Keto Diet Benefits + Menu For Beginners

How the ketogenic diet turns the food pyramid upside down and helps us lose weight. Explore the keto diet benefits and try a weekly menu scheme for beginners

The ketogenic diet is a high-fat diet. In recent years it has become very popular, but its benefits were already known in 1920. In fact, doctors at the time recommended it to children suffering from seizures. It also benefits people suffering from type 2 diabetes, or diabetes mellitus, and prevents cardiovascular disease.

This type of diet completely overturns the food pyramid and its fundamental principles. In fact, it is characterized by a high consumption of fats, about 75%, a reduced carbohydrate intake of almost 5% and an unchanged intake of proteins, that is to say 20%.

The person who follows this diet almost completely excludes from their diet foods rich in carbohydrates such as cereal products, bread, pasta, starches, legumes, foods that contain added sugars, such as biscuits and pastries, but also too sweet fruit.

The menu instead includes meat, fish, seafood, eggs, nuts, white yogurt with a high intake of fats, dairy products, vegetable oils and vegetables. The principle on which this dietary rule is based is simple. In an ordinary diet, the energy needed by the body is taken from the carbohydrates consumed during the day.

In the ketogenic diet since carbohydrates are extremely limited, the body to have greater vitality, begins to exploit the glycogen reserves stored in the muscles and liver.

At the beginning of the slimming treatment, the weight loss is mainly due to the fact that the carbohydrate energy reserve is linked to 3 or 4 g of water and therefore liquids are lost above all.

When the glycidic energy reserve is depleted, the liver cell begins to synthesize acetone, acetone, and beta-hydroxybutyrate and transforms them into ketone bodies.

In this way the metabolized fat leads to the formation of what is commonly called a state of nutritional ketosis. Lipids thus become the body’s main source of energy.

Ketogenic Diet Benefits

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Carbohydrates are long chains of different types of sugars and when we use them primarily as a source of vitality, our cells burn the glucose they contain.

Sugar is also a great source of energy, but unlike that produced by fats, in the combustion process called glycolysis, it produces many free radicals, harmful substances that are the basis of diseases such as cancer, chronic inflammation or premature aging.

The ketogenic diet is a widely used and effective diet plan for weight loss. However, beyond the effects it has on weight and body fat, this diet can offer other benefits.

As some recent studies testify, a keto diet can favorably modify the intestinal flora and therefore benefit health and can help the body to strengthen the immune defenses avoiding the onset of various diseases related to the intestinal microbiota. With this diet, the lipids contained in the blood are modified.

Therefore, this program helps reduce triglycerides and increase HDL or good cholesterol in the body. This leads to prevention and reduction of cardiovascular risk factors.

On the other hand, because this dietary cure is low in carbohydrates, it appears to have promising results on the body in managing brain disorders such as Parkinson’s, ALS, multiple sclerosis, chronic headaches and traumatic brain injury.

In addition, keto diet is used for the treatment of refractory epilepsy and the positive effects of ketosis have also been observed in those receiving anticancer treatments. Consequently, the ketogenic diet, if it is followed wisely, if it is controlled and supervised by doctors, can have several benefits.

Ketogenic Diet, Weekly Menu

A ketogenic diet reduces net carbohydrate intake to around 20 grams per day. This results in increased body fat burning, rapid weight loss, and other benefits.

Each diet must be personalized and you should start the day by drinking lukewarm water with lemon drops on an empty stomach. An example of a keto diet can be the following:

Monday

Breakfast: Whole yogurt accompanied by some bread with cooked ham
Lunch: Cod fish with roasted aubergines or courgettes and 1 fruit
Dinner: Chicken breast with a side of salad and 1 fruit

Tuesday

Breakfast: A small portion of bread and butter and a cup of whole cow’s milk
Lunch: Pork chop with a side of salad and 1 fruit
Dinner: Turkey breast with tomato salad and 1 fruit

Wednesday

Breakfast: Whole milk and berries
Lunch: Prawn-like fish with grilled vegetables and 1 fruit
Dinner: Omelette with radicchio salad and 1 fruit

Thursday

Breakfast: Whole yogurt and dried fruit muesli
Lunch: Ricotta-like cheese and tomato salad plus 1 fruit
Dinner: Fish with lettuce salad and 1 fruit

Friday

Breakfast: Chia seeds pudding
Lunch: Octopus salad and 1 fruit
Dinner: Baked sea bream with mixed vegetables and 1 fruit

Saturday

Breakfast: Cow’s milk with a small portion of rusks
Lunch: Grilled beef with a side of mixed salad and 1 fruit
Dinner: Scallops and broccoli and 1 fruit

Sunday

Breakfast: Whole yogurt with berries
Lunch: Veal and mushrooms with 1 fruit
Dinner: Salmon fillets with a side of cauliflower and 1 fruit

Between meals, to break the fast, you can eat small snacks of walnuts, pistachios, almonds and other delicious foods with high fat content and an unchanged protein intake, such as avocado.

Extra virgin olive oil, as well as butter are the most appropriate condiments. The portion size is best suggested by a good dietician, dietician or nutritionist.

Print Our Keto Weekly Menu Here:

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