Understanding The Keto Diet

Understanding The Keto Diet

- Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS

Q: Everyone is talking about this new keto diet. What is it? And should I try it? — Z. Lawson, Phoenix

A: Let’s just get this out of the way, shall we? The keto diet is a high-fat diet.

Those who advocate for ketogenic (keto) diets basically suggest that we reject the dietary guidelines of the past 40 years and embrace fat—yes fat, the one macronutrient we’ve been trying to avoid for decades. They’re suggesting that we turn the conventional wisdom about high-carb, low-fat diets on its proverbial ear. They’re telling us that the foods we were taught were great—cereals, breads, whole wheat pasta—are actually not, while the foods we were told were not good—animal products and fats—actually are.

WHAT IS KETOSIS?

First, some definitions. The “keto” in ketogenic refers to ketones (also known as ketone bodies), which are a byproduct of fat metabolism. When lots of ketones show up in your urine, you can be pretty sure you’re burning fat, because that’s where ketones come from. Ketones are a wonderful metabolic fuel for the heart, the brain, and the muscles. Your body makes ketones all the time; it just doesn’t make that many of them, since it has plenty of glucose (sugar) around to use for primary fuel.

And that is the real purpose of the ketogenic diet in a nutshell: to get you to burn fat, rather than sugar.