SUPPLEMENTS FOR A KETOGENIC DIET
Although no supplements are required, but some can be useful and helpful to boosts your health, if taking it in a right way.
MCT OIL
Medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) are fats found in foods like coconut oil. They’re metabolized differently than the long-chain triglycerides (LCT) found in most other foods. MCT oil is a supplement that contains a lot of these fats and is claimed to have many health benefits.
Triglyceride is simply the technical term for fat. Triglycerides have two main purposes. They’re either burned for energy or stored as body fat. Triglycerides are named after their chemical structure, specifically the length of their fatty acid chains. All triglycerides consist of a glycerol molecule and three fatty acids. The majority of fat in your diet is made up of long-chain fatty acids, which contain 13-21 carbons. Short-chain fatty acids have fewer than 6 carbon atoms.
In contrast, the medium-chain fatty acids in MCTs have 6-12 carbon atoms. The following are the main medium-chain fatty acids:
C6: caproic acid or hexanoic acid
C8: caprylic acid or octanoic acid
C10: capric acid or decanoic acid
C12: lauric acid or dodecanoic acid
MCT oils generally contain either 100% caprylic acid (C8), 100% capric acid (C10), or a combination of the two. Caproic acid (C6) is not normally included due to its unpleasant taste and smell. Meanwhile, lauric acid (C12) is often missing or present in only small amounts. MCT oil as better than coconut oil because caprylic acid (C8) and capric acid (C10) are thought to be more rapidly absorbed and processed for energy, compared with lauric acid (C12).
SOURCES OF MCT
There are two main ways to increase your intake of MCTs-through whole food sources or supplements like MCT oil.
FOOD SOURCES
The following foods are the richest sources of medium-chain triglycerides, including lauric acid, and listed along with their percentage composition of MCTs.
coconut: 55%
palm kernel oil: 54%
whole milk: 9%
butter: 8%
Although the sources above are rich in MCTs, their composition of them varies. For example, coconut oil contains all four types of MCTs, plus a small amount of LCTs. However, its MCTs consist of greater amounts of lauric acid (C12) and smaller amounts of the capra fatty acids (C6, C8, and C10). In fact, coconut oil is about 42% lauric acid, making it one of the best natural sources of this fatty acid. So, you can added to drinks or yoghurts, MCT oil provides energy and helps increase ketone levels.
CAFFEINE
Caffeine is a natural stimulant most commonly found in tea, coffee, and cacao plants. It works by stimulating the brain and central nervous system, helping you stay alert and prevent the onset of tiredness. Once consumed, caffeine is quickly absorbed from the gut into the bloodstream. From there, it travels to the liver and is broken down into compounds that can affect the function of various organs. It functions by blocking the effects of adenosine, which is a neurotransmitter that relaxes the brain and makes you feel tired.
Caffeine helps you stay awake by connecting to adenosine receptors in the brain without activating them. This blocks the effects of adenosine, leading to reduced tiredness. It may also increase blood adrenaline levels and increase brain activity of the neurotransmitters dopamine and norepinephrine. This combination further stimulates the brain and promotes a state of arousal, alertness, and focus. Because it affects your brain, caffeine is often referred to as a psychoactive drug.
FOODS AND DRINKS CONTAIN CAFFEINE
Caffeine is naturally found in the seeds, nuts, or leaves of certain plants. These natural sources are then harvested and processed to produce caffeinated foods and beverages.
Here are the amounts of caffeine expected per 8-ounce (240-ml) serving of some popular beverages:
Espresso: 240–720 mg
Coffee: 102–200 mg
Yerba mate: 65–130 mg
Energy drinks: 50–160 mg
Brewed tea: 40–120 mg
Soft drinks: 20–40 mg
Chocolate milk: 2–7 mg
Some foods also contain caffeine. For instance, 1 ounce (28 grams) of milk chocolate contains 1–15 mg, whereas 1 ounce of dark chocolate has 5-35 mg.
CREATINE
Creatine is a substance that is found naturally in muscle cells. It helps your muscles produce energy during heavy lifting or high-intensity exercise. Taking creatine as a supplement is very popular among athletes and bodybuilders in order to gain muscle, enhance strength and improve exercise performance. Several factors affect your body’s creatine stores, including meat intake, exercise, amount of muscle mass and levels of hormones like testosterone and IGF-1.
About 95% of your body’s creatine is stored in muscles in the form of phosphocreatine. The other 5% is found in your brain, kidneys and liver. Creatine also alters several cellular processes that lead to increased muscle mass, strength and recovery.
BENEFITS OF CREATINE
Creatine can improve health and athletic performance in several ways. In high-intensity exercise, its primary role is to increase the phosphocreatine stores in your muscles. The additional stores can then be used to produce more ATP, which is the key energy source for heavy lifting and high-intensity exercise.
It also helps you gain muscle in the following ways:
Boosted workload: Enables more total work or volume in a single training session, which is a key factor in long-term muscle growth.
Increased cell hydration: Lifts water content within your muscle cells, which causes a cell volumization effect that may play a role in muscle growth.
Lower myostatin levels: Elevated levels of the protein myostatin can slow or totally inhibit new muscle growth. Supplementing with creatine can reduce these levels, increasing growth potential.
Reduced protein breakdown: May increase total muscle mass by reducing muscle breakdown.
Improved cell signaling: Can increase satellite cell signaling, which aids muscle repair and new muscle growth.
Creatine supplements also increase phosphocreatine stores in your brain, which may improve brain health and prevent neurological disease. It is provides numerous benefits for health and performance. This can help if you are combining a ketogenic diet with exercise.
WHEY
Whey protein is the protein fraction of whey, which is a liquid that separates from milk during cheese production. It is a complete, high-quality protein, containing all of the essential amino acids. In addition, it is very digestible, absorbed from the gut quickly compared to other types of protein. There are three main types of whey protein powder, concentrate (WPC), isolate (WPI), and hydrolysate (WPH).
As a dietary supplement, whey protein is widely popular among bodybuilders, athletes, and others who want additional protein in their diet. Whey protein has been found to be effective at moderating blood sugar, increasing both the levels of insulin and the sensitivity to its effects. When compared with other sources of protein, such as egg white or fish, whey protein seems to have the upper hand.
As a result, it can be effectively used as a supplementary treatment for type 2 diabetes. Taking a whey protein supplement before or with a high-carb meal has been shown to moderate blood sugar in both healthy people and type 2 diabetics.
HOW TO USE IT
Whey protein is very easy to incorporate into the diet. It is sold as a powder that can be added to smoothies, yoghurts, or simply mixed with water or milk.
Keep in mind that taking too much protein is useless. The body can only utilize a limited amount of protein at a given time. 25-50 grams per day (1-2 scoops) is a commonly recommended dosage, but make sure to follow the dosage instructions on the packaging.
Excessive consumption may also cause digestive problems, such as nausea, pain, bloating, cramping, flatulence, and diarrhea. If you have ever had liver or kidney problems, then consult with a doctor before taking a protein supplement.
At the end, whey protein is not just a convenient way to boost your protein intake, it may have some powerful health benefits as well.
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