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The Ketogenic Diet and Intermittent Fasting Redefine Your Relationship with Food We live in the golden age of food. We have easier accessibility to high quality, organic food on a regular basis and a greater understanding of good health and dietary practices. We also, however, live in a quick-fix society, where we find ourselves taking the ‘band-aid’ approach to resolving problems by addressing the symptoms, but not the underlying cause. If you are looking to improve your well-being through diet, but want to take a wholesome, long-term approach, the ketogenic diet and its counterpart, intermittent fasting are respected options in the scientific community. They offer both weight loss benefits while also supporting increased brain health. The combined impacts of both approaches have been shown to increase weight loss by more than 5% in less than 6 months. Ketogenic Diet The ketogenic diet is a style of eating that simplifies the digestion process and maximizes the body’s metabolic abilities. The basic premise is that eating a moderate protein, high fat, low carbohydrate diet induces the body to a state of ‘nutritional ketosis’ where the body is able to rely on fat for fuel instead of glucose from carbs and sugar. To incorporate the ketogenic diet it is recommended to slowly cut carbohydrates and fruits, over a period of days until you are no longer consuming carbohydrates. While cutting out carbs, you’ll also increase your consumption of high quality protein and fat. These can include fish and white meat, butter, oil, nuts and seeds. This diet supports weight loss and minimizes cravings and hunger. The ketogenic diet is said to be effective and recommended for almost everyone, including overweight and obese individuals. It supports a more efficient metabolic and digestive process for the body and also supports overall brain health. Intermittent Fasting Intermittent fasting is an eating schedule that restricts the body’s digestive processes by limiting food consumption to specific windows of time. The basic premise is that more calories are burned at a higher metabolic rate, leading to more productive, efficient digestion for weight loss. Typically, food is consumed only during a window of 4-7 hours per day. This promotes cells to undergo the process of ’autophagy.’ Autophagy is a self-cleansing mechanism that detoxifies cells, removing harmful compounds and recycling nutrients. Eating in this way maximizes efficiency of expended energy on digestion, while supporting cleansing processes in the body and brain. Intermittent Fasting on the Ketogenic Diet By employing both the ketogenic diet and intermittent fasting, you promote wellbeing because you simplify and simultaneously concentrate the digestion process. The two combined result in nutritional ketosis and autophagy which streamlines and makes more efficient use of the body’s energy. The low carb, high fat, and moderate protein diet of ketogenic eating decreases appetite. The increased metabolic rate that results from intermittent fasting helps promote and speed up weight loss. This means that you can lose weight more quickly over a shorter period of time, in a sustainable way. The body is a finely tuned instrument when properly cared for. In a world of yo-yo, quick fix dieting, the body cannot become finely tuned. To achieve health and wellbeing that is sustainable and wholesome, science and intuition point to invoking the ketogenic diet and intermittent fasting. Under these eating habits, you simplify the eating and digestion process all the way around. Paired with exercise, lots of water, and self-care, these two dietary approaches employed as lifestyle changes, can help redefine your relationship with food. Maximize the result of your body’s digestive processes, increase overall health benefits, lose the weight, and keep it off. ML For more info, visit Physical Therapy & Chiropractors of Miami (previously known as Lincoln Road Wellness), www.PTCMiami.com.