The Ketogenic Dialogue The_Ketogenic_Dialogue | Page 4

What is the Ketogenic Diet?
The Ketogenic Diet is best defined as a high-fat, moderate-protein, low-carb diet. I have also
seen it referred to as a HFLC diet (High-Fat, Low-Carb). Its purpose is to put the body into a
metabolic state called “ketosis.” In short, when the body is in ketosis, it is burning fat for energy
instead of carbs.
First, let’s understand what calories are and how your body uses them for energy.
Calories
A calorie is simply a unit of energy in the food you eat.
A gram of protein has 4 calories of energy; a gram of carbs also has 4 calories of energy.
Fat is a more concentrated source of energy and contains 9 calories of energy. As you can see,
you get the most energy from a fat source.
Example:
If you look at a nutritional label of chips, it has 152 calories and it breaks down as such:
Fat 8 grams (9 calories per gram) =72 Calories
Carbs 17 grams (4 calories per gram) = 68 Calories
Protein 3 grams (4 calories per gram) = 12 Calories
**Total Calories: 152 Calories
Clearly, this food source uses mostly carbs for energy. Not good.
*There are a lot of companies that sell snacks in small 100-calorie packages. However, if the
calories are only from carbohydrates that’s 25 grams of carbs which is almost as much as you
should have in an entire day! (Carbs 25g x 4 calories per carb = 100 calories)
~We want to get our calories (energy) primarily from fat sources.~
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