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  • The keto diet, another typical fad diet? Actually, it's been around for a while now, and people

  • are getting some pretty good results from it. So what exactly is so different? Well,

  • most of these fad diets you find simply tells you to eat this certain type of food and avoid

  • those certain type of food and voila, you're on your way to losing a hundred pounds! Of

  • course, a lot of them don't really work and makes very little sense. What's special about

  • the keto diet, short for ketogenic, is that it changes how your body feels, and most importantly,

  • how your body uses energy by placing you into a state known as ketosis. And this is where

  • all the magic happens. In ketosis, your body starts utilizing substances

  • known as ketone bodies, which are produced by the breakdown of your body fat triglycerides.

  • Quick science, first understand that your body loves glucose. If it has glucose on hand,

  • it's going to use that first for energy. Ina keto diet, the amount of carbohydrates you

  • consume goes down, therefore, the amount of glucose goes down, too. In order to combat

  • this, your body uses stored glucose in the form of glycogen, but then that's going to

  • run out as well. The next step is to convert a substance known as oxaloacetate in the liver

  • into glucose. At the same time this is happening, your body is breaking down your fat into free

  • fatty acids and sending it to your liver to metabolize another important substance known

  • as acetyl CoA. Acetyl CoA is then placed into the Krebs cycle in the liver cells to produce

  • energy. But it can't do that right now. Remember that oxaloacetate that was being broken down

  • into glucose? Well, oxaloacetate is also needed for the Krebs cycle to function. Now your

  • liver has all of these acetyl CoA lying around so it decides to break it down into two substances

  • called acetoacetate and beta-hydroxybutyrate, which are known as ketone bodies. It sends

  • them into the bloodstream where other body cells pick them up, convert the ketone bodies

  • back into acetyl-CoA, into Krebs cycle, and energy is produced! This is also really good

  • news for your brain, since even though your brain loves glucose, too, it can function

  • on ketone bodies as well. In fact, ketone bodies provide more energy per gram for the

  • brain versus glucose, so win-win for your mental capacity!

  • Now so far, everything sounds good. Your body no longer relies heavily on carbohydrates,

  • it burns a lot of fat, and your brain functions pretty well. But of course, there's always

  • a catch, a number of catches in this case. Studies show that power output decreases in

  • cases where maximum intensity is required. This makes sense because the breakdown of

  • glucose via glycolysis, plays a crucial role in providing immediate energy for your body.

  • With no glucose and glycogen in your body, intense workouts become a lot harder. And

  • the lack of glycogen also affects muscle growth, since there is a strong positive connection

  • between glycogen availability and protein synthesis. Take the glycogen away, and the

  • process slows down. Oh, and there's the keto flu, something that

  • happens when your body starts transitioning off of carbs and rely more heavily on ketone

  • bodies. The "keto flu," which isn't an actual flu, contains symptoms such as headaches,

  • fatigue, coughing, nausea, and even upset stomach. The positive note, though, is that

  • it passes quite quickly and won't come back again unless you come out of ketosis.

  • The keto diet is also very food restrictive. A conventional diet has you eating roughly

  • 20% fat, 30% protein, and 60% carbs. The keto diet, on the other hand, shifts you all the

  • way to 70% fat, 25% protein, and 5% carbs, or below 30 grams. That's a huge change that

  • some people just cannot do. Cutting out so many carbs is easier said than done. This

  • is a huge battle itself, and a lot of times, a losing battle.

  • But even with the drawbacks, people still advocate for it. And the reason that's the

  • case can be summed up from this study in 2004 from the Annals of Internal Medicine: "a low-carbohydrate

  • diet (such as a keto diet), had better participant retention" compared to a low-fat diet. That

  • is saying, even with all the drawbacks, individuals on a keto diet find it much easier to stick

  • to the diet more so than a conventional diet. This is because, with so much more fat and

  • protein-dense foods, your satiety, or fullness level, goes up much faster. A 200 calorie

  • chicken breast or 200 calories worth of green leafy vegetables, will make you feel more

  • full than say a 200 calorie, carb-heavy pasta. But even if this is the case, a calorie is

  • still a calorie. Yes, protein and fat calories will make you feel more full, but it won't

  • help you lose weight if you're still eating more calories than you burn.

  • So is the keto diet worth it? Well, it all comes down to, "It depends." If you're someone

  • that struggles a lot with feeling full whenever you go on a weight loss diet, then yes, the

  • keto diet might help you battle those feeding frenzies. Just remember those drawbacks that

  • will occur, and at the end of the day, it still comes down to calories in versus calories

  • out. What's your take on the keto diet? Shared

  • your comments below! Thanks for watching and please subscribe for more future health and

  • fitness videos!

The keto diet, another typical fad diet? Actually, it's been around for a while now, and people

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