All About Ketogenic Diet
March 26, 2022
If there ever was a competition regarding the biggest fad of the decade, the winner would undoubtedly be the ketogenic diet. Read the following article to know why?
The word keto is derived from the clinical term ketosis which is a process that happens when your body does not have enough carbohydrates to burn energy. Instead, it burns fat to produce ketone bodies which substitute glucose as the metabolic fuel. Traditionally this mechanism was utilized only under certain specific medical conditions like epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, and moderately even diabetes. This diet does tend to result in weight loss due to the shift in your primary metabolic fuel that is fat but adapting it as a lifestyle modification solely for the purpose of losing weight is not advisable.
What does a ketogenic diet look like?
A ketogenic diet in simple words is a very low carb, moderate protein, and high-fat diet. It includes reducing and replacing carbohydrates with foods rich in fat.
The majority of your meal is based on:
Meat (red meat, chicken, ham, sausage, steak), Fatty fish (salmon, trout, tuna), eggs, butter and cream, cheese and spreads(cheddar, goat, cream, blue, mozzarella), nuts and seeds(almonds, walnuts, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds), healthy oils (extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil), avocados, soy or almond milk, low carb veggies (green veggies, onion, tomatoes, peppers), spices and condiments.
The ketogenic diet has many advanced versions that are formulated to suit a person’s body type especially athletes or bodybuilders.
However, the most extensively studied is the standard and high protein ketogenic diet which is followed.
Standard ketogenic diet: 70% fat, 20% protein, 10% carbs
High protein ketogenic diet: 60% fat, 35% protein, 5% carbs
Effects of following a ketogenic diet: Advantages and Disadvantages
A ketogenic diet does help in losing weight. It helps suppress hunger and also being low in carbs reduces insulin resistance which is beneficial in type 2 diabetes. Doctors put children who have epilepsy on a keto diet because it can help in preventing episodes of seizures. A ketogenic diet also has the potential to reduce the risk of developing metabolic syndrome and heart diseases. The benefits of this diet are primarily attributed to the low carb intake and not to the high-fat consumption.
The issue with this diet modification is the multiple risk factors that can counter back with a more devastating repercussion that was initially not even present. Firstly, the person who wishes to follow this kind of diet must be well educated about the food sources he is choosing from. For example, there are heart-healthy sources of fat but if the person is unaware and ends up consuming an excess amount of saturated fats if will put him/her at an added risk of developing heart disease. The fatty food sources also come along with their ways of messing up one’s lipid profile which puts you at an added risk of facing a health problem. The diabetic medication also needs to be adjusted within a few days or it can lead to a serious negative consequence. A keto diet could also lower blood pressure, lead to kidney stones, constipation, and nutritional deficiencies. It is not safe for people having any kind of conditions involving the pancreas, liver, thyroid, and gallbladder. This kind of diet can lead to social isolation and disordered eating plus it is difficult to be sustainable in the long run and the push back weight gain is faster and more drastic than your initial starting point.
Concluding this discussion by saying that a keto diet is not very realistic or sustainable, the lack of fiber and essential nutrient imbalance in the diet does not promote a holistic health approach.
