Is the Keto Diet Right for You?
Are you interested in losing weight? Are
you tired of diets that advocate low or no fats and crave your high fat meats?
You may well be considering going on the keto diet, the new kid on the block.
Endorsed by many celebrities including Halle Berry, LeBron James and Kim
Kardashian among others, the keto diet has been the subject of much debate
among dietitians and doctors. Do you wonder if the keto diet is safe and right
for you?
What is the ketogenic diet
anyway?
You must be aware that the body uses sugar
in the form of glycogen to function. The keto diet that is extremely restricted
in sugar forces your body to use fat as fuel instead of sugar, since it does
not get enough sugar. When the body does not get enough sugar for fuel, the
liver is forced to turn the available fat into ketones that are used by the
body as fuel - hence the term ketogenic.
This diet is a high fat diet with moderate
amounts of protein. Depending on your carb intake the body reaches a state of
ketosis in less than a week and stays there. As fat is used instead of sugar
for fuel in the body, the weight loss is dramatic without any supposed
restriction of calories.
The keto diet is such that it you should
aim to get 60-75% of your daily calories from fat, 15-30% from protein and only
5-10% from carbohydrates. This usually means that you can eat only 20-50 grams
of carbs in a day.
What can you eat on this diet?
The diet is a high fat diet that is
somewhat similar to Atkins. However, there is greater emphasis on fats, usually
'good' fats. On the keto diet you can have
Coconut oil
Nut oils
Butter
Ghee
Grass fed beef
Chicken
Fish
Other meats
Full fat cheese
Eggs
Cream
Leafy greens
Non-starchy vegetables
Nuts
Seeds
You can also get a whole range of snacks
that are meant for keto followers. As you can see from this list, fruits are
restricted. You can have low sugar fruits in a limited quantity (mostly
berries), but will have to forego your favorite fruits as these are all sweet
and/or starchy.
This diet includes no grains of any kind,
starchy vegetables like potatoes (and all tubers), no sugar or sweets, no
breads and cakes, no beans and lentils, no pasta, no pizza and burgers and very
little alcohol. This also means no coffee with milk or tea with milk - in fact,
no milk and ice-creams and milk based desserts.
Many of these have workarounds as you can
get carbohydrate free pasta and pizza, you can have cauliflower rice and now
there are even restaurants that cater to keto aficionados.
What are the benefits of the keto diet?
If you are wondering if this diet is safe,
its proponents and those who have achieved their weight loss goals will
certainly agree that it is safe. Among the benefits of the keto diet you can expect:
Loss of weight
Reduced or no sugar spikes
Appetite control
Seizure controlling effect
Blood pressure normalizes in high blood
pressure patients
Reduced attacks of migraine
Type 2 diabetes patients on this diet may
be able to reduce their medications
Some benefits to those suffering from
cancer
Apart from the first four, there is not
sufficient evidence to support its effectiveness or otherwise for other
diseases as a lot more research is required over the long-term.
Are there any side-effects of this diet?
When you initially start the keto diet, you
can suffer from what is known as keto flu. These symptoms may not occur in all
people and usually start a few days after being on the diet, when your body is
in a state of ketosis. Some of the side-effects are:
Nausea
Cramps and tummy pain
Headache
Vomiting
Diarrhea and/or constipation
Muscle cramps
Dizziness and poor concentrations
Insomnia
Carbohydrate and sugar cravings
These may take up to a week to subside as
your body get used to the new diet regime. You can also suffer from other
problems when you start the keto diet - you may find that you have increased
urination, so it is important to keep yourself well hydrated. You may also
suffer from keto breath when your body reaches optimal ketosis and you can use
a mouthwash or brush your teeth more frequently.
Usually the side effects are temporary and
once your body acclimatizes to the new diet, these should disappear.
How safe is the keto diet?
Just like any other diet that restricts
foods in specific categories, the keto diet is not without risks. As you are
not supposed to eat many fruits and vegetables, beans and lentils and other
foods, you can suffer from lack of many essential nutrients. Since the diet is
high in saturated fats and, if you indulge in the 'bad' fats, you can have high
cholesterol levels upping your risk of heart disease.
In the long-term the keto diet can also
cause many nutritional deficiencies since you cannot eat grains, many fruits
and vegetables and miss out on fiber as also important vitamins, minerals,
phytonutrients and antioxidants among other things. You can suffer from
gastrointestinal distress, lowered bone density (no dairy and other sources of
calcium) and kidney and liver problems (the diet puts added stress on both the
organs).
Is the keto diet safe for you?
If you are willing to forego your usual
dietary staples and are really keen to lose weight, you may be tempted to try
out the keto diet. The biggest issue with this diet is poor patient compliance
thanks to the carbohydrate restriction, so you have to be sure that you can
live with your food choices. If you simply find it too difficult to follow, you
can go on a version of the modified keto diet that offers more carbs.
However, the keto diet is definitely
effective in helping you lose weight. According to a recent study many of the
obese patients followed were successful in losing weight. Any problems that
they faced were temporary. If you do not have any significant health problems
except for obesity and have been unsuccessful in losing weight following any
conventional diet, the keto diet may a viable option. You must be absolutely
determined to lose the weight and be prepared to go on a restricted diet as
specified. Even if you have any medical problems, you can take your doctor's
advice and a nutritionist's guidance and go on this diet.
Another study that was carried out for a
longer time showed that going on the keto diet is beneficial in weight loss and
also results in reduced cholesterol levels with a decrease in the bad
cholesterol and an increase in the good cholesterol.
Is the keto diet safe for you? Most doctors
and nutritionists are agreed that the keto diet is good for weight loss over
the short-term. As for the long-term, more studies are needed. Do keep in mind
that obesity is not an apt choice as it comes with its own risk of health
problems.
Smiti Munwani has been writing for a very
long time. She is a journalist, book author, content writer and dietitian. She
has had two books published, The Snack-Time Cookbook and Count Your Calories to
Slim and Stay Slim. She also has two books ready to be published, one on party
menus and another on cooking for a healthy heart. She can be contacted via
email: smitimunwani@gmail.com if anybody is interested in re-publishing the
books (she has the copyright) or requires any articles. She has written
extensively for the print media and done web content writing.
A versatile writer, Smiti writes on a wide
range of topics - please contact her via email for web content work. She writes
on health, medical, alternative remedies, family, relationships, diet, finance,
business, travel, beauty and other topics of general interest or niche
interests.
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