What is Keto Lifestyle

The Ketogenic lifestyle in my opinion is a regimen that combines Keto and Intermittent fasting. 

Have I got you wondering what Keto and Intermittent fasting actually mean? I will explain but first, some news for you.

Well, it may come as a news flash to many of you that our body can run on 2 fuels, one is called glucose which you are already aware of and another is called Ketone. Like your body derives glucose from the carbohydrates that you eat, it derives Ketones from the fat you eat or the stored body fat. Another fact that may come as a news for you is that our bodies are built to run on Ketones for majority of the time and thus run more efficiently on Ketones compared to glucose. So when does our body use Ketones as a source of energy? Once our body runs out of its glucose reserve, the liver starts turning fat into Ketones to supply as fuel for the body.

Now, what is Keto? Keto is the buzz word used in short for the Ketogenic diet which is a form of LCHF or Low Carb High Fat diet. Keto specifically is a low carb, moderate protein and high fat diet which limits your daily carb intake to less than 50 gm per day. By doing this, your body can use its own fat or dietary fat as a fuel directly by converting it into Ketones. 

And Intermittent Fasting is time restrictive feeding. As the word suggests, you fast intermittently for consecutive hours and confine your meals to a single window of time frame in the day. For example, you can fast for 16 consecutive hours in a day and eat in the rest 8 hour time window. This ensures that your organs are not overworked in digesting food all the time. It gives your digestive system a break so that it can recover and function more efficiently when you eat.

As you can derive from the above information, Ketogenic lifestyle gives you two fold benefits as it incorporates Intermittent Fasting which focuses on "When" to eat and Ketogenic diet which focuses on "What" to eat. The Ketogenic Lifestyle has myriad of health benefits as it is anti-inflammatory diet which focuses on keeping blood sugars and blood insulin levels low so you can access your fat reserve and run on Ketones which is a superior fuel for the body.