Keto diets involve restricting carbohydrate intake to less than 20g a day whilst suggested fat intake is around 125g. This puts your body in a state known as ketosis which is when the body finds itself using fat as its main fuel. This can also happen when intermittent fasting too, different eating patterns where you restrict food consumption to certain time periods. One expert has shared with Express.co.uk how combining the keto diet and intermittent fasting can help boost weight loss results.
Personal trainer and Nutrition Coach for OriGym Centre of Excellence Chloe Twist, explains how fasting on the keto diet can have effects on ketosis.
She says: “To boost your weight loss on a ketogenic diet, you may find it helpful to try a short-term fast before you begin, or intermittent fasting during the diet. Fasting can lessen the amount of time that it takes for your body to enter ketosis, which can have favourable effects on weight loss.”
Unlike keto, intermittent fasting isn’t considered as a diet but rather a lifestyle habit and change.
Intermittent fasting refers to different types of eating patterns and there are many different variations of it.
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Combining the diet and the fast may help you burn more fat as well as boosting your body’s metabolism which can help you burn more calories.
Other variations of intermittent fasting include the alternate day fasting and the periodic fasting.
Alternate day fasting involves eating 25 percent less than your normal daily intake followed by a 24 feast day.
Foods consumed on the alternate day fasting must be keto friendly in order to keep the body in a state of ketosis.
Periodic fasting involves a period of fasting for more than 24 hours, arguably the most difficult type of fast it is also known as the 5:2 diet where there are one to two days of fast days per week.
The expert adds: “However, some people may find it difficult to stick to fasting and this can have adverse effects in the long run, or even derail them from the process entirely.
“If this is the case, those individuals should shift their focus to making their diet work for them in a way that is sustainable and enjoyable; in my experience, the best way to lose weight and keep it off during a ketogenic diet is to approach things with a healthy mindset.”
Intermittent fasting is usually only recommended short-term because long-term effects show that it can reduce alertness and even cause weight gain when resuming to normal eating.
Also, intermittent fasting is not necessary to reach ketosis and although it can be used as a tool to reach more quickly, the keto diet alone will put your body in ketosis.
Simply following a healthy, keto diet is enough for anyone to lose weight and the nutritional expert explains that these foods include those of high protein.
Chloe explains: “In terms of food choices, those looking to lose a significant amount of weight and maintain their progress long-term during the keto diet should ensure that they get an adequate amount of protein.
“High-protein foods like beef, pork, lamb, chicken (dark meat), turkey (dark meat), tuna, sardines, or salmon will compliment foods that contain healthy fats, such as avocados, cottage cheese, eggs, nuts, nut butters, chia seeds, or flaxseed.”
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