The ketogenic diet in 2023 is a very fashionable diet in Italy, in the rest of the world (especially in America) think that already in 2005 there were "keto friendly" food lines. I put myself in the position of knowing nothing about it and he was intrigued by reading "keto" here and "keto friendly" (which stands for suitable for the ketogenic diet) there now on many diet products.
I'll try to be simple because I notice that too many sites talk about it by explaining concepts that are not really within everyone's reach.
What is the ketogenic diet?
Normally the human body gets its energy from carbohydrates while those following a ketogenic diet force the body to get its energy from fats .
As?
By drastically reducing the amount of carbohydrates eaten (usually between 20g and 50g, but it is subjective) the body begins to metabolise fat (we speak of ketosis).
Pros of the ketogenic diet
- Generally you lose weight quickly
- You feel less hungry (and longer feel full, this is perhaps the main strength of keto)
- It can be of support in the treatment of some pathologies such as insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, epilepsy (it was created to treat this pathology), migraine, etc.
A ketogenic diet should ALWAYS be set up by a doctor/nutritionist and calibrated on the person especially in the case of pathologies.
Cons of the ketogenic diet
- Not easy to follow (you have to count daily carbohydrates as well as calories if the goal is to lose weight, don't trust anyone who makes you believe that you can eat fat as much as you like)
- It can be expensive to follow (ketogenic products tend to be expensive but obviously you can also do without the products and eat meat, fish, eggs, cheeses, etc. without pasta, bread and all products rich in carbohydrates)
- You can have cholesterol problems if you don't choose the fats to consume correctly (the choice of "good" fats is essential)
- Hardly sustainable in the long term, in fact it is often chosen to do it in cycles
- Although it is generally considered safe, there are few studies on the effects it can have on long-term health
- The reintroduction of carbohydrates at the end of the diet must be done gradually and, even in this case, it is essential to be followed by a nutritionist / doctor or you risk nullifying the effects of the diet and regaining the lost weight.
If you have decided to try a ketogenic diet you can download our guide which explains how to choose products suitable for ketogenic and if you are looking for a nutritionist (also) specialized in ketogenic diet we can recommend Dr. Elisa Rosso (we do not take percentages, we estimate her stop).
In the "Keto food" category you will find a huge range of products suitable for the ketogenic diet (pasta, bread, biscuits, pizza bases, etc.) with advice on how to use them and nutritional information
NB I'm not a nutritionist but I find myself explaining these things to many customers every day and I understood that simple words are better to explain a complex diet like ketogenic (the web is already full of treatises on keto full of big words)
