If you’ve spent a few years in the world of health and wellness, you’ll notice that new diet trends come and go on a regular basis.

From the grapefruit diet in the 70’s to the cabbage soup and Beverly Hills diets of the 80’s to the low-fat everything craze of the 90’s and the South Beach and Atkins diets in the early 2000’s, there is no shortage of people who want to lose weight and keep it off.

2018 is no different, and if you’re paying attention you may have come across what’s become known as the ketogenic diet.

But unlike some of the diet trends out there, the ketogenic diet has some real science behind it.

Keep reading to find out more about this diet, what its nutritional benefits are, and how you can benefit from it.

First, Some Background

It’s no secret that obesity and overweightness is a considerable problem in modern society.

But what you may not know is just how bad things are.

According to statistics from the US Center For Disease Control, over 70% of US adults over the age of 20 are considered overweight, and nearly 40% are considered obese (obesity being defined as having a Body Mass Index of 30 or higher, while overweight means a BMI between 25 to 30).

Here in Canada, things are a little better.

Over 33% of Canadians age 18 or older are considered overweight, while more than 20% are classified as obese.

Meanwhile, billions of dollars are spent every year on things to help us lose weight, from magic pills to gym memberships to weight-loss programs to diet sodas.

There must be something missing here.

Where Did The Ketogenic Diet Come From?

The ketogenic diet has its origins in ancient Greek medicine, where it was used as a tool to treat epilepsy.

At the time, the Greeks believed epilepsy was a supernatural disease.

This is why we refer to epileptic attacks as “seizures” – the Greeks thought it was the god Pan, appearing in an invisible form, to grab hold of someone and violently shake them to the ground.

However, a treatise in the Hippocratic Corpus, possibly written by Hippocrates himself, explains the use of fasting as a tool to help treat epilepsy.

Fast forward a couple thousand years, and we developed the ketogenic diet in response to the very idea above.

It seems like Hippocrates was right – fasting does seem to have anti-seizure properties.

How Does The Ketogenic Diet Work?

The ketogenic diet was designed to be a more sustainable alternative to straight fasting.

After all, while it’s possible to go several days or even a few weeks without food, eventually you’re going to run out of fuel, literally.

As you fast, your body metabolizes the fat in your body through a process called lipolysis, which happens in your liver.

Once the fat is metabolized, it undergoes beta-oxidation, converting it into acetoacetate, beta-hydroxybutyrate, and acetone.

These substances are known as “ketone bodies”, which your cells will then use to generate adenosine triphosphate (ATP), an important energy molecule used in just about every chemical process in your body.

This process of using ketones for energy is known as ketosis.

However, the ketogenic diet was found to mimic the metabolic effects of fasting listed above, without cutting out all food altogether.

Instead, the ketogenic diet drastically reduces the amount of carbohydrates you consume, while at the same time increasing the healthy fats.

Why Cut Out Carbs?

When you eat food high in carbs, your body produces two substances in particular – glucose (aka sugar) and insulin.

Glucose, a sugar, is the easiest thing for your body to use as energy, so if there is glucose present in your body, your metabolic process will use it over anything else.

Insulin is produced to process the glucose sugar in your bloodstream, allowing it to enter your cells.

Inside the cell, the glucose is either burned as fuel or stored.

If your body is using glucose as energy, it’s not using the fat you have stored.

So, by lowering the intake of carbs, you’re also lowering the levels of glucose in your body, which means your metabolic process will have to turn to the excess fat you have stored.

What Do I Have To Cut Out?

On the ketogenic diet, because you’re planning on getting more calories from protein and fat than you are from carbohydrates, you’ll need to cut back on foods that are high in carbohydrates.

This includes things like:

• Sugary drinks (soda, fruit juice, etc)
• Donuts, muffins, and other baked goods
• Most fruits
• Grains, beans, or legumes
• Starchy vegetables (potatoes, corn, cherry tomatoes, most root vegetables)
• All sugars (even the natural stuff)

You’ll also want to avoid any low-fat dairy products, like skim milk, fat free yogurt, or fat-free butter substitutes like margarine (which really, you shouldn’t eat under any circumstance), since they just have too many carbs when compared with their full-fat cousins.

While the diet does focus on fats, it’s important to focus on healthy fats, which means poor quality cooking oils, like vegetable oil, soybean oil, or canola oil should be done away with.

For more on which cooking oils to use, read my previous article on the subject.

You’ll need to cut out alcohol too, which is sometimes the hardest for people to do.

If you have to have a drink, go for a dry red wine or unsweetened spirits, like vodka.

These will have the least effect on your ketosis.

However, your body converts ethanol to sugar, so don’t take this to mean these are “good” alcohols.

They’re just “less bad” alcohols.

Other things to avoid include, artificial sweeteners, most pre-packaged foods, and processed animal products like hot dogs or canned meats (which, really, just stay away from these anyway – even if you’re not doing a ketogenic diet).

So What CAN I Eat?

That said, there’s a lot of food you can still eat on a ketogenic diet.

This includes:

Animal Protein

• Beef
• Lamb
• Goat
• Venison
• Fish
• Pork
• Poultry
• Eggs
• Whey protein

Oils & Fats

• Butter
• Ghee
• Organ meats
• Coconut oil
• Avocado oil
• Macadamia oil
• Olive oil

Vegetables

• Asparagus
• Spaghetti squash
• Swiss chard
• Zucchini
• Celery
• Lettuce
• Kale
• Bamboo
• Cucumber
• Avocado
• Radishes
• Kohlrabi
• Chives
• Radicchio
• Endives
• Spinach
• Pickles
• Kimchi
• Sauerkraut
• Bok choy

Beverages

• Still water
• Black tea
• Herbal tea
• Unsweetened coffee
• Cream
• Coconut milk
• Unsweetened kombucha

Condiments

• All herbs and spices
• Lemon or lime juice/zest
• Mustard
• Pesto
• Mayonnaise

Nuts & Seeds (eat these in moderation)

• Pecans
• Almonds
• Walnuts
• Hazelnuts
• Pine nuts
• Macadamia nuts
• Brazil nuts
• Flaxseeds
• Sesame seeds
• Hemp seeds
• Sunflower seeds
• Pumpkin seeds

Good For More Than Just Epilepsy?

While the ketogenic diet has been shown to be beneficial for those with epilepsy, there’s more to it than that.

It has come back in vogue largely because of its weight loss properties.

Once your body enters a state of ketosis, it starts breaking down fats and protein for energy instead of sugar, which can help you lose weight.

However, there are other benefits to a ketogenic diet.

Perhaps the most obvious one is the fact that by adhering to a ketogenic diet you’re essentially cutting out all junk food.

The ketogenic diet is made up entirely of whole, natural foods, which is a great place to start when it comes to adopting a healthier lifestyle.

A 2008 review by Baranano and Hartman found a link between the ketogenic diet and a wide range of disorders, including:

• Parkinson’s disease
• Alzheimer’s disease
• McArdle’s disease
• Reversing tumour growth
• Autism
• Depression
• Narcolepsy
• And more

It may also help people with heart disease, and can help reduce the impact of acne as well.

Is A Ketogenic Diet Right For You?

If you’re interested in losing weight, or if you have one of the above conditions, book an appointment with me, Dr. Pat Nardini, ND, to find out if the ketogenic diet is right for you.

There are many different factors at play, and what works for one person may not be helpful for another.

Before making such a drastic dietary change, it’s always a good idea to speak with a qualified healthcare practitioner to help you understand the risks.

Contact me, Dr. Pat Nardini, ND, and let’s find out whether the ketogenic diet is right for you.

What Is The Ketogenic Diet? was written by Dr. Pat Nardini, ND and originally appeared on Nardini Naturopathic | Toronto Naturopath and Thyroid Specialist.