What Is A Ketogenic Diet And Why Do It?

Simply put, a ketogenic diet is a low carbohydrate, high fat, moderate protein, moderate plant based way of eating.  Which pretty much goes against everything I've ever known and been taught about healthy eating, my entire life.  When I first heard of ketogenic diets, about ten years ago or so, my first thought was its just another fad diet.  Little did I know then that this dietary lifestyle had been around for a long time.  Centuries, in fact.

If you look back in time man has always been an omniivore subsisting on primarily a meat and plant based diet based solely on what they hunted and gathered.  There were no bakeries with loaves of bread and sugary desserts.  No grocery stores with aisles of potato chips or processed starchy foods.  No fast food hamburgers and french fries either.  These "foods" are more recent introductions into our diet and they haven't done us much in the way of favors.  We're all sick.

Most of our society is overweight and extremely unhealthy.  In fact, according to the CDC, over 70% of the adult population in America is overweight or obese and that number continues to rise.  Cardiovascular disease is still the number one killer of adults in the U.S. resulting in over 600,000 deaths annually.  One out of every four deaths is attributed to heart disease.  Cancer is second.

We are more dependent on pharmaceuticals then we have ever been before and for a nation with as much knowledge and technology as we have today why is that?  Shouldn't we be healthier?  The truth is we really do know better, but we don't act on it.  Why is that?

Our bodies are designed to run off of plants and animals, not highly processed, refined carbohydrates. And the fats that occur naturally in those foods promote longer sustainability and improved satiation.  Carbohydrates have to be broken down into sugars and then are stored as fat in our bodies.  When we are not properly satiated we always feel hungry, so we eat more which leads to overeating.  Because we inundate ourselves with these carbohydrates our bodies are constantly storing fats instead of burning them as fuel.  Thus, we become overweight and our health deteriorates as a result.

Healthy foods and fats allow us to properly nourish and provide fuel for our bodies which also allows them to function properly and ward off illness and disease.  A low carb or ketogenic diet puts you right back to the basics of proper eating and as a result our bodies begin to behave and function normally.  Our health is improved to the point that most people no longer require medication to maintain proper body function.  Mainly because the issues they were medicating no longer exist.  How cool is that?!

In a nutshell the reason I do it is because I want to live out the remainder of my life in a healthy state, both physically and emotionally.  That is a good enough reason, don't you think?