Keto diets are all the rage right now and are being endorsed by everyone from your local fitness trainer to Hollywood elite. Keto diets are essentially super high fat diets, that are extremely low carb, with moderate protein intake. It seems counter-intuitive because of a decades long campaign by the sugar industry to demonize fat in our society; but a diet high in healthy fats, like those found in coconut oil, olives, and nuts, could actually be your ticket to weight loss. Now that doesn’t mean you can run out to have some KFC and call it a diet, but it does mean that you should be getting most of your energy from healthy fats.
What is a Keto Diet
Your body, in particular your brain, is designed to run on glucose, aka sugar. Even carbohydrates that have no sugar in them, like bread, potatoes, and pasta, just get converted into glucose once they’re processed by your body. The Keto diet aims to put you into a state of “Ketosis” which essentially means your body switches from using sugar as it’s primary fuel source, to using fat as it’s primary fuel source. The import thing is to keep your carb intake below 20 grams of net carbs (net carbs are total carbohydrates minus total amount of fibre) per day, which is a dauntingly low number. A couple of fries, or slices of bread, or even a couple pieces of fruit could be enough to knock you out of Ketosis. It takes about about 2-3 days to re-enter Ketosis each time you’re kicked out. All your daily carbs should be coming from vegetables. Some people have been able to get away with having as much as 50 grams of carbs per day without being kicked out of keto but it varies from person to person. If you’re curious in testing yourselves there are these devices called keto sticks which you can buy online to test whether you are in a state of ketosis or not.
It’s a notoriously hard diet to stick to, but those who have managed to stick with it have reported losing as much as a 30 – 50 pounds in a single month! Those are obviously very extreme cases, and there are certainly plateaus to break through along the way, but it seems that it’s not out of the realm of possibility to lose half a pound to a pound per day! Furthermore, the biology is such that this is actually more effective the heavier you are, with diminishing returns as you approach your ideal BMI. And the huge added plus is that you will actually feel livelier, more energetic, and will even have a reduced appetite as fat keeps you feeling full for much longer than carbs or sugar. One note is that this diet may not be suitable for diabetics who should consult their doctors before making any changes to their diet.
I’ve actually given the Keto diet a try myself lately, and while I haven’t been that most stringent dieter, I can say that some of the results I’ve had have been incredible. What particular struck me is how it was able to help me with portion control. It really does leave you feeling fuller for longer, it’s incredible! Rather than getting a quick sugar spike and crash, like with carbs, fat slowly releases energy over time, keeping your energy levels, and by extension your appetite, stable throughout the day. The two things that help me tremendously to stick to the diet are having plenty of healthy fats like nuts and seeds to snack on (peanuts, walnuts, pumpking seeds, and sunflower seeds are personal favorites!); and Bulletproof coffee.
What is Bulletproof Coffee?
But what is Bulletproof coffee? Essentially, it’s no different than your typical morning coffee. You can use any of your favorite beans and methods. The main difference is you’re gonna be loading it up with fat to kickstart your energy for the day. I can promise that it really works! And it leaves you feeling full comfortably until lunch time, even if you’re just have a quick breakfast. As a former constant snacker, it really blew my mind.
So what kind of fats do you use? You can really use anything you like! Coconut oil is commonly mentioned as an extremely healthy fat which can readily be added to just about anything to make it more keto friendly. This can be taken one step further by introducing MCT oils which can be thought of as a purified form of coconut oils which extracts only the most useful parts.
What Are MCT Oils?
What are MCT oils? MCT stands for Medium Chain Triglycerides and essentially means, as the name implies, that these are fat chains of medium length. Why is that important? Because MCT oils are almost instantly converted into quick, long lasting energy, which will keep you feeling full for some time. The 3 MCT oils present in coconut oil are Capric acid (C8) Caprylic acid (C10) and Lauric acid (C12) with the C# representing how many carbon atoms there are in the fat. Lauric acid is by far the most abundant making up over 50% of Coconut oil while the other two are present in much smaller quantities. The issue is that C8 and C10 are generally thought to have the highest impact as C12 acts a little more like a long chain fatty acid than a true MCT. That’s not a problem though since you can find many places online to buy pure MCT oil, relatively cheaply. Bulletproof is simply a provider of MCT oil, and where this coffee gets its name, but any MCT oil will do. Try your best to find MCT oil sourced entirely from coconut. There are alternatives that are derived from Palm oil which has a huge environmental impact, particular to Gorilla habitats. The one caveat is that MCT oil has been known to cause gastric issues for the uninitiated; so you should start off with a small amount and slowly work your way up day by day.
If you think this is something you’d like to try, check out our guide on how to make your very own Keto Coffee here.
