ANSWER
A low-calorie, high-carbohydrate diet sets off a series of biochemical signals in our body that take us out of balance, making it more difficult to access stored body fat for energy. As a result, we reach a weight-loss plateau beyond which we simply couldn’t lose any more weight (Emmerich, 2016).
The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, moderate-protein, low-carb style of eating that has powerful health benefits. It is characterized by a reducing carbohydrates (usually less than 50g/day) and a relatively increasing the proportions of proteins and fats. By following this ketogenic diet over a set period of time, it can promote our body glucose reserves to become insufficient as energy provider. Hence, it leads to the production of ketone bodies by the liver in which will be used as an alternative energy source by the central nervous system (Paoli et al., 2013).
Very-low-carbohydrate diets that induce ketosis have been shown to lead in reductions of serum triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein and total cholesterol as well as increased levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol in adults (McDonald & Cervenka, 2017).
A study was carried out comparing a hypocaloric high-unsaturated/low-saturated fat with very-low-carbohydrate diet to high-carbohydrate low-fat diet for patients that are obese with type-2 diabetic. The low-carbohydrate diet group showed greatest improvements on therapeutic potential for type-2 diabetic patients (Tay et al., 2014).
We can include plenty of healthy fats into our ketogenic diet such as health fats for cooking (avocado oil, coconut cream, coconut oil and butter), nourishing fats for eating (avocados and olives), high quality proteins with higher fat content (chicken thighs and eggs), low-carb vegetables (asparagus, broccoli, cabbage and leafy greens) and fermented foods (kimchi, yogurt, greek yogurt) (Spina, 20117).
References
Emmerich, M. (2016). The 30-Day Ketogenic Cleanse: Reset Your Metabolism with 160 Tasty Whole-Food Recipes & Meal Plans. Las Vegas, Nevada: Victory Belt Publishing.
McDonald, T. J. W. & Cervenka, M. C. (2017). Ketogenic Diets for Adults With Highly Refractory Epilepsy. Epilepsy Currents, 17(6), 346-50.
Paoli, A., Rubini, A. & Grimaldi, K. A. (2013). Beyond weight loss: a review of the therapeutic uses of very-low-carbohydrate (ketogenic) diets. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 67(8), 789-796.
Spina, V. (2017). Keto Essentials. Las Vegas, Nevada: Victory Belt Publishing.
Tay, J., Luscombe-Marsh, N. D., Thompson, C. H., Noakes, M., Buckley, J. D., Wittert, G. A., Yancy, W. S. & Brinkworth, G. D. (2014). A Very Low-Carbohydrate, Low–Saturated Fat Diet for Type 2 Diabetes Management: A Randomized Trial. Diabetes Care, 37(11), 2909-2918.
