The ketogenic (or keto) diet is a low carbohydrate, high fat diet. Maintaining this diet is a great tool for weight loss. More importantly, according to an increasing number of studies, it reduces risk factors for diabetes, heart diseases, stroke, Alzheimer's, epilepsy, and more[1-6].
On the keto diet, your body enters a metabolic state called ketosis. While in ketosis your body is using ketone bodies for energy instead of glucose. Ketone bodies are derived from fat and are a much more stable, steady source of energy than glucose, which is derived from carbohydrates.
Entering ketosis usually takes anywhere from 3 days to a week. Once you're in ketosis, you'll be using fat for energy, instead of carbs. This includes the fat you eat and stored body fat.
You can test yourself to see whether you've entered ketosis just a few days after you've begun the keto diet! Simply use a ketone test strip and it will tell you the level of ketone bodies in your urine. If the concentration is high enough, you've successfully entered ketosis!
You may be thinking, "but eating a lot of fat is bad!" The truth is, dozens of studies and meta studies with over 900,000 subjects have arrived at similar conclusions: eating saturated and monounsaturated fats has no effects on heart disease risks[7,8].
Most fats are good and are essential to our health. Fats (fatty acids) and protein (amino acids) are essential for survival. Read our Healthy Fats Guide for more information about different types of fat.
Fats are the most efficient form of energy and each gram contains more than double the energy in a gram of protein or carbohydrates (more on that later).
The keto diet promotes eating fresh, whole foods like meat, fish, veggies, and healthy fats and oils as well as greatly reducing processed and chemically treated foods the Standard American Diet (SAD) has so long encouraged.
It's a diet that you can sustain long-term and enjoy. What's not to enjoy about bacon and eggs in the morning?
There is no such thing as an "essential carbohydrate"