Going Ketogenic (Atkins, TKD, CKD, And More!)

Maybe you've heard of them, or maybe you haven't.  But they're out there: low carb diets which promise to lose you pounds off your waistline and keep tasty foods in your meals.  And if you can stave off the craving for breads, fruits, and sweets, these diets might be ones to try out if you're really looking to lose some serious fat.  They have been proven to be quite successful in most overweight individuals, and have a huge following in both the fitness world and the general public.  But there's a lot of information out there, and quite a few different types of low carb diets, so things can get pretty confusing quite quickly.  Let's explore the differences between different low carb or "ketogenic" diets and see if one or the other might be right for you.

First though, I'd like to post a disclaimer.  Low carb diets AREN'T for everyone, and they're NOT THE ONLY WAY TO LOSE WEIGHT.  Many people can lose pounds of fat while keeping large percentages of carbs in their diet.  So don't go cutting the bread, pasta and rice without really knowing what you're getting into.

Okay, so what exactly is a "ketogenic" diet?  It's a pretty interesting idea actually.  The train of thought is that when you eliminate most of the carbs from your diet, and replace them with high amounts of fat and moderate amounts of protein, your body, which normally gets its energy from converting carbohydrates to glucose, is forced to instead find another energy source.  It does this by freeing up stored fat molecules, converting them into a substance called "ketone bodies," and using that special substance to fuel your body.  Amazingly, ketone bodies have a lot of energy potential, so after an initial energy low upon starting a ketogenic diet, dieters often report a large increase in energy due to the new energy source.  This state of running off fat is called "ketosis."  Pretty neat huh?

There are several types of ketogenic diets, one of the most common being the Atkins diet.  This diet is mainly focused toward the general public, and has some pretty strict guidelines as to carb consumption.  Normally, for the first few weeks, dieters aren't allowed to consume more than 20 grams of carbohydrates per day, and instead are encouraged to take in their calories through mainly protein based sources.  There are four phases to the Atkins diet, each with different rules and permitted foods.  These phases are:

The Induction Phase (20 g net carbs per day)
Ongoing Weight Loss (Increase of 5 g net carbs per week until within 10 lbs of target body weight)
Pre-maintenance (Increase of 10 g net carbs per week until weight loss ceases, then reduction of 10 g)
Lifetime maintenance (Carbs remain at the "tipping point" established in the pre-maintenance phase)

If you'd like to read more about the phases of the Atkins diet, here's a link to my favorite site:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atkins_diet#The_four_phases

It's your favorite site too, right? =]

The Aftkins diet is strict in the sense that carbohydrate amounts start low and stay low for the duration of the diet.  You're always going to be carbohydrate deprived in order to maintain ketosis, and therefore are always going to have to watch your weight, plan ahead in terms of your diet, and make sure you don't go over the magic number of carbs.  You're also going to need to eat a LOT of protein, which to many keto dieters has been found to be a non-ideal solution to replacing carbohydrates.  Many keto dieters who don't follow the Atkins diet say that it's far better to replace carbs with healthy fats than it is to replace with large quantities of protein.  Also, the Atkins diet doesn't employ any caloric restrictions, which can be confusing and misleading to certain dieters.  Many who aren't successful on the Atkins diet fail because they consume too many calories from non-carb sources that are very calorie dense, like certain cheeses and peanut butter.

The Atkins diet does have a very large following though, and quite a few remarkable success stories, so it remains a popular staple in the ketogenic diet category.

But what about other sorts of ketogenic diets?  Well, the Atkins diet is geared more toward the general public, and non-gym rats.  The fitness crowd tends to employ its own version of the ketogenic diet, and probably the area of greatest success in terms of the ketogenic diet craze is in bodybuilding.  Bodybuilders usually cycle between bulking phases (attempting to put on muscle through calculated increases in calorie and macro-nutrient intake), and cutting phases (eliminated the inevitable fat gain on top of the muscle gain due to bulking) before competition.  One of the greatest cutting tools in the bodybuilding world today is in fact a ketogenic diet.  However the Atkins diet isn't optimal for high intensity gym visits because according to some, it really can decrease strength levels to an intolerable level.  To combat this, bodybuilders (and other fitness enthusiasts alike) use three different types of ketogenic diets:

Cyclical Ketogenic Diet- This diet takes the fat burning benefits of ketosis and mixes them with the power of carbohydrates.  You may wonder how this is possible, due to ketosis requiring an extremely low carbohydrate environment to really work.  You see, on ketogenic diets, some people experience extreme strength losses at the gym, despite the increased fat burning.  This will require them to do what's called a "carb-up" once, or even twice a week.  This carb up involves eating large amounts of carbohydrates on a certain day, then cutting carbs to between 30 and 60 grams on every other day to reinstate ketosis and increased fat burning.  This process should cause a carryover from the carb-up day to allow energy levels to stay managable at the gym, and will keep the dieter from fainting with exhaustion.  This diet is EXTREMELY popular in the bodybuilding world, and has shown to be very successful across the board.

Targeted Ketogenic Diet- This version of the ketogenic diet is similar to the cyclical diet in terms of increased carb intake at certain key points, but instead of on a certain day, the targeted ketogenic diet allows you to ingest large amounts of carbohydrates around workout time, to really give you that boost of strength in the gym, and give your body much needed carbohydrates for recovery.  Usually around 40-80 grams of carbohydrates are consumed pre and post workout, though that number can be adjusted based on carb sensitivity and fat loss goals.  Again, this type of dieting has been shown to be very successful in the fitness world.

Standard Ketogenic Diet- This one I don't need to talk about too much, as it resembles the Atkins diet quite closely.  It has no carb-up days, and requires the dieter to maintain net carbohydrates levels under about 30 grams per day.

Here's a more in depth article about CKD and TKD keto diets from bodybuilding.com:http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/sclark91.htm

Also, ketogenic diets other than the Atkins suggest a larger ratio of fat to protein, which I personally like considering too much protein can cause all sorts of little digestive issues.  Some good starting macros for a ketogenic diet would probably be 60% calories from fat, 35% from protein, and 5% from carbs.  Look around a little though, because many people have tweaked these macros and are still making great progress.

So you may be wondering, is a ketogenic type diet right for you?  Well, if you've got a few extra pounds to lose, a ketogenic diet can really work wonders.  I personally would suggest trying out either a cyclical of targeted ketogenic diet first, especially if you go to the gym on a regular basis (WHICH YOU SHOULD.)  Don't take this article as your only research on the subject, look around the internet for people who have had success, read their stories, and make sure you know your plan BEFORE you embark on the keto journey.  You can get GREAT results, you just need to make sure you know every little nuance of your diet.

Keep things precise, burn that fat, and as always, GOOD LUCK!


http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/cyclical_ketogenic_diet.htm
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/sclark86.htm

Veggies: Go Frozen, Not Canned

To me, this one seems like a no-brainer.  Frozen vegetables are vastly more healthy and far more delicious than their canned counterpart.  But to some, this may be a foreign concept.  Why take up valuable freezer space when you can leave a can on the shelf and still get all the nutrients from those greens?  Well I'll tell you quickly why going frozen might be one of the best decisions you make when it comes to your diet.

Frozen vegetables actually rival fresh vegetables in overall nutritional value.  This may seem pretty hard to believe considering they're...well...frozen.  And last I knew, not much good natural plant matter can survive in ice.  But then again, what do I know?  It turns out that frozen vegetables are picked and packed at their peak of ripeness, when almost all of the nutrients you'll be consuming have fully developed inside the vegetable itself. Contrast this with fresh veggies which, while still extremely good for you, are picked at a time before they are fully ripe in order to make sure that they aren't spoiled by the time they hit supermarket shelves.  This means the nutrients in fresh vegetables usually haven't fully developed, and you aren't getting quite the quantity.

The first step in creating a bag of frozen vegetables is to blast fresh veggies with steam to kill any sort of enzymes and bacteria that might cause your food to spoil. This super heated steam will inevitably remove a small portion of the nutritional value, mostly water soluble vitamins like B and C, but not 100%.  The veggies are then flash frozen, and the remaining nutrients are then completely locked in.  Yes, that's right, they're locked up tight inside those frozen delicacies, ready to help your body whenever you decide to cook them up.  No extra preservatives are needed, the ice does all the work at keeping bacteria at bay.  Perfect, right?

Canned vegetables, while obviously better than no vegetables at all, are much less nutritious in the long run.  Despite their convenience, they're usually packed with preservatives like salt and sugar to help keep bacteria from running rampant.  To compare, a package of frozen peas has almost no sodium, usually between 0-50 mg per serving.  A package of canned peas though can have up to 400 mg of sodium.  That's a BIG difference.

To decrease the sodium content of canned vegetables, I suggest placing them in a strainer or colendar and rinsing them before eating in order to remove a lot of the salts and added sugars.

In my opinion though, frozen vegetables are not only more nutritious, but have a much "fresher," more delicious taste to them.  Canned veggies are usually slightly tainted by the preservatives used and will never quite have that "fresh from the field" taste.  This is just a personal opinion though, the nutritional comparison still stands alone.

So the bottom line:  If you want to maximize the health benefits from your vegetables, go frozen.  Though don't throw out your canned veggies, because they have plenty of nutritional value in them as well.  Again, either option is MUCH better than having none at all in your diet.

Steam them nightly, and enjoy them fully.  Good Luck!

Vegetables: To Cook or not to Cook?

I've always been intrigued by the debate about which is healthier:  Cooked vegetables or raw vegetables.  The claim by many is that cooking vegetables removes significant levels of the nutrients in them, therefore they become less beneficial to the human body.  The other side of the argument (which I tend to lean toward) is the fact that we as humans have weak digestive systems, and are unable to process much of the raw, fibrous plant matter contained in uncooked vegetables, so while even though more nutrients may be present in raw veggies, we can't actually absorb them.  There's good data for both sides of this argument, and many reasons to mix it up and have both cooked and raw veggies in your diet.

Reasons to cook vegetables:

1.  Easily accessible nutrients:  Across the board, all the vitamins present in vegetables (A, B1, B2, B3, C, E, etc.) tend to be more easily absorbed because the vegetables are softer, and easier to digest.  This means theoretically that while cooked vegetables have a tad less of each vitamin compared to their raw counterpart, you end up getting MORE of those leftover nutrients than you would have gotten originally if you'd just eaten the vegetable raw.

(Here's a chart displaying the amount of each main vitamin in various vegetables when they're both raw and cooked:  http://www.beyondveg.com/tu-j-l/raw-cooked/raw-cooked-2f.shtml)

2.  Beta Carotene- This extremely powerful nutrient present in many vegetables (especially carrots) is absorbed much more readily when the vegetables are lightly steamed.  Beta Carotene converts to Vitamin A in the body, which will aid in eyesight (ever heard the myth that if you eat enough carrots you can see in the dark?)

3.  Antioxidants- Same deal here.  Useful antioxidants like carotenoids and ferulic acid are utilized by the body much more effectively if vegetables are steamed or boiled.   

4.  They taste better!  At least this is what the majority of people agree upon.  I am partial to cooked vegetables myself, they're quite delicious, warm, easy to chew, and the flavors are much more palatable.  My friends would be a little stunned to see this because I'm usually munching on a pack of raw baby carrots or a stick of celery.  However if given the choice, I'll choose cooked every time.

5.  You can eat more of them!  Cooked veggies aren't as fibrous as raw veggies, and therefore won't fill you up as fast.  That means you can cram more of those useful nutrients down your gullet before your body tells you to stop.  On a muscle building diet, this is a must.  

6.  Anti nutrients are destroyed:  These things won't kill you, but they definitely won't help you.  But what exactly is an anti nutrient?  A good analogy is an apple seed.  The seeds are the valuable part of the apple, and the apple tree doesn't want you to eat its future offspring, therefore apple seeds have evolved to contain traces of cyanide.  Raw grains contain many anti nutrients, and the amount you absorb can be reduced by cooking them before consumption.  This destroys a good portion of those pesky little devils, and the analogy holds true with vegetables (mostly beans) as well.  

Reasons to leave them raw:

1.  They fill you up!  Raw vegetables are extremely fibrous, especially greens like lettuce, broccoli, celery, and spinach.  These foods all are extremely low calorie, healthy snacks that can fill your belly in a heartbeat if you're having one of those hungry hungry hippo moments.  Try a cup of raw broccoli sometime.  No, it may not taste great, but you'll definitely feel like you've eaten a significant meal.  

2.  Easy to snack on:  Raw veggies are easy to pack up.  Try packing a bag full of carrots, celery, pepper slices, and broccoli and I guarantee you'll end up with a filling snack that didn't take more than two minutes to make.  Raw vegetables are firm and robust, and won't be easily crushed.  They're relatively dry as well, so you won't soak the rest of your lunch by accident.  Plus, raw vegetables give that satisfying crunch, and if you can get used to the natural taste, you're golden.  

3.  More Vitamin C:  This vitamin tends to be the one that gets the bad end of the stick when veggies are cooked.  Much of the vitamin C is destroyed by steaming, boiling, or frying, so if you're looking for a little more in your diet (and you should be) then crunch on a few raw veggies today.  

4.  They make your body work!  Have you ever heard of negative calorie foods?  Well stop thinking about them right now, because there are huge debates on whether they exist or not, and the evidence is leaning toward a big fat NO.  However that doesn't mean your body isn't expending large amounts of energy to digest raw foods such as celery and broccoli, and the few calories that are in those foods make them great choices to give your digestive system a workout.  This isn't a pointless endeavor, a healthy digestive system can save you from all sorts of health troubles later in life.  The fiber in those tomatoes will only do you good!  

I say have them both ways!  Veggies are good for you no matter if they're steamed, boiled, fried, cooked, or right off the vine.  I love the way they taste each way, and once you try a few I bet you'll like them too.  Buy some baby carrot packs and much on them at work, or on a walk, or while you're outside reading a book, or while you're cooking dinner, whenever, wherever however you like!  In my opinion, there isn't really ever a bad time to have some vegetables.  

Load those plates high, crunch into a few carrots, and enjoy!