Educogym is a network of gyms based around the country. It has been suggesting its clients take up the ketogenic diet in some of its fitness programmes for the past number of years. Jamie Myerscough, chief executive of Educogym, who helped Darren Clarke and Robbie Williams get in shape with a combination of the ketogenic diet and resistance exercise, tells us why.
1How did Educo come to connect with the ketogenic diet? We focus on two principles. Firstly, as a person ages they naturally lose muscle tissue which largely drives a person's metabolism. The reason a person gains weight is largely because their metabolism slows down as they get older and their insulin levels are too high and they store fat. In assessing the research behind different diets, we realised the ketogenic diet is both great at allowing a person to hold on to muscle while losing fat, and it's extremely low Glycemic, which helps to prevent fat storage.
2 Why keto rather than low fat? Research indicates that people find it easier to follow a ketogenic diet than a low-fat diet. This is probably due to the fact that a diet high in fat is both satiating which makes you feel full, and tastes great, as fat tends to carry flavour.
3 What are the benefits? It appears to cause the body to just lose fat and hold on to lean tissue. Even if the diet is low calorie, it appears to still do this.
4 Are there risks? If someone was very sloppy with this type of diet, it may cause them to gain weight rapidly. Consuming lots of fat while having high insulin levels is very unhealthy, and, in some cases, could be quite dangerous. For those genetically disposed to high cholesterol it may not be suitable. It is very important that the majority of the fats consumed should be from healthy monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fat groups rather than from saturated fats.
5 Have you had any success stories with it? I used this approach with professional golfer and Ryder Cup captain Darren Clarke and during the first three months he lost an incredible 50 lbs. I also used the ketogenic approach when I started to train pop star Robbie Williams before his tour and he also achieved great results.