The Ketogenic Diet: Metabolic Processes and Energy Production

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the ketogenic diet, starting with its historical context and evolution from a therapeutic approach to a popular weight loss method. It explains the fundamental principles of the ketogenic diet, including its impact on blood glucose levels, insulin secretion, and the subsequent catabolic state. The report delves into the metabolic processes of glycogenesis and ketogenesis, detailing how the body produces and utilizes ketone bodies for energy, particularly in the absence of sufficient carbohydrates. It also highlights the role of ketone bodies in providing energy to various organs, including the brain. Furthermore, the report discusses factors influencing ketone body production, such as basal metabolic rate and body mass index, and compares the energy yield of ketone bodies to glucose, emphasizing their role as a 'super fuel'. The report also references a study to support its claims.

Adaptation of the Ketogenic Diet
What is Ketogenic Diet: The term 'ketogenic diet' was first articulated by Dr Russel Wilder in
1921. It was first formulated by doctors to help people treating epilepsy. Initially, ketogenic
diet was widely used in the medical practices in the form of a therapeutic diet. But later it’s
usage has been challenged because of the existence of antiepileptic agents. Later on, it gained
rapid popularity as a method of weight loss in the short run and became quite effective.
A Ketogenic diet is a particular form of diet that helps the human body to discharge Ketone
into the bloodstream. A keto diet is full of proteins and fats and lacks carbohydrate. In
general, our body cells gain necessary energy from blood sugar, which comes from
carbohydrate. But when our body does not get enough carbohydrate, as ketogenic diet
reduces the carbohydrate intake in our body less than 50 gram, it also reduces the insulin
secretion in a major way, and our body comes to a catabolic state. This allows our body to
experience a certain metabolic change as the glycogen quantity of our body also decreases.
When the quantity of available carbohydrate is relatively lesser, then two metabolic processes
occur in our body. One is glycogenesis, and the other one is ketogenesis. Glycogenesis is a
process which formulates within our body by reproducing glucose. It mainly forms in the
liver with the help of lactic acid, amino acid, glycerol, etc. The time when the availability of
glucose reduces further, then the within body production of glucose is not considered
sufficient to keep up with the requirements of the body, and the process named ketogenesis
starts to fill up the gap and provide necessary energy to the body by acting as an alternative
source of energy. This time blood glucose quantity and insulin discharge remain very low,
reducing the spur for fat and glucose storage. Adding to that, several hormonal changes also
occur at this time, which acts as a catalyst to increase the breakdown of body fat and create
fatty acids. These fatty acids later form beta-hydroxybutyrate and acetone. These ketone
substances gather in our body at the time of ketogenic diet. The metabolic state related to it is
named as 'nutritional ketosis’.
The ketone bodies at the time of ketogenic diet are used to provide energy to organisms like
heart, kidney, muscle tissues, etc. These ketone bodies can even sidestep the blood-brain
barrier and supply an alternate energy source to the brain. There are few factors which control
the ketone body production, such as Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), body mass index (BMI),
body fat percentage (BFP), etc. Ketone bodies are capable of producing more adenosine
triphosphate than glucose. That is why it is called as 'super fuel'. A hundred grams of
acetoacetate forms nearly 9400 grams of ATP and 100 grams of beta-hydroxybuHundertyrate
forms 10,500 grams of ATP. This energy maintains sufficient fuel reproduction, even at the
time of the caloric deficiency. It also reduces radical damage and increases antioxidant
capacity (Masood and Uppaluri, 2019).

Reference:
Masood, W. and Uppaluri, K. (2019). Ketogenic Diet. [online] Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. Available
at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK499830/ [Accessed 3 Sep. 2019].