Learning Keto

Carnivore diet: (the latest diet crave since keto!) a strictly meat- or animal-based diet; unlike keto, carnivore is essentially zero-carbs with the exception of organ meat, which contains some carbs; removing carbs may lead to improved insulin sensitivity and reduced inflammation
Clean keto: ketogenic supportive foods that come from whole and natural foods with healthy fats, moderate high-quality protein, and low nutrient-dense carbohydrates; macronutrient breakdown that supports low carb, moderate protein and higher fat (includes body and dietary fat)
Cyclic keto: incorporating a day or two of carbohydrate consumption in a week and following a keto diet the rest of the days
Dirty keto: same macronutrient breakdown as clean keto, but their sources may include refined and processed ketogenic foods like conventional dairy/cheese, pork rinds and fast-food burgers (without the bun, of course); check out this post HERE or HERE or HERE
Eating window: the timeframe that your eating falls within; for example, you “break the fast” at 9 AM and you conclude eating at 3 PM then fast from 3 PM until you break your fast; usually used in conjunction with intermittent fasting
Fat-adapted: as defined by Healthful Pursuit’s Leanne Vogel, “is state of pure fat-burning where your body has climatized to low-carb eating enough that it sees fat as its primary fuel source. This fat adaptation process can take two, three, sometimes four weeks to complete after beginning to eat keto.”
Fatty Acids: building blocks of fat (one of 3 macronutrients) in food and the body; during digestion fat is broken down into fatty acids, which can be absorbed into the blood
Intermittent fasting [IF]: fasting in intervals such as 16 hours without food and 8 hours of eating; simply put, periods of no food with periods of normal eating
Keto: abbreviation for ketogenic
Ketoacidosis: typically only occurs in diabetics, specifically type I; a metabolic state where blood glucose levels and ketone bodies are both high; check HERE for a list of symptoms
Keto-adapted: a stage where the body and cells can use fat as the primary fuel source; often leads to fewer cravings, feeling full longer, improved moods, improved sleep and increased energy
Keto flu: symptoms associated with the body adapting to a ketogenic diet; usually a result of electrolyte imbalance and/or dehydration; symptoms like nausea, constipation, headaches, fatigue/low energy, moodiness and possible food/sugar cravings (body’s demand for glucose)
Ketogenesis: the biochemical process of breaking fatty acids into ketones/ketone bodies
Ketones: created by the liver and made from free fatty acids during fat metabolism; the body has no storage capacity for ketones, so must be excreted or used; typically produced during carbohydrate restriction or fasting
Ketone bodies: also called ketones; compounds include acetone, acetoacetic acid and beta-hydroxbutyric acid
Ketosis: a metabolic state where the body uses ketones (fat burner) for fuel instead of glucose or glycogen (sugar burner)
Lazy Keto: a low-carb approach with a belief in the science of ketogenic diet — laid-back approach to the keto trend; this approach removes careful macro tracking and puts a loose tracking of the carbohydrate intake to under 50 grams per day; not likely to become keto-adapted or reach nutritional ketosis though
Low carbohydrate/carb: carbohydrates are one of the 3 macronutrients used by the body for energy; for true ketogenic diet would account for 20 grams of total carbs; for moderate LC diet total carbs are generally 20-50 grams and a liberal LC diet consists of 50-100 grams of total carbs
LCHF: abbreviation for Low Carb/High Fat
Metabolic flexibility: the capacity of your metabolism to match fuel source to fuel availability; ability to switch between burning carbs (glucose as fuel) and burning fat (ketones as fuel); Mark Sisson explains this concept HERE
Nutritional ketosis: shifting the body’s primary fuel preference from glucose to ketone bodies; blood ketone levels 0.5-3.0 mmol/L (millimoles per litre)
Targeted keto: consuming carbs around workout or competition sessions and maintaining a ketogenic diet the rest of the time; thought to improve athletic gains and exercise performance
Well-formulated ketogenic/keto diet: a term coined by Volek and Phinney; according to Craig and Maria Emmerich in their book, Keto, “it is nutrient-dense…supplies enough protein to preserve lean [body] mass…reduces carbs to ensure that you stay in ketosis,…[and] helps you remember that to lose fat, you need to use more stored body fat and less dietary fat…” (p 77)

I am sure I have missed a term or two, but this is a good start of the most common ketogenic diet terminology. As I discover more terms you might be curious about, I will add them to above list.