Ketogenic Diet

Does your quest to lose weight have you wondering about popular high-protein, low-carb diets? Cassale Sherriff has helped countless clients find success with keto diets like these, as part of a broader medically-supervised weight loss program.

What is a keto diet?

Keto or ketogenic diets involve replacing most of your carbohydrates with proteins and fats. Foods that fit a ketogenic diet include:

• Beef

• Chicken

• Fish

• Eggs

• Vegetables

• Low-sugar dairy products

What foods should I avoid on a keto diet?

Conversely, Cassale Sherriff recommends avoiding many grain-based foods and sugar-stuffed items, such as:

• Bread

• Pasta

• Pizza

• Cereal

• Sugary snacks and desserts

• Juice

• Alcoholic beverages

What are the benefits of a keto diet?

Reducing the number of calories you consume from carbohydrates has several health benefits. You often lose weight faster on ketogenic diets. You may also feel full more quickly when eating protein-rich and healthy fat-filled foods, which helps discourage overeating.

Evidence also suggests ketogenic diets may help minimize your risk for some cancers, heart disease, acne, type 2 diabetes, epilepsy, and other neural conditions. Keto diets may even lower your bad cholesterol while raising your good cholesterol.

You might even experience improved exercise performance: This diet helps you develop more muscle than fat and increases your blood's oxygen levels.

How do keto diets work?

In a typical American diet full of carbohydrates, your body’s first choice for immediate energy comes from breaking down carbs into sugar.

After just 3-4 days of dramatically cutting back your body’s supply of these easily digestible carbohydrates, it’s forced to break down proteins into amino acids and fats into fatty acids for kinetic energy. This process is called ketosis, and it alters your metabolism and the rate at which you burn calories.

Converting food into fuel also requires some energy, and changing fat into fuel takes more energy than breaking down carbs, which results in significant weight loss after 3-6 months on a ketogenic diet.

Your body also won’t need to store sugar for energy reserves, so it becomes less reliant on insulin, keeping your blood sugar in check.

Are there side effects of keto diets?

At first, you may feel tired, slightly nauseous, or develop headaches as your body adapts to changing sources of energy. But as your metabolism improves and you shed pounds of fat, you begin to feel a boost in your energy and overall well-being.

If you want to find out whether a keto diet is right for you, call Marin Weight Loss & Wellness or book an appointment online.

*Individual results may vary.