Ketogenic Diet
You would think that “Ketogenic” is one of the new words of the twenty first century, but it was in fact coined way back in 1924! It referred to a diet that a doctor Russel Wilder of the Mayo Clinic in the USA invented to help reduce the frequency of epileptic seizures in children.
“The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, adequate-protein, low-carbohydrate diet that in medicine is used primarily to treat difficult-to-control (refractory) epilepsy in children. The diet forces the body to burn fats rather than carbohydrates.”
Wikipedia
And this is probably easier to understand with the following article on ketones and ketosis
“Ketosis is a normal metabolic process. When the body does not have enough glucose for energy, it burns stored fatsinstead; this results in a build-up of acids called ketones within the body. Some people encourage ketosis by following a diet called the ketogenic or low-carb diet.”
Medical News Today
However, the Ketogenic Diet today has largely been seized by the weight loss community and gurus especially by some “A listed” movie stars and the like to reduce weight and help tone their bodies.
Ketogenic Diet In Reality
Some dietry “experts” caution people adapting a ketogenic diet as it may not be sustainable over a life time.
Here is an excerpt from an “expert”
Very-low-carbohydrate ketogenic diets (VLCKDs) have been around for hundreds of years and were the standard form of treatment for diabetes prior to the discovery of insulin in 1922. William Banting, a British undertaker, deserves credit for developing the first VLCKD for weight loss in the mid 1800s. Cardiologist Dr. Atkins popularized it again in the early 1970s after reviewing decades-old nutrition research in his attempt to discover a plan that would allow people to lose weight without going hungry – his own Achilles’ heel when it came to sticking to a diet. Over the years, the very-low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet has been criticized for being too restrictive, difficult to maintain long term, and unhealthy. However, many people find that this way of eating is the only one that allows them to lose weight and effectively control diabetes.
From the information above it stands to reason that people who are obese or diabetic would be foolish not to go on a ketogenic diet. Especially as it requires participants to eliminate sugar and all processed carbohydrates from their diets.
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