Every Thursday, ILQ features a different Qatari startup in our ‘Startup of the Week’ segment. Qatar has some of the most creative, unique, and impactful startups in the region, and we cover them all across a variety of industries in Doha—from fashion and beauty, to food and dining, health, education, and more!

This week, we're tying the tape measure to Keto.QA—a virtual initiative intended to spread awareness about the Ketogenic way of eating in Qatar. Thru Instagram, they answer questions on a daily basis and post information about the Keto diet and how people will be able to succeed on their weight loss journey and health in general.

According to a related article that we've posted a few weeks ago, Keto—short for ketogenic—is a low-carb, high-fat diet which induces a state of ketosis in the body, creating ketones that burn fat instead of the glucose converted from carbohydrates. To put it short, the keto diet forces your body to burn fat instead of sugar, which can lead to potential weight loss.

A metabolic state, ketosis helps your body function on fat when food is not readily available. This paves way to keto diet, which focuses mainly on 'starving' the body of carbohydrates, transforming the body into a fat-burning state and supplementing with optimal nutrition.

Ketosis is a natural process the body initiates to help us survive when food intake is low. During this state, we produce ketones, which are produced from the breakdown of fats in the liver. Our bodies are incredibly adaptive to what you put into it—when you overload it with fats and take away carbohydrates, it will begin to burn ketones as the primary energy source.

Based on reports, About 70% of people in Qatar are either obese or overweight with 40% of the population not doing any physical activity at all. The Ketogenic way of eating helps people reduce their body fat with or without exercise—although exercise is still recommended for general health.

Kevin, one of the founders, said that the idea of establishing an all-in-one information site started when he found out about keto. "I personally started eating the Ketogenic way last year mid-august and found out how great and effective it was. Being on a weight loss journey myself losing over 85KG, I've tried numerous kinds of diet plans but ended up finding out that nothing of them seemed to work. Until keto diet came to the picture and my whole life was changed," he continued.

Keto.QA was put up on Instagram on March 12, 2018 and currently, the page and has now grown to over 2,000 followers. Running for 5 months how, they've been giving advises to numerous like-minded people and also taking clients who want to try Keto while being guided.

The ketogenic diet differs vastly from other food and beverage offerings. The most noticeable is the fact that it relies on high-fat consumption. In Qatar nowadays, people seem to ignore the damage that sugar can do to one's body. "People have been totally misled that fat is the enemy but the truth is, fat is a more dense source of energy and sugar is the key driver to all major illnesses like cancer, tumors, diabetes and more," shared Kevin.

When asked how was the response like from their customers so far, Kevin said that the past 5-6 months has been great. He added: "We've taken a few clients in who wants to be personally guided on their day-to-day keto routine but primarily, we offer free advice to people and this is the most important part of Keto.QA. We, as much as possible, want people to learn and start the diet on their own and adapt it in their lifestyle."

Kevin also believes that startups like Keto.QA can greatly contribute to Qatar's overall economic growth. "We here at Keto.QA believes that a fitter and healthier public is key to a ever growing and progressive country like Qatar."

Dropping a query and gaining information are absolutely for FREE with Keto.QA. Dm them anytime and you will receive an answer right away. You can reach them here.

If you're looking for keto products in Qatar, click here.

Have you tried eating the keto way? If your answer's yes, what are the benefits that you're getting from it? Also, what are some of your favorite startups around Doha? Comment below! And also, don’t forget to give us a like and share—it keeps us going!

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Sonkie

Content writer

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