Does Keto Diet Help BJJ Grapplers?

The Keto diet is formally known as the “ketogenic diet” and aims to attain more calories from protein and fats and utilize fewer carbohydrates to make your body fit. The Keto diet's purpose is to reduce body fat and decrease muscle mass for grappling sports practitioners. You have to reduce carbs by cutting food that is easy to digest like carbonated sodas, white bread, and bakery items.

According to the expert, MS William Jarosh

A big benefit of the keto diet is that it can turn fat into muscle mass during intense training. An increase in muscle-to-fat ratio improves the amount of oxygen in your body. The reduction of carbs intake triggers ketosis, which means your body starts producing ketone bodies from the stored fat to carry on its working.

The Keto diet gained popularity when professional athletes followed the diet for weight loss and weight maintenance, ultimately it improved their performance. Studies show that excess carbohydrate storage limits the performance of physical activities.

Carbohydrates are stored in muscle tissues, liver tissues, and the bloodstream. The higher amount of carbohydrates compromises athletic agility. Training with low muscle glycogen promotes positive changes at the molecular level thus enhancing the endurance capacity of BJJ grapplers.

Moreover, a ketogenic diet with an exercise routine resists lactate accumulation resulting in a fast recovery process. This shows that a decreased amount of carbohydrates through ketosis produce beneficial results for athletes.

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The keto diet is effective when we cut 5-10 % of daily carbohydrate intake. The science behind the keto diet is to replace carbs with highly-fat saturated foods like coconuts, avocados, red meat, and seeds.

The amount of protein intake is increased by 30-40%. With a restricted diet, insulin levels are low in your body. As insulin regulates the number of carbs, protein, and fats in your body, with less insulin, there is less glycogen production and less absorption in muscles. At that time your body will enter into a ketosis state and it will start burning body fat.

In the ketosis state, keto rapidly affects body retention and weight loss procedures.

Intermittent fasting is also an effective procedure for weight loss and cutting weight. Cutting weight refers to losing weight in a short span of time and is often adopted by fighters while preparing for a specific weight category. It helps the body to enter into the ketosis state faster. Some people opt for 24 hours of intermittent fasting. There are many variations in intermittent fasting but the most common schedule is 8/16, Eight hours eating and 16 hours fasting. Consult with your coach before starting intermittent fasting.

There are certain symptoms that show that your body has entered a ketosis state. It includes

• Thirst
• Dry mouth
• Frequent urination
• No appetite

There are several variations in the ketogenic diet.

This diet aims to be low carb with moderate protein and high fats.

This diet involves intervals of low and high carbs. After every five ketogenic days follow two high carb days.

TKD aims to add carbs during BJJ workouts

In a high protein ketogenic diet, the amount of proteins is slightly high.  

When the body enters the ketosis state, BJJ athletes have reported symptoms of dizziness, headaches, and gastrointestinal issues but after one to two weeks of the keto diet, everything normalizes. When you feel these symptoms you can increase your carbs intake until the symptoms fade away, then slowly restart cutting carbs. Other side effects include:

• Muscle aches
• Bad breath
• Irritability
• Constipation
• Fatigue
• Sugar cravings
• Irregular menstrual cycles
• Decreased bone density

Research revealed that keto diets can cause changes in libido.

According to the bariatric doctor,  Dr. Nancy P. Rahnama:

But according to Stephanie McKercher, the research studies are still limited and extensive research is required to talk about the side effects of the keto diet.

When you are following a keto diet, ketones are produced. It shows the low production of glycogen in your body. This decreased production is caused by less intake of carbs and sugars. In the ketosis state, the body burns ketones found in the human blood instead of glucose or glycogen for the consumption of energy.

According to the researcher Rehnama:

When you are following a keto diet plan your water intake should be enough as water will help to remove excess fat and toxins from the body. Water will also save you from dehydration. Otherwise, you may experience fatigue, mood swings, dizziness, flu or cold-like symptoms, and muscle stiffness.

Your body may crave sugary items. You find difficulty in concentrating on your mundane chores. Brain fog is a common symptom you may experience during ketosis. But all these symptoms last for one to two weeks.

When the amount of electrolytes are low in the body, most of the nutrients like sodium, magnesium, and potassium are lost during urination.

According to Dr. Nancy P. Rahnama:

The adequate concentration of electrolytes is essential for the normal working of the human heart.

She added:

Around 40-50% of people following restrictive diets, have difficulty maintaining them for a long time. This may cause adverse effects on the human body.

Weight loss procedures and data are often confusing for medical practitioners. It is evident that long-term use of highly saturated fats causes a high risk to health. But this doesn't happen when a heavy-weight person loses weight resulting in better blood lipids and improved blood sugar circulation.

The Keto diet is restrictive to some leafy vegetables and fruits. You have to take a low amount of fiber and certain important nutrients.

According to Sharon Palmer:

Following high-carb foods should be avoided during the ketogenic diet

During a ketogenic diet, add these foods to your meal plan for weight loss.

In case you get hungry between meals you can eat the following healthy snacks for your keto diet.

• Dark Chocolate
• Berries ( Any kind of berries are healthy for your gut)
• Cottage Cheese
• Boiled Eggs
• Avocado Roll
• Dry Fruits
• Beef Stick
• Chicken Bites

Following are the useful supplements that can help BJJ athletes in their keto diet with training.

Womens can follow a keto diet plan safely to reduce weight at any age.

Follow a one-week keto diet plan to cut weight.

Our body reserves a large amount of energy in the form of fat. If the BJJ grapplers follow the ketogenic diet they can easily perform longer training sessions at maximum energy levels. This will allow them to gain maximum exercise benefits with accelerated recovery time.

Take useful supplements regularly and follow a healthy keto diet plan which not only fulfills your daily caloric needs but helps you to build muscles and maintain your energy levels.