Of 'keto' is meant ketogenic, and a ketogenic diet means that you hardly or no carbohydrates gets inside. It is quite an extreme diet, since carbohydrates in an average diet are important substances that are contained in many healthy products. You will therefore have to leave out many products that you are used to eating, such as pasta, whole grain products and fruit. In short, a keto diet involves eating high amounts of fats, a modest amount of protein and very few carbohydrates. Ideally, on this diet you get about 70 to 80 percent of your daily calories from fats, about 10 to 20 percent from protein and about 5 percent from carbohydrates. Such a diet therefore relies, among other things, on your willingness to slightly adjust your lifestyle.
With the keto diet your body can get into ketosis. Your body switches from burning carbohydrates to burning fat. It is a natural 'state of metabolism' that uses mainly body fat as the first form of fuel. A ketogenic diet is seen as a healthy diet for weight loss. Normally, your body uses carbohydrates as fuel, because these provide the fastest and easiest fuel for the body. When you follow a diet in which you hardly consume carbohydrates and many fats, your body will switch from burning sugar to burning fat. This all happens in the liver, releasing so-called ketones as a by-product, which can be seen as an alternative energy source.
