Dietary therapy: keto diet an example

Man’s relationship with food is quite complicated. Sometimes, one might need to focus on consuming specific foods to improve health. At the same time, the same foods might be avoided by someone else to improve health as well.

The great news is that science has been evolving and is telling us a great deal about how to approach food. With knowledge of how food can and is affecting our health, we now can consciously choose what is best for us.

Diets emerged as ways to treat certain conditions and keep bodies in shape. One of these regimens is the keto diet. This article details the necessary information about this diet for beginners to learn.

History of the ketogenic diet:

The Hippocratic corpus contains useful information on the methods applied to treat different illnesses in ancient Greece. On the Sacred Disease, a treatise among this collection has some interesting observations on epilepsy.

Ancient Greeks used to fast to control symptoms and treat epilepsy. Epilepsy is a neurological condition in which cortical neurons fire excessively and hypersynchronously leading to disruption in the functions of the brain. It affects the muscles, senses, and even consciousness.

Dietary therapy was the solution Greeks thought to have positive impacts on this condition. Both Erasistratus and Galen, two Greek physicians, stated that fasting or an attenuating diet could treat mild cases of epilepsy and relieve the symptoms of desperate cases.

In 1911, an experiment took place in France to test the effects of fasting on epilepsy. Two among twenty patients benefited significantly, while the rest failed to comply with the imposed restrictions. The patients were administered a low-calorie vegetarian diet with periods of fasting.

In America, the osteopathic physician Dr. Hugh William Conklin began treating his patients with fasting. Later data showed that he succeeded in fully treating 20 % of his patients, and improving the condition of another 50 %.

Starting from 1916, this method began to receive recognition and started being used in mainstream practices. More funding and research were being conducted; the American Medical Association was also aware and involved in those experiments.

Rollin Turner Woodyatt achieved a breakthrough in 1921 with the discovery that ketone bodies were produced by healthy livers when patients were starved or put on a low carbohydrate, high-fat diet.

Dr. Russell Morse Wilder, from the Mayo Clinic, built on these findings and codified the ketogenic diet. Pediatrician Mynie Gustav Peterman, Wilder’s colleague, later put the formula of the diet in place. The secret was to restrict carbohydrates and increase fat consumption. The classic formula stated that patients should follow a ratio of one gram of protein per kilogram of body weight in children, 10–15 g of carbohydrate per day, while all the rest of the calories come from fat.

How does it work?

The diet is approved as an adjunctive therapy by several countries such as Wales, England, Scotland, and the USA.

It is recommended for early epilepsy cases and genetic syndromes such as Dravet syndrome, infantile spasms, myoclonic-astatic epilepsy, and tuberous sclerosis complex. It is better to start adhering to the diet after two types of drugs had failed.

This eating plan was first tailored for epilepsy patients, but with time it gained recognition among people from around the world. It has started to be followed for a variety of reasons; some believe it helps them with weight control and losing extra pounds, while others believe it simply helps them maintain good health conditions.

Some of these claims might be true because the ketogenic diet is a low in carbohydrates, high in fat diet. It trains the body to burn fat for energy instead of carbohydrates. This ketosis state helps produce ketones in the liver and hence improves the functions of the brain through boosting energy.

While we used to have one classic keto diet, today there are a few types to consider.

• Standard ketogenic diet:a very low carb, moderate protein, and high fat regimen.
• Cyclical ketogenic diet:this type has interrupting periods of higher carbohydrates consumption, for instance, you can go 5 ketogenic and then two days consuming high amounts of carbohydrates.
• Targeted ketogenic diet:in this regimen, you can add carbohydrates around workouts.
• High protein ketogenic diet:this type is similar to the standard ketogenic diet, but with more protein.

How do I start keto diet?

If you are trying different diets to see what fits you best or you want to test the claims of the keto diet, then you are probably wondering how do I start keto diet?

Well, what you can do is try fasting. You don’t need to go harsh on your body; you can do intermittent fasting, that’s to say reduce your food intake to a number of hours and then fast for the rest of the day.

Besides, you also need t limit your sugar intake and proteins as well because protein can be converted into glucose. These two steps will help you enter the ketosis state quickly.

So, to start on this dieting plan, you will need to put a list of the food you can eat and the ones you must not eat during the period of the diet. Consult a dietician or search yourself for foods that are high in fat and low in carbohydrates.

Avoid high protein foods and definitely decrease or eliminate sugar products. Add natural fats; both saturated and unsaturated fats are encouraged for this regimen.

Processed foods are generally high in carbohydrates, so try to avoid them and start preparing freshly cooked recipes.

The most important thing is that you have an after plan in case you are not adhering to keto for treatment purposes but rather to lose weight.

Besides, keep in touch with your doctor for any condition you have, consult with him concerning drugs you are taking, and stay aware of potential keto risks.