Hey, guys, Dr. Axe here, doctor of natural medicine and founder of draxe.com.
In this video, I'll be telling you what the ketogenic diet is and what it is not and how
it is the diet that can work when nothing else will.
And medical studies now are proving that the ketogenic diet can help you lose weight, boost
your brain health, fight neurological disease, balance hormones, and do a whole lot more.
I'll share with you in this video.
And for starters, I want to talk about what is it and where did this idea come from.
Well the ketogenic diet is a very low carb diet.
So when you're on this diet, you're consuming little to no carbs at all.
Now over time, you can move into something called keto cycling which I'll talk about
at the end.
But for starters, you're doing very little carbohydrates in your diet.
Now this was created in the 1920s specifically to treat epilepsy, epilepsy and seizures and
they found great results with the ketogenic diet.
The thought was this, your brain is made up of mostly cholesterol and fat and so when
your brain is made up of fat and cholesterol, it's really important that you're getting
plenty of those things that really support the brain.
And a ketogenic diet, what happens is your body stops burning sugar for energy, starts
burning fat, your body creates ketones, and it's actually a fuel source for your brain.
Here's another thing to know about the ketogenic diet, 70 to 80% of your diet is fat when you're
on the ketogenic diet.
The typical ratio when somebody gets about typically the first week or two, a lot of
times, people may consume about 80% fat, then that ratio goes to about 70% fat, 25% protein,
5% carbs is what I've done with most my patients in the past.
And the results have been phenomenal and helping them get into ketosis and experience that
health breakthrough.
So again, a ketogenic diet puts your body into ketosis, that's where your body switches
from being a sugar-burner into a fat-burner.
Now, one of the things I've noticed since I started . . . now when I first went into
ketogenic diet myself before I start to recommend it to patients, I noticed I woke up in the
morning and I looked leaner.
I looked more fit in the morning.
Here's what the amazing thing that happens on the ketogenic diet.
Your body will keep burning fat while you sleep, so your body is actually burning that
fat, it's pretty incredible.
But again, your body burns fat rather than sugar for energy and your body produces ketones
as your fuel source with your brain and your cells and body run off of instead of carbohydrates.
So here are the big benefits of the ketogenic diet.
Again, number one is weight loss, it's what I just talked about.
When your body starts burning fat for fuel, you start losing those love handles and that
abdominal belly fat that sits right here, you lose weight really, really fast.
In fact, this is my number one diet for people to lose weight quickly.
Number two, PCOS, that's Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, I can tell you this, in working
with thousands of patients over the years, many women that struggle with PCOS even sometimes
issues like infertility or painful PMS during the monthly cycle, when that happens, oftentimes,
that's related to a hormone called insulin.
And what we found is when both men but especially women with PCOS get on a ketogenic diet, when
insulin regulates, insulin is a hormone, all of these other hormones regulate as well estrogen,
progesterone, cortisol.
They all start to balance out on a ketogenic diet.
So if you've struggled with hormonal issues and you've tried other things, the ketogenic
diet can be the diet that works for hormones when nothing else will.
Number three, mental clarity.
Now people for thousands of years have fasted for mental clarity.
So when somebody starts doing a fast, let's say they do mostly a water fast, what will
happen is their body will start to go into ketosis as well for fasting.
When somebody does just a pure water fast and when you fast and your body starts using
ketones for energy, your brain, you have more mental clarity, less brain fog.
A lot of times, people say they experience spiritual breakthroughs and emotional breakthroughs
when they go on a ketogenic diet or a fast because again, a lot of these carbs and foods
we're eating on a daily basis, they affect our hormones, they cause inflammation and
they affect the brain.
Again, mental clarity, spiritual awareness can have greater benefits when you're following
a healthy ketogenic diet.
All right, number four, lower type 2 diabetes risk.
Most people who are getting way too many carbohydrates in their diet affecting insulin.
When you go on a ketogenic diet, you give those insulin receptor sites to get burn out.
Just so you know, that's what for the most part, type 2 diabetes is like somebody yelling
and screaming and your ear, well you sort of burn out your eardrums, those insulin receptor
sites burn out and kind of go deaf over time when you have too much sugar and carbs in
your diet or consume too many things or have too many emotions that affect insulin.
The name of the game is balancing insulin.
When you do that on a ketogenic diet, you can see great results in lowering your risk
for type 2 diabetes.
Number five, having a healthier heart.
You know, the ketogenic diet, when you're consuming lots and lots of healthy fats, it
can reduce inflammation.
Your body . . . again, also support your body hormonally and improve your heart health.
And number six, possible cancer fighter.
You know, I actually just talked to a friend who's a doctor in Texas yesterday and he told
me, he said, "You know what, I beat cancer with the ketogenic diet."
There are thousands of cases of people that have followed the ketogenic diet and beat
cancer naturally.
Now listen, I'm not telling you just following a single diet can cure cancer.
But I will tell you that following a ketogenic diet, consuming the right supplements, getting
your body the right place emotionally and doing all of the things holistically to heal
your body could help people experience a breakthrough both in preventing cancer or potentially fighting
cancer as well.
So the risks here are immense.
And this is me just scratching the surface in some of the most popular conditions that
the ketogenic diet can help.
Now here's some precautions when you're . . . if you're going to follow a ketogenic diet.
Number one, sometimes you get a keto flu.
Now a lot of us . . . I saw a study that said sugar is more addictive than cocaine.
It is that addictive to the body.
People crave it.
We got to break those cravings so similar like if you go off of caffeine or off of nicotine
or tobacco or again, any time you get off something you might be addicted to, you can
get flu-like symptoms.
It's no different with the ketogenic diet.
Electrolytes.
Now, you want to make sure on the ketogenic diet that you're getting lots of vitamins,
minerals, and nutrients.
You want to stay really well hydrated, drinking a lot of water and eating a lot of vegetables
that are high in electrolytes like celery and cucumber.
Number three, don't over-exercise.
When you first get on the ketogenic diet, give your body a few days to adapt and get
used to the diet you're on because sometimes, your blood sugar can drop because your body
isn't yet fully into ketosis, burning fat for fuel.
Number four, avoid processed meats.
Processed foods are going to put your body into more . . . a higher state of acidosis.
So again, on ketosis, when your bodies fall into ketogenic diet, your body tends to be
slightly more acidic, so you want to be really cognitive of eating a lot of vegetables, a
lot of leafy greens, getting a lot of chlorophyll and alkaline-rich foods into your diet.
And then again, most people don't drink enough water.
Make sure you're getting plenty of water when following a ketogenic diet.
Here are the best foods on a ketogenic diet.
Olive oil, MCTs which are found in coconut oil.
So we've got actually long-chain fats here.
We've got medium-chain fats here.
We've got short-chain fats that you'll find in ghee and butter.
Some are thinking chicken fat.
So if you've ever eaten a chicken and pulled the skin off, chicken skin is full of collagen
and healthy fats if it's organic and natural.
So again, chicken fat, avocados, flaxseeds, wild meat like bison and grass-fed beef, wild
caught fish, bone broth, and the non-starchy vegetables is a perfect mix of foods to consume
when you're on a ketogenic diet.
Here are the worst foods and foods that will actually pull you out of ketosis.
Added sugars, all grains, most processed foods, and most alcohol will pull you out of ketosis.
So these are the foods you want to stay away from that can really affect insulin there
as well.
And listen, there's also something great.
Now, when you hear the ketogenic diet, the ketogenic diet for most people could be followed
for about 30 days, maybe 90 days or more, but for most people, you're going to follow
a ketogenic diet and then it's good to start doing what's called a modified keto or carb
cycling or what I like to call "keto-cycling" where you really consume essentially a ketogenic
diet a few days or sort of on and off along with just a lower . . . generally lower carb
diet and add a few healthier things on your diet like a little bit more fruit and potentially
a little bit of rice or sweet potato on occasion.
But again, this is more flexible, you can aim for 30 to 50 net carbs a day.
The big thing is you want to, again, stay about 50 or under and then go in and out of
ketosis.
In fact, my own wife does this to where she takes three days a week where she follows
or four days a week where she does a ketogenic diet.
Three days a week where she adds in carbs during those days and she's noticed huge changes
in her body.
Again, I've done this with thousands of patients and seen phenomenal results and then changing
their body.
So again, some days eat ketogenic, other days don't, that's probably the way our ancestors
ate so it's closer to the perfect original ancient diet there as well.
So remember these benefits of following the ketogenic diet.
Major benefits with weight loss, balancing hormones and fighting conditions like PCOS,
mental clarity, fighting diabetes, healthier heart, and possible cancer fighter.
The benefits of the ketogenic diet are immense.
And hey, if you want to learn more about the ketogenic diet, make sure to subscribe here
to my YouTube channel.
We've got a lot of ketogenic recipes coming out, some other healthy ketogenic diet foods
and tips.
Also, if you want to learn more about the ketogenic diet, I've written several in-depth
articles and have a whole recipe section on my website draxe.com that goes through ketogenic
recipes.
Simply Google search "Dr. Axe Ketogenic Diet" or "Dr. Axe Ketogenic Recipes" and you'll
find a lot more information there on my site, guys.
Hey, thanks for watching.
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Thanks for watching.