Not all diets are created equal, but they are all guided towards the same results.
And let me show what I mean.
The ketogenic diet has the principle of using ketones (that are already in our body, just in small amounts when we’re eating a diet high in carbohydrates) as a source of energy rather than glucose.
The reason behind that?
Since glucose is the primary fuel in our bodies, this is what’s leading us to store more fat and not let us use the energy we have already in our bodies… our fat tissue.
So to compensate for this, we have to eliminate the carbohydrates from our diets (or eat no more than 30grams per day) to turn on the switch of using ketones in our body as the primary source, which will allow us to start using the fat as energy and thus make us lose weight.
Ok… let’s stop right there for a second.
Before you go on and think that the ketogenic diet is the miracle or “the answer”, I want now to show you the full spectrum (rather than part of it).
Yes, the ketogenic diet does all of that and the reasoning behind it is pretty convincing, but… if we were to put the focus on what really matters in diets, it’s meaningless and useless.
There have been studies that compared how much weight people lose when doing a ketogenic diet vs. doing a High-carb Low-fat (HCLF) diet and measured things like how much weight they lost, how much muscle and Lean Body Mass they retained (if this doesn’t make sense to you yet, don’t worry – I’ll explain all of this in upcoming chapters).
The end result? After both groups completed the period of fat loss, they found something unexpected…
both groups basically lost the exact same amount of weight.
Plus, they retained pretty much the same amount of muscle and Lean Body Mass.
So… what does this all mean?
It means that the ketogenic diet isn’t somehow superior or better than a normal diet with carbohydrates in it.
So while the theory behind doing keto sounds compelling and it makes sense, in reality, it’s just that… it sounds good, but it doesn’t mean it’s true.
And this doesn’t happen only with the ketogenic diet.
Choose any other diet you have tried or heard before, and you’ll see the common denominator is not a “secret” or something special about them – if someone tells you there’s one, I’d run away.
Focus on what really matters and the building block of all diets.
When you do that, it’s only a matter of picking the right diet for you and lose fat (with some nuances in the process, of course).
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Ivan @ Fitnessthetic
