Healthy Meal Delivery St. Louis: How to Start the Keto Diet
The Keto diet can be hard to follow -- which is why we offer a Keto Meal Plan service with prepared, pre-portioned, and delicious meals and snacks. If it's so challenging, why follow it? It may be complicated compared to Weight Watchers, but it can deliver substantial health benefits. From helping to control the debilitating symptoms of epilepsy, to helping to burn stubborn fat, the Keto diet is finally getting noticed…
If it’s been recommended that you follow a ketogenic diet, or you’re just interested in learning more about what it can do for you, you’re in the right place.
What is the Keto Diet?
Although the Keto Diet has just recently started making some big waves in the news media, it’s actually a longstanding diet created to address specific health concerns.
In a nutshell, the diet’s goal is to deliver your body into the state of ‘ketosis’ in your body through a diet protocol. Ketosis is a metabolic state that happens when your body doesn’t have enough glucose to use for energy, it begins to use your stored fats for energy. Ketones, acids produced as the liver breaks down fat, are a byproduct of ketosis.
Why Do You Lose Weight with the Keto Diet?
Although the Keto diet first debuted as a way for epileptics to alleviate their symptoms, the state of ketosis achieved when following the diet helps dieters lose weight from excess fat (and fight other metabolic diseases due to reduced insulin levels).
The high fat, low carb ratios in the keto diet are the key to getting your body into the state of ketosis. Once your body adapts and starts burning fat as a source of energy, you begin to lose weight.
As a rule, your body wants to first use up glucose, and not fat, for energy. Why? Glucose is a simple molecule that’s easier for your body to metabolize. Ketosis, however, forces your body to start burning fat.
Is Keto the Same as Low-Carb?
While keto diets are technically low-carb, they’re not the same thing. The keto diet, in order to work, is far more strict than most ‘low-carb’ diets today.
Low-carb diets primarily put the focus on eating fewer carbohydrates (particularly starches and grains); the Keto diet restricts carbohydrate intake to, depending on the protocol, as little as 5% of your daily energy intake. Low-carb diets, in general, don’t set definitions like this...they also don’t deliver the same results (depending upon your health concerns).
How Did the Keto Diet Start?
The Keto Diet has actually been around since 1924 when it was first used as a way to manage epilepsy in children (and, by and large, it worked). The major drawback of this diet was the strict adherence to it -- which proved difficult for many children and caregivers to follow. In the 1930’s, anticonvulsant drugs hit the market and Keto diets became a fallback for epileptics who weren’t able to first gain control of their condition with prescriptions.
For a few decades, the diet was shelved and collected dust...until the 1990’s. A producer in Hollywood turned to the diet for a way to control his son’s epilepsy, and when they found success with it, he became dedicated to spreading the word about the diet. His starpower was able to bring attention to the diet, and slowly but surely, word has been getting out about the diet’s ability to help treat epilepsy...and to deliver many other health gains, as well.
The Keto diet is now being looked at as a way to help control or stave off metabolic diseases such as Diabetes Type 2. Research is still ongoing as to how the Keto Diet can help with Diabetes Type 2, but the diet’s impact on your metabolism may have the potential to lower blood glucose and to reduce the amount of insulin your body produces. A study found that after two weeks, insulin production had actually improved by 75% in participants.
Prescription pills quickly replaced the Keto Diet as a first line treatment for epilepsy
What Will I Eat During the Keto Diet?
It depends: not all Keto Diets are one and the same. Because the diet is now being introduced to help more than epilepsy, there are numerous protocols for how to apply it. The Charlie Foundation lists six different keto diet protocols (with the accompany fat to carb ratio): Classic Keto, Modified Keto, MCT (containing Medium Chain Triglycerides), Modified Atkins, Low Glycemic Index, and Intermittent Fasting. To find the best keto diet for your needs, consult with your nutritionist or dietician.
Although the Keto diet is high-fat, that doesn’t mean you should go load up on fried foods. Fats you consume while following the Ketogenic diet need to be high-quality ones: eggs, avocado, proteins, and a certain amount of vegetables (aka the carbs) are typical in a keto diet.
Is the Keto Diet Long Term?
How long you stay on the Keto diet really depends upon why you are on it in the first place. For weight loss, the Keto diet is not meant to be long term. It is meant to help you burn fat. Because your body goes through serious metabolic changes during ketosis, it’s not something you want to take lightly or do without the supervision of your physician. To find out how long you should aim to follow the ketogenic diet, it’s best to consult with your nutritionist or dietician.
How Do I Start the Keto Diet?
While it depends upon what your specific health needs/goals are (consult with your nutritionist or dietician), you can find a wealth of keto information online. Printable keto diet plans are available at websites such as fit2fat2fit.com and http://ketosiscookbook.com you can print PDF plans for guidance.
Can I Get Keto Meals Delivered?
If you have time limitations, you may want to look into getting some healthy meals delivered. Right now, Pure Plates is the only St, Louis meal delivery service who delivers healthy keto meals right to your door. Learn more here. If you’re not local to us, you may want to call around to explore what a meal delivery service near you Although we may be one of the only companies who deliver healthy keto meals right to your door, as the diet continues to gain steam -- we hope that other meal delivery services will follow in our footsteps so that more and more people can enjoy the health benefits without the hassle.