On the Standard American Diet, the structure is 20 -35% Fats; 10 – 35% Proteins; 45-60% Carbohydrates.
By contrast, the Ketogenic Diet is 70-75% Fats; 20-25% Proteins; 5-10% Carbohydrates.
As you can see, the Keto Diet turns the Standard American Diet on its head, when it comes to the relative proportions of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates.
Obviously, foods that are composed of fat, protein, and carbohydrate macronutrients all have a calorific value. But when it comes to fat loss, carbohydrates just get in the way.
If you eat too many carbs, you will find it very hard to lose weight, even if you are running a calorie deficit. This is because carbohydrates cause spikes in insulin levels. And it is high levels of insulin that get in the way of fat loss. This happens in two ways.
First, insulin can block the release of fat from your cells. And if fat is not released, the body can’t burn it.
Second, high insulin levels cause the conversion of glucose energy in the bloodstream into body fat.
For this reason, they call insulin the “fat storage” hormone.
But insulin control though reduced carbs is only one aspect of the Keto diet. We’ll go into its other aspects in just a bit. But first, let’s take a look at mistake #4.