Keto basics

The ketogenic diet is a very low carb, high fat diet that shares many similarities with the Atkins and low carb diets.

It
involves drastically reducing carbohydrate intake and replacing it with
fat. This reduction in carbs puts your body into a metabolic state
called ketosis.

When this happens, your body becomes incredibly efficient at burning fat for energy. It also turns fat into ketones in the liver, which can supply energy for the brain (6Trusted Source).

Ketogenic
diets can cause significant reductions in blood sugar and insulin
levels. This, along with the increased ketones, has some health benefits
(6Trusted Source, 7Trusted Source, 8Trusted Source).

SUMMARY

The
keto diet is a low carb, high fat diet. It lowers blood sugar and
insulin levels and shifts the body’s metabolism away from carbs and
toward fat and ketones.

There are several versions of the ketogenic diet, and what you eat depends on the type. They include:

• Standard ketogenic diet (SKD): This is a very low carb, moderate protein and high fat diet. It typically contains 70% fat, 20% protein, and only 10% carbs (9Trusted Source).
• Cyclical ketogenic diet (CKD): This diet involves periods of higher carb refeeds, such as 5 ketogenic days followed by 2 high carb days.
• Targeted ketogenic diet (TKD): This diet allows you to add carbs around workouts.
• High protein ketogenic diet: This is similar to a standard ketogenic diet, but includes more protein. The ratio is often 60% fat, 35% protein, and 5% carbs.

However,
only the standard and high protein ketogenic diets have been studied
extensively. Cyclical or targeted ketogenic diets are more advanced
methods and primarily used by bodybuilders or athletes.

The
information in this article mostly applies to the standard ketogenic
diet (SKD), although many of the same principles also apply to the other
versions.

SUMMARY

There are several versions of the keto diet. The standard (SKD) version is the most researched and most recommended.