By Mike Jones

There seem to be more and more diets worth trying out today. However, one that seems to catch everyone’s eye recently is the keto diet. The keto diet is a unique approach to burning off unwanted weight, and it’s a good detox process as well. So, if you’re interested in living healthy, or already are and want to improve on that, the keto diet might be a good one for you to try out. Here’s what you need to know about it.

What Is the Keto Diet?

Also known as the low carb high fat diet, or LCHF for short, the keto diet consists of lowering your carb intake as to trigger your body into using your body fat for energy. When you eat foods with a high carb content, your body turns those carbs into glucose. Glucose in its turn is so easy for your body to produce that it always chooses it as its main energy source. Thus, your fat is stored away never to be used.

The aim of the keto diet is to put all that stored away body fat to work by making your body employ it to energize itself. Since your body is so accustomed to using glucose as its main energy source, it will soon go into ketosis. While it might sound scary, ketosis is a natural process that is generally triggered when your body goes into survival mode.

What to Eat in the Keto Diet

Eliminating carbs from your meal plans can be extremely tricky, especially when considering that our modern Western diet relies so heavily on them. But with a little attention to details, it’s not impossible. What is so appealing about the keto diet is that, while you can follow a pre-existing meal plan made by a specialist, you can also tailor it to suit your needs if you want to.

Therefore, the first step in taking up a keto diet is deciding what to eat. Naturally, carbs are off limits. But there are plenty of delicious foods that can help you cut down on your carb intake. Some of these include:

• Olives
• Berries
• Meat and poultry
• Avocados
• Cheese
• Eggs

There are of course others as well, but even with the former mentioned you still have all the ingredients on hand to create a delicious, filling meal that is also low in carbs. As for your spices, you can still incorporate them into your cooking to make it more exciting, but be moderate. Spices contain carbs, so adding too many spices in an otherwise low-carb meal can ruin the balance you’ve worked so hard to achieve.

In fact, when used moderately, spices such as cinnamon or cayenne pepper can help your keto diet. The easiest way to add these ingredients to your routine is by using them in drinks, especially in the morning. In fact, a cayenne pepper drink can be the perfect pick-me-up you need to energize you for the day. Now, you might be wondering, does a cayenne pepper drink have side effects? Fortunately, the answer is no, as long as you add in the spice with moderation.

How to Use the Keto Diet for Detox

If you’re planning to shed off some extra pounds, the keto diet is a perfect option. Medical research shows that this particular diet has beneficial results even in extreme cases such as morbid obesity. Thus, if all you’re looking to do is lose a little weight, the results will be even better. And as a bonus, the keto diet is amazing for detoxing your body as well.

But how does that work? Well, think of it like the sugar-free diet, but at a larger scale because you’re removing all carbs from your eating routine. Our body stores a lot of toxins in our fat cells, so when said fat is burned off, the toxins are released and taken to the liver, which in turn flushes them out for good. Therefore, while the keto diet might not be your run of the mill detox routine with juice cleanses and teas, it does help your body fight against the toxins stored in it on a deeper level.

Depending on how long you plan to uphold your keto diet for, the results may vary. Still, like it is the case with most diets of this type, there will be some visible changes even after just a few days.

Conclusion

While the keto diet might not be your traditional detox routine, it does help cleanse your body while at the same time triggering it to burn off the extra weight. It’s by no means an easy diet to follow, which makes it better suited for devoted health enthusiasts. However, if you’re just getting into this lifestyle and the keto diet appeals to it, don’t be afraid to pursue it. The results will amaze you.

Image Credit: https://unsplash.com/photos/lcZ9NxhOSlo

Author Bio: Mike Jones is a writer passionate about health and fitness and a contributor to Sound Body Life. He loves to travel so he tries to find simple ways to maintain his health while always being in airports and going to different countries.