W
ith the start of any new year
comes a host of weight loss and
detox diets, however, this year the
in-vogue diet actually has merit and a good
amount of history and research behind it.
We are talking about the ketogenic diet (aka keto).
The ketogenic style diet was first popularised
commercially by Dr Atkins.
What is the ketogenic diet?
The Ketogenic diet is one in which the body is forced
into a state of ketosis, this is done by severe restric-
tion of carbohydrates, the carbohydrates are then
replaced with dietary fat to make up ones desired
calorific intake.
Ketosis is a normal metabolic process. When the
body does not have enough glucose for energy, it
burns stored fats instead; this results in a build-up
of acids called ketones within the body.
There is however much confusion surrounding how
a Ketogenic diet should be structured, due to there
being many different iterations of this eating approach
being promoted in the mainstream.
Historical versions of ketogenic diets
Historically, the ketogenic diet was used as a thera-
peutic tool to help manage epilepsy and other medical
conditions. This diet composition required a very high
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FLEX | MARCH 2018