The ketogenic diet is a high fat, low-carbohydrate, and low-protein diet. This diet is meant to enhance the body’s dependence on fatty acids as a source of energy rather than on glucose.
In this diet, there must be an exact calculation on the daily allowances of fat, carbs, and protein. Compounding pharmacists work with caregivers or patients and their dieticians to prepare drugs whose carbohydrate content is determined precisely.
American Integrative Pharmacy (AIP), led by Dr. Neema Yazdanpanah, provides compounded medications to patients in Long Beach, Torrance, Los Angeles, South Bay Orange County, Southern California areas, and nationwide.
The Challenge of Precise Calculations
The ketogenic diet is frequently used as a treatment option for young children suffering from refractory seizure disorders or inborn metabolic defects.
For the success of this treatment, precise calculations for daily allowances of fats, carbohydrates, and proteins are essential.
Pediatric patients on a ketogenic diet often take compounding pharmacy medications. Therefore, it is necessary to calculate the carbohydrate content in the compounded drugs. It can be quite a time consuming to research and try to determine the carbohydrate content of compounded drugs.
What is the Ketogenic Diet?
The ketogenic diet, commonly known as keto, involves the consumption of high amounts of fat and small quantities of carbohydrates to enter ketosis. Upon entering ketosis, the body burns ketones (rather than glucose) for fuel. This offers multiple physiological benefits to the body.
But the key question is why someone would want to eat fat rather than carbs? When a person consumes a high amount of carbs, these convert into glucose in the liver.
This prompts the body to create insulin (commonly known as an insulin spike, causing insulin resistance), to help deliver glucose through the bloodstream.
Glucose will always remain the preferred energy source for the body. The body will resist burning fat in the presence of glucose. However, the body is forced to burn fat for fuel when carbohydrates are eliminated from the diet and replaced with fat.
Ketogenic Diet Macronutrients
Just how much fat should be consumed? The following percentages offer a guideline for fat, carbs (or macros), and proteins in the keto diet. This is called the macronutrient breakdown.
- 70 to 80 percent of calories from fats
- 20 to 25 percent calories from protein
- 5 to 10 percent calories from carbohydrates
In the section below, these percentages are broken down into grams. It is important to use these only as a guideline. Every person’s macronutrient needs will differ depending on their specific lifestyle.
Fat Intake
Fat is the foundation of the ketogenic diet, comprising a majority of calories. A person consuming 2,000 calories daily would need to eat 144 to 177 grams of fat. Fat comprises 70 to 80 percent of the calories. As fat is the primary source of nutrition on a keto diet, it is vital to source high-quality, healthy fats.
Protein Intake
Protein is also a very crucial element of keto. In an ideal scenario, a person should intake 0.8 grams of protein per pound of lean body mass. This will prevent the loss of muscle.
Lean body mass can be calculated as follows:
- Determine the body fat percentage.
- Subtract the body fat percentage from 100 percent. This equals the lean body mass percentage.
- Multiply the lean body mass percentage by the total weight.
American Integrative Pharmacy offers both modern and traditional compounding solutions, including online prescription refills, to patients in Long Beach, Torrance, Los Angeles, South Bay Orange County, Southern California areas, and nationwide.
For more information on compound pharmacy medications available or to make an online prescription purchase, please click here or call Toll Free 1-855-247-7948.
American Integrative Pharmacy is located in Lomita, CA serving residents in and around Orange County, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Torrance and surrounding areas. Online prescription sales are available across the US.
