Ketogenic diet: how to do and allowed foods

To do the ketogenic diet, you should eliminate all foods rich in carbohydrates such as bread and rice, and increase mainly the consumption of foods rich in fats, while also maintaining a good amount of protein in the diet. As long as it is accompanied by a nutritionist, this diet can be an alternative for those who want to lose weight, as the body starts using its own fat as an energy source instead of the carbohydrate that comes from food.

This type of food is mainly indicated to control and prevent seizures and epilepsy attacks, however, it has also been studied as an adjunct in the treatment of cancer, since cancer cells feed mainly on carbohydrate, which is the nutrient removed in the diet. ketogenic.

It is important that this diet is done with the supervision and guidance of a nutritionist, since it is necessary to make a complete nutritional assessment to know whether it is possible or not to do it.

Here's how to do the ketogenic diet to treat epilepsy or during cancer treatment.

How it works

The ketogenic diet consists of a drastic reduction of carbohydrates in the diet, which will only participate in 10 to 15% of the total daily calories. However, this amount can vary according to the health status, duration of the diet and objectives of each person.

To compensate for the reduction in carbohydrates, there must be a large increase in the consumption of fats, represented by foods such as avocado, coconut, seeds, sour cream, olive oil, peanuts, chestnuts, nuts and almonds. In addition, the amount of protein should also increase until it constitutes about 20% of the daily calories, being necessary to eat meat, chicken or fish for lunch and dinner, and include egg and cheese in snacks.

When this diet starts, the body goes through an adaptation period that can last from a few days to a few weeks, in which the body adapts to produce energy through fat, instead of carbohydrates. Thus, it is possible that in the first days symptoms such as excessive tiredness, lethargy and headache will appear, which end up improving when the body is adapted.

Another diet similar to the ketogenic is the low carb diet, the main difference being that in the ketogenic diet a much greater restriction of carbohydrates is made.

Permitted and prohibited foods

The following table lists the foods that can and cannot be eaten on the ketogenic diet.

Allowed	Prohibited
Meat, chicken, eggs and fish	Rice, pasta, corn, cereals, oats and cornstarch
Olive oil, coconut oil, butter, lard	Beans, soy, peas, chickpeas lentils
Sour cream, cheeses, coconut milk and almond milk	Wheat flour, bread, savory toast in general
Peanuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, Brazil nuts, almonds, peanut butter, almond butter	English potato, sweet potato, cassava, yam, mandioquinha
Fruits like strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, olives, avocados or coconut	Cakes, sweets, cookies, chocolate, candies, ice cream, chocolate
Vegetables and greens, such as spinach, lettuce, broccoli, cucumber, onion, zucchini, cauliflower, asparagus, red chicory, cabbage, pak choi, kale, celery or peppers	Refined sugar, brown sugar
Seeds such as flaxseed, chia, sunflower	Chocolate powder, milk
-	Milk and alcoholic beverages

In this type of diet, whenever consuming an industrialized food it is very important to observe the nutritional information to check if it contains carbohydrates and how much, in order not to exceed the amount that was calculated for each day.

Sample Ketogenic Diet Menu

The following table shows an example of a complete 3-day ketogenic diet menu:

Meal	Day 1	Day 2	Day 3
Breakfast	Fried eggs with butter + Mozzarella cheese	Omelet made with 2 eggs and vegetable filling + 1 glass of strawberry juice with 1 teaspoon of flax seeds	avocado smoothie with almond milk and 1/2 tablespoon chia
Morning snack	Almonds + 3 slices of avocado	Strawberry smoothie with coconut milk + 5 nuts	10 Raspberries + 1 col of peanut butter
Lunch/ Dinner	Salmon accompanied by asparagus + avocado + olive oil	Vegetable salad with lettuce, onion and chicken + 5 cashew nuts + olive oil + parmesan	Meatballs with zucchini noodles and parmesan cheese
Afternoon snack	10 cashew nuts + 2 tablespoons of coconut chips + 10 strawberries	Fried eggs in butter + rennet cheese	Scrambled eggs with oregano and grated parmesan

It is important to remember that the ketogenic diet should always be prescribed by a nutritionist.

Watch the following video and learn more about ketogenic diet:

Cyclic ketogenic diet

The cyclic ketogenic diet helps to maintain good dietary follow-up and good weight loss, helping to provide energy for physical exercise.

In this type, the ketogenic diet menu must be followed for 5 consecutive days, which are followed by 2 days in which it is allowed to consume carbohydrate foods, such as bread, rice and pasta. However, foods such as sweets, ice cream, cakes and other products high in sugar should remain off the menu.

Contraindications

The ketogenic diet is contraindicated for people over 65, children and adolescents, pregnant women and breastfeeding women. In addition to needing to be avoided by people at increased risk of ketoacidosis, such as type 1 diabetics, uncontrolled type 2 diabetics, people with low weight or with a history of liver, kidney or cardiovascular disorders, such as stroke. It is also not indicated for people with gall bladder or who are undergoing treatment with cortisone-based drugs.

In these cases, the ketogenic diet must be authorized by the doctor and followed up with a nutritionist.