molecule for fuel. When you have an abundance of these ketones in the absence of glucose (sugar), the body is in ketosis.
Why Be In Ketosis?
We want to burn fat as fuel because the goal is to lower insulin response to glucose. Insulin is released when glucose is detected in the bloodstream. Insulin is a hormone with several jobs. First, if you use glucose as your fuel source, insulin works like a key to unlock cells in your body to let the glucose in to feed the cell. When too much unused glucose is in the body over time, cells become too full to accept more glucose, and the cell refuses to open for the insulin key. This then floods the bloodstream with excess glucose and insulin. This is what is known as insulin resistance. This brings us to our next job of insulin. Secondarily, insulin is a storage hormone. When too much glucose is in the bloodstream, and your body can’t use it for energy, insulin kicks in and creates a storage facility for that unused glucose. Guess what that storage facility is? Yep, you got it, a fat cell. Congratulations, you’ve just created another fat cell in your body. We don’t want to store fat if we need to lose weight. We want to burn it.
Benefits of Ketosis
Following a keto lifestyle can prevent, manage, or even reverse many deadly conditions. These include:
Type II Diabetes
Going keto can help with Type II Diabetes by managing blood sugar spikes and aiding in weight loss. If you are a Type II Diabetic, check out Virta Health. They are a group of physicians that treat Type II Diabetes specifically with low carb diet.
Heart Disease
Following a ketogenic diet may lower the risk of cardiovascular disease by lowering your blood pressure, raising your HDL cholesterol, and lowering your triglycerides. In this instance, the triglycerides number is the amount of fat not being utilized but floating around in your bloodstream. In addition, keto generally gives you a good HDL to Triglyceride ratio, which is the accurate marker of a healthy heart.
Metabolic Syndrome
Metabolic Syndrome is a group of adverse conditions that happen simultaneously. These conditions are high blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist, and abnormal cholesterol or triglyceride levels. Having two or more abnormalities increases the risk of more severe diseases such as Type II Diabetes and CVD. Adhering to a keto eating plan can help get metabolic syndrome under control and prevent you from getting these more serious conditions.
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