Ketogenic Diet: What is it?
Keto or Ketogenic diet is a low-carb diet, like the Atkins diet. In this diet, the body consumes more calories from proteins and fats and less from carbohydrates. The keto diet is a great method to lose weight, where you are required to cut back on the carbs that are easy to digest, like sugar, pastries, soda and white bread among other food substances. The keto diet forces the body to use up existing fats as the source of energy which helps in losing weight. It is considered one of the easiest procedures to lose weight. The keto diet was developed back in the 1920s, even though it has become popular only recently. It is recommended for its health values. The ketogenic diet can prevent diseases like cancer, severe epilepsy and diabetes. There are two distinct types of keto diets, organic and inorganic keto, or, what is commonly known as clean and dirty or lazy keto respectively.
Dirty Keto vs Clean Keto
The keto diet is followed in two ways: Dirty Keto and Clean Keto. While Dirty Keto involves consumption of packaged, processed or factory-farmed ketogenic food, Clean Keto consists of healthy and wholesome, fresh and organic natural food substances.
What is Clean Keto?
Clean Keto involves the consumption of high quality, natural, fresh, wholesome, organic and sustainably raised ingredients. Consumption of packaged or processed food is strictly prohibited in a Clean Keto diet. It requires more time and effort in cooking and preparation. However, this diet is cheap and eco-friendly, for all the nutrients in the food are derived from scratch. Less than 50 grams of carbohydrates are consumed in Clean Keto along with a moderate protein intake of 15 to 20 per cent of daily calories and an extremely high fat intake of at least 75 per cent of daily calories. This reduction of carbohydrates puts the metabolic state, commonly known as Nutritional Ketosis.
Also Read: Keto Diet Helpful For Women
Food items such as farm-fresh organic eggs, organic fruits and vegetables, organic dairy products like milk and cheese, and grass meat are recommended in a Clean Keto Diet. You can also have high-fat content foods like avocados, nuts, olive oil, seeds like sunflower and pumpkin seeds, and grass-fed butter. Brazil nuts, almonds, walnuts, flax seeds and chia seeds are common snacks that are suggested in Clean Ketogenic diets. Non-starchy, leafy vegetables like cauliflower, capsicum, broccoli, zucchini, cucumber, asparagus and green beans can also be consumed in Clean Keto diets. Proteins from grass-fed meat and fish are preferred in the Clean Keto process. Sweets like dark chocolate, however, should be the only form of sweet that is allowed in Clean Keto Diets.
Try avoiding grainy and starchy food items like rice, pasta, beans, legumes, root vegetables and low-fat food products strictly for better and effective results. The food items usually consumed for clean keto benefits the body enormously, reducing blood sugar levels and preventing the risk of cancer. Hydration or consumption of a lot of water is essential in Clean Keto, for the body should not be allowed to gain water weight. Hence, fruits and vegetables with high water content, like watermelons and cucumbers are recommended.
Food items you should eat while on a Clean Keto diet:
- Wild fish
- Poultry eggs
- Grass-fed beef
- Coconut oil, butter, ghee, avocado oil, olive oil
- Berries
- Non-starchy vegetables
- Nuts and Seeds
- Dark Chocolate
What is Dirty and Lazy keto?
Dirty Keto diet or Lazy keto diet is meant for easy weight loss in a fast world. Dirty Keto Diet allows you to satisfy your cravings without putting in much effort. It involves the consumption of starchy and sugary products, as well.
Dirty Keto consists of food such as packaged snack bars, cookies, fizzy cold drinks, chips, meats, chocolates, processed oil, snacks, low carb flour, artificial sweeteners, processed meats like ham and sausages, etc. It is also why the dirty keto diet is known as ‘lazy keto’ diet. However, the Dirty Keto diet, although easy, is not actually healthy. The processed and packaged foods do not contain as many nutrients as is necessary for healthy survival, even if it is rich in fat and low in carbohydrates.
The Dirty Keto diet foods often contain high amounts of Sodium, which leads to cholesterol, high blood pressure and several heart diseases. Apart from the severe health damages, these food substances often lead to obesity, diabetes and the overall mortality. It also makes the body deficient of necessary vitamins and minerals like magnesium, zinc, calcium, folic acid and other essential vitamins like Vitamin C, D and K. The Dirty Keto Diet may help lose weight in the long run, but it damages the digestive system in most cases, making the gut lining more permeable. This disturbed digestive system attracts bacterias, toxins, undigested food particles and prohibits blood circulation. It not only affects the digestive system, but also the entire body, including the brain.
The efforts you put in working out and exercising is wasted as Dirty Keto delays the process of weight loss. It may also cause chronic pain, inflamed joints, depression, and metabolic issues. Although Dirty Keto is dangerous for health, it can save the keto diet on vacations, if the right brands of packaged food are chosen.
Food items you should eat while on a Dirty or Lazy Keto diet:
- Processed oils: canola, vegetable, hydrogenated oils and trans fats.
- Processed meat: bacon, sausages and hot dogs.
- Diet soft drinks
- Excessive factory-farmed dairy: Processed cheese, full-fat cottage cheese, grass-fed cheese.
- Keto Cookies and Chips
- Roasted or salted peanuts.
Is Keto Diet helpful?
Yes, Keto Diet helps lose the extra weight and in fact extremely easy. While Clean Keto Diet actually helps to regulate and monitoring the health, especially the digestive system, Dirty or Lazy Keto Diet can be equally harmful to the body. Keto Diet is also about perseverance. It must be maintained throughout for the most effective results. Keto Diet aided with proper exercise and hydration can work wonders if you want to lose weight fast.
Also Read: Lazy Keto Diet Help In Weight Loss