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Keto diet

A Beginner's Guide from A-Z!

By DilysTranPublished 3 years ago 11 min read
Keto diet
Photo by Travis Yewell on Unsplash

Keto diet is one of the popular diets that is spreading quite widely today. Many of us “follow” the keto diet to lose weight and get in shape effectively. Others use the keto diet to treat illnesses, especially childhood epilepsy.

However, if you are new and are starting to follow the keto diet, you need to fully understand "him". Is the keto diet right for all of us? Where should you start with the keto diet and how does it work? What does the Keto diet do for your body?

To help you answer the above questions and understand "all" about the keto diet, why not explore "her" together?

Right now, let's explore the keto diet with me!

What is Keto diet?

First, do you understand what keto is? Keto is an acronym for "Keep Eating The Fat Off". So the keto diet is a high-fat diet, right?

Keto diets have many similarities with low-carb diets. It is about cutting carbs to a minimum (about 5% of total carbs). This carb reduction will be offset by a higher fat intake. And do not worry too much that fat is the culprit causing weight gain! What is the true? Let's explore the working principle of this keto diet.

How the keto diet works

When participating in a keto diet, we need to reduce the amount of carbs from food to the lowest level, which will cause our body to burn off all the stored glucose. And after needing more energy to function, it is forced to burn from fat.

I will explain it more clearly for you to understand like this:

Everything in the universe needs energy to function, and we humans are no exception. Energy is supplied to our body through food. And our typical meal is 50% carbs, 20% fat and 30% protein. Carbs are always rated as our body's favorite source of energy! And carb entering our body will form glucose as a source of energy for the body. However, if you are a sedentary person, excess glucose is transported to the liver and is called glycogen. The liver stores only 100-120 grams of glycogen (for adults). So the glucose that is not stored will "o e", they turn into fat in the form of excess fat. And that is the cause of overweight and obesity.

Through this I also want to emphasize that, let's not be mistaken: fat is the cause of weight gain too!

So what about the keto diet? On a ketogenic diet, you only need to eat 1/10 of the normal amount of carbs, which is 5% carbs, and 25% protein plus 70% fat. It's amazing how much fat you gain.

And there's a reason for it all. The main reason is:

Even if you sit idle all day, read a story or watch a movie, with 5% carb, the amount of glucose to create energy is not enough for you! You need to remember, human is a machine that consumes the most energy, even when you think, you eat or your metabolism is going on, it "consumes" energy.

So when you load less carbs, it means less glucose in the body. If you run out of energy, your body forces your liver to make ketones from fat. These ketones are an alternative fuel source for glucose in our bodies! And fat is continuously burned 24/7 to create energy for our body, and at the same time give us a feeling of fullness, limiting our intake much more than carbohydrates.

Thus, with 70% fat replacing normal carbs, we not only help our bodies stay fuller for longer, but the continuous burning of fat will keep us full of energy and weight loss will also become easier. should go better!

The bottom line here is this: If your weight hasn't dropped, the fat hasn't been burned yet. And fat has not been burned if and only if stored glucose remains. When stored glucose is still there, it means that you have loaded your body with too many carbs. So when you start cutting carbs, the weight loss cycle will begin immediately.

Are you suitable for the keto diet?

This keto method seems to work and is safe for most of us. However, there are 3 groups that need to consult a doctor before coming to the keto diet, which are:

. Those who are taking medication for diabetes

. Those who are being treated for blood pressure

. People who are breastfeeding

Although the keto diet is considered to be beneficial for our health, with the above 3 groups of subjects it is still controversial when starting with this keto diet. So for the safety of each person, you need to immediately pay attention to the 3 groups above!

For the keto diet, how many carbs do we need to cut?

In general, the more carbs we cut, the stronger the impact on weight loss. And there are different carb levels, which are considered common on the keto diet. Please refer to the following!

Keto low carb: use less than 20 grams of carbs a day. This level is for everyone. This means that you need to use less than 4% of your total energy from carbs, and still maintain a moderate protein intake.

Moderate low carb (moderate low carb): use from 20-50g carb in 1 day, the rest is protein and fat. That is, the energy coming from carbs will account for about 4-10%.

Liberal low carb (low carb free): using about 50-100g of carbs a day, which means that the energy coming from carbs will be about 10-20%. The rest is fat and protein.

(For more knowledge about fat for the body, the article about fat here will be of great help to you!)

Thus, you can understand the definition of keto diet as well as the working principle to help lose weight effectively, and the target group that is suitable for the keto diet and the carb content to cut. So what are the benefits of the keto diet for our health that make so many people "pursue"? Let's go find the answer again!

The benefits of the keto diet for our health

Indeed, it is not natural that we believe in and follow this keto diet. All thanks to a lot of research and testing on that keto diet! The keto diet has brought many unexpected results to our bodies. Now, let's take a look at the amazing health benefits of keto, everyone!

Lose weight and get in shape

Coming to research from the University of Colorado, USA, our body is like a fat burning machine, and this helps us lose fat easily without hunger.

Or two studies from the Rowett Research Institute, Aberdeen, UK and the University of Melbourne, Australia have demonstrated that the keto diet is superior to the low-fat diet in terms of weight loss.

And another study from the University of Cincinnati and Children's Hospital Medical Center, Ohio, USA showed that people on a keto diet helped them lose 2.2 times more weight than those on a low-nutrient diet. fat and calorie restriction. In addition, levels of good HDL cholesterol were also significantly increased.

Thus, losing weight with the keto diet is no longer difficult for all of us!

Control your appetite

Research from the Department of Mental and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center, USA has proven that the keto diet can completely help you control your appetite while your body is burning. 24/7 fat.

And controlling your appetite will help you eat less and lose weight easier.

Control blood sugar and prevent type 2 diabetes

With research at Leiden University Medical Center, the Netherlands, the keto diet is a great choice to help you control type 2 diabetes and improve diabetes better. This happens because with the keto diet, it helps us to reduce blood sugar significantly and thereby reduce the negative effects of insulin levels.

While the keto diet helps manage type 2 diabetes, changing familiar carbs into fat causes our bodies to get used to new energy sources called ketones. So, just to be on the safe side, if you have type 2 diabetes, consult your doctor when using this keto diet! Because then, the doctor will help you gradually get used to the changes in nutrition, as well as guide you more specifically for choosing beneficial food sources from that fat.

In addition, the keto diet also helps you lose excess fat by burning fat, which is strongly associated with type 2 diabetes.

Another study at Temple University School of Medicine, Pennsylvania, USA and University of New Jersey School of Medicine, USA also showed that the keto diet helped the body improve insulin sensitivity by about 75%.

Thereby, we can conclude that the keto diet has a good effect on blood sugar and dangerous type 2 diabetes.

Improve signs of health

The keto diet helps the body improve many health problems. For example, in a study from the Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Oslo, Norway, it was noted that low-carb diets help improve some of the body's risk factors, such as cardiovascular disease, which are related to cholesterol levels.

In addition, the keto diet is a typical diet, it also causes the body's blood sugar to be significantly improved.

Provides energy for the body and brain

With the keto diet, thanks to the burning of fat to create energy, completely replacing glucose from carbs has helped us have an abundant source of energy to work. Furthermore, with the keto diet, our brains work without carbs. It's still powered 24/7 by ketones - the fuel that keeps the brain working properly! And at the same time, this keto diet also helps us improve our focus and lift our spirits significantly.

Enhance physical health

If we provide the body with carbs, this energy source only lasts for a few hours. Then you will feel hungry again, want to eat more food to increase physical activity. But with the keto diet, thanks to fat, your body will have a huge source of energy inside (because our body burns fat to create ketones to provide energy for the body), and all This has been studied by RMIT University, Australia!

Epilepsy prevention and support

This is a strong point of the keto diet, everyone. It is proven to be an effective medical therapy for epilepsy. This is explained as follows: when following a keto diet, the liver converts fats into fatty acids and ketones. This ketone will enter the brain to replace the glucose in carbs and create energy. As a result, the frequency of seizures is significantly reduced.

I will demonstrate specifically by the following experiments:

Research from the Johns Hopkins Institute of Health, USA on the keto diet, they found that the keto diet can significantly reduce seizures in children with epilepsy.

Research from Epilepsy and Behavior 2004 also shows that using the keto diet for patients with epilepsy can help them take less or no medication while still reducing the likelihood of seizures. .

Some other health benefits

In addition to the common effects mentioned above, the keto diet also helps our body with the following health benefits:

Cardiovascular disease: With research from the Department of Health and Social Care, Robert Gordon University, UK, it has been determined that the keto diet can help us improve risk factors for cardiovascular and vascular diseases. such as body fat, HDL cholesterol levels increase, blood pressure stabilizes, and blood sugar levels drop.

Cancer: As research from the Department of Biology at Boston College, USA shows, the keto diet is also used to treat certain types of cancer and is effective in slowing the growth of cancer. tumor.

Alzheimer's disease: The School of Applied Sciences, Belfast, Northern Ireland has studied that the keto diet helps reduce symptoms of Alzheimer's disease and slows the progression of the disease.

Polycystic ovary syndrome: From research by Duke University Medical Center, USA and Durham Veterans Medical Center, USA, it is also noted that the keto diet helps the body reduce insulin levels – which plays a major role. in this polycystic ovary syndrome.

Acne: Along with the low insulin and low sugar diet of the keto diet will help us to significantly improve the condition of acne, all confirmed by research from the University of Padova, Italy.

Along with specific studies from medical centers and universities, we can see that the keto diet really gives our health a lot of great benefits!

So to start with the keto diet, we need to pay attention to which food groups should and should be avoided?

Keto diet – Foods you SHOULD EAT

In the keto diet, the foods you should eat to be effective are:

Meat: Choose organic meat, such as grass-fed beef. Usually, unprocessed meat is low in carbs and suitable for a keto diet. But keep this in mind, keto is a high-fat, not-high-protein diet. So you don't need to eat too much meat. Excess protein will cause them to be converted to glucose and make ketosis* more difficult!

Fish and seafood: All types of fish and seafood are suitable for the keto diet. And more specifically, please choose fatty fish like salmon!

Eggs: Hard-boiled eggs, fried eggs, omelets, etc. all egg dishes are considered great for the keto diet.

Natural fats: The calories in the keto diet come from fat, so choose healthy fats and oils such as olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, ... (You can refer to the list for more information. Fats suitable for keto diet here)

Vegetables: Choose low carb vegetables, it's mostly green vegetables, tomatoes, cucumbers and cauliflower, etc. (Check out this list of low carb vegetables for the keto diet here!)

Cheese: choose unprocessed cheese.

Nuts: like almonds, walnuts, flaxseeds, chia seeds, etc.

Besides the foods that should be used with the keto diet, there are also foods that we should avoid when we are starting to get acquainted with the "beautiful" keto. So, let's list these foods to avoid right away!

Keto diet – Foods you SHOULD AVOID

By definition, a keto diet is the choice of fats instead of carbs. As such, what you need to avoid on a keto diet are foods high in carbs, sugar, and starch. For example, when coming to a keto diet, you should choose for yourself 5% of your energy from carbs, 15-25% from protein and 75% from fat.

So, the foods you need to keep off your keto diet list are:

Sugary foods: like soda water, fruit juices, smoothies, cakes, candy and ice cream, etc.

Grains or starches: they are often high in carbs such as wheat, rice, pasta and cereals, etc.

Fruit: most fruits will be "goodbye" from this keto diet, but there are a few exceptions such as berries: strawberries, blueberries, … and avocados.

Beans of all kinds: such as lentils, red beans, green beans, peas, etc.

Vegetables: potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, parsley, etc.

Unhealthy fats: processed vegetable oils, mayonnaise.

Alcohol: Due to the high sugar content in alcohol, it can affect your ketosis.

Thus, to implement an effective keto diet, you should choose foods that mainly come from fat and combine a moderate amount of protein!

After a long article on the keto diet, I hope you can better understand what a keto diet is and who is it suitable for. You can also grasp the foods that you need to use and should avoid when starting with the keto diet!

Keto diet is a diet that dates back to the 1920s and is still favored today because of the benefits it brings to our health. I also hope that, through this article on keto diet, you will no longer hesitate to fat and label her as the culprit of being overweight!

Starting now, try experimenting with your body with this keto diet. Let's do it together to have an ideal body to prepare for Tet!

Click here: You and I do it together!

Or go here :You and I do it together!

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About the Creator

DilysTran

Nutritionist for international inter-school system in Hanoi

The job is to make menus, supervise food hygiene and safety and develop and implement nutrition education activities for students, parents and teachers.

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