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Ketogenic Diet and Bodybuilding Introduction.
After using carbs to cut weight and build muscles, you may be thinking of shifting to a ketone-full diet. Just what effect would this have on your quest to muscle-building? Well, the truth is a ketogenic diet has a vast effect on your quest to build muscles when done right. This article is going to educate you on the effects of a ketogenic diet on bodybuilding. Stay with me and learn.
Ketogenic, what is it?
A ketogenic diet is one with a high protein content and a little or no carbs present in it. The logic here is to cut out carbs intake completely and train your body to totally depend on calories and the fats present in proteins. This means that your body has to adapt to this new diet schedule until it reaches Ketosis state.
Ketosis is the state where the amount of ketone bodies present in your blood has reached optimum, meaning fat metabolism has been kept intact. Here your muscles depend totally on the calories obtained from the protein you are now feeding.
Effects of Keto Diet on Bodybuilding
Strain during workouts
The early stages of taking a keto diet will see you strain a bit during your routine workouts. Remember your body was used to depending on glucose from carbs as your energy resource, so the switch to a keto diet will mean that your muscle cells must now adapt to a new energy source. The intensity of your workouts will reduce as your muscle cells adjust to drawing energy from ketones.
Efficient muscle building
When you are on a ketogenic diet bodybuilding plan, your body adapts to obtaining the just-enough glucose needed from proteins and fats present in the keto diet. This, over a period of time, supplies the body with efficient muscle energy that sees your muscles grow incredibly.
No hunger pangs
The high protein intake that characterizes the ketogenic diet comes along with a suppressed appetite. This is different from a carbo diet that increases your hunger levels. The low appetite while on a ketogenic diet is a result of consuming lots of calories from the protein-full diet. This means you won’t have to keep eating through the day as long as you eat the right quantities of protein as required in the ketogenic diet for bodybuilding.
Low blood sugar levels solved.
When the body has adapted to depending on ketones as the main energy source, there is now more than enough energy for your muscles. The low blood sugar level experiences during previous carb diets is no longer an issue to worry about. Dehydration is a common occurrence during ketosis and it is advised that you be properly hydrated before routine workouts, during and after exercise.
Anti-catabolic effects
Whenever there is reduced calorie intake in a diet the muscles are likely to wear out. This is because you’re depending only on protein as your main energy resource. The brain ‘informs’ the protein reserves to make more glucose to supply the needed glucose through a process called gluconeogenesis. However, during Ketosis the brain tends to depend more on ketones. The body will therefore not need to convert protein into glucose, and this is what every dieter wants!
Micronutrients deficiency
During ketosis, as we have seen earlier, the body is restricted to using as little carbohydrates as possible. This often may create a deficiency in micronutrients such as calcium, thiamine, iron, magnesium, folate, and potassium. It is therefore professionally advised that you supplement your ketogenic diet with quality multivitamins and fibers.
Keto Diet Reviews
It is clear that using ketogenic diet for bodybuilding have its good side and its bad side. My out-of-experience advice when enrolling in this kind of diet is to start it off with just enough fat intake with small amounts of protein. Reduce fat intake once your body gets into ketosis and then increase protein intake. You need to remember that ketosis kicks in roughly in about 2-3 weeks of a ketogenic feeding.
Always make sure to consult with your doctor before starting any diets, so you can choose the best path to build muscles in an easy, healthy and efficient way.
