The Keto Diet and Weight Loss

If you have had a desire to shed some extra pounds, then perhaps you could have come across ketogenic diet, which is popularly known as Keto diet. It is a popular weight loss plan that promises significant weight loss in a short time.

But far from what most people believe it to be, the diet is not a magical tool for weight loss. Just like any other diet, it takes time, requires a lot of adjustment and tracking to see results.

https://2u.pw/Gv2Fv

What is the Keto diet?

The keto diet is aimed at putting your body in Ketosis. This diet plan is usually low carb with high intake of healthy fats, vegetables and sufficient proteins. In the this diet, there is also an emphasis on avoiding highly processed foods and sugars.

https://2u.pw/We5YU

There are several types of Keto diets: standard ketogenic, cyclical, targeted and the high-protein diets. The difference in them depends on the carb intake. The standard ketogenic diet is low carb, high fat and adequate protein is the most recommended.

https://2u.pw/Gv2Fv

Is the Keto Diet Safe?

Most critics of the Keto diet say that it is not safe because of the emphasis on consuming high fat content. This is guided by the misconception that fats are bad for you. On the contrary, healthy fats are actually very good for you.

With this diet, you get lots of fats from healthy sources like avocado, nuts, fish, butter, eggs, coconut oil, palm oil, seeds like chia and red meat.

How Does the Keto Diet Aid in Weight Loss?

So how does the keto diet really work and help your body lose excess pounds? When on a high carb diet, your body uses glucose from carbohydrates and sugars to fuel body activities. When on a ketogenic diet, you supply the body with minimal amounts of carbs and sugars.

https://2u.pw/We5YU

With reduced sugar and carbs supply, the glucose levels in the body are depleted causing the body to look for alternative energy sources. The body therefore turns to stored fats for energy which is why the Keto diet leads to weight loss.

https://2u.pw/Gv2Fv

This condition where your body burns fats for energy other than carbs is called ketosis. When your body goes into ketosis, it produced ketones as the fuel source rather than depending on glucose. Ketones and glucose are the only two power sources that fuel the brain.

Benefits of Ketosis and the Keto diet

Besides just aiding in weight loss, putting the body in ketosis comes with other health benefits too. Here are some of them:

Enhanced mental clarity

Improved physical energy

Steady blood sugar levels which makes it a good remedy for epilepsy and diabetes

Improved and enhanced skin tones

Lower cholesterol levels

Hormone regulation especially in women

The Ketogenic diet is one of the best diets you can follow for weight loss and to enhance your overall health. The diet can also be used for children who are overweight. There are numerous studies that support the diet showing significant results especially when coupled with exe

https://2u.pw/Gv2Fv

https://2u.pw/We5YU

The Keto Diet & You: Good Fit?

The ketogenic diet has been described as the biggest diet sensation - ever - in the nutrition industry. So it's worth looking into for that reason alone.

A ketogenic diet is very high in fat (about 75%), moderate in protein (about 20%), and very low in carbohydrates (about 5%). It's intended to put the body into a state of ketosis. In ketosis, the body breaks down fat to create ketones for energy, rather than burning glucose.

Benefits of Keto?

Ketosis benefits we typically hear about are weight loss, increased HDL ("good") cholesterol, and improvement in type 2 diabetes, as well as decreased epileptic seizure activity and inhibition of cancerous tumor growth.

Small studies have shown promise for women with PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome), an insulin-related condition. This may be due to its possible (not conclusive) ability to reset insulin sensitivity.

Everything Old Is New Again?

The current Keto diet is not the first time we've targeted carbs as a dietary villain. Medical trials with low-carb eating and/or fasting go back to the 1850s and even earlier.

In 1967, Stillman introduced The Doctor's Quick Weight Loss Diet, featuring essentially nothing but low-fat protein and water.

Next came the Atkins diet in 1972, high in fat and protein, low in carbs. It helped with weight loss and also with diabetes, hypertension and other metabolic conditions. It's still popular today.

In 1996, Eades and Eades introduced Protein Power, a very low-carb diet that seemed to help patients with obesity, hypertension, high cholesterol, and/or diabetes.

So reducing carbs, as the Keto diet does, has a history of helping people lose weight and/or improve metabolic factors. Anecdotal evidence supports that.

Does Keto Have Any Other Benefits?

Probable benefits may be seen with neurodegenerative conditions, such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's or Parkinson's, likely because these brain disorders are related to metabolic disorders. In fact, Alzheimer's is now called Type 3 diabetes.

Care for these conditions is best done under medical supervision.

Ketones also appear to improve traumatic brain injury, based on research done on rats.

In the Interest of Full Disclosure...

Initial weight loss with the Keto diet is rapid. The body has used its stored glycogen (carb stored in muscle) and dumped the water that's stored with it. After that, weight loss may continue, but at a slower rate.

Metabolism shows an initial increase that seems to disappear within 4 weeks.

Keto doesn't appear to offer long-term advantages in either fat loss or lean mass gains.

In some people, Keto seems to increase LDL ("bad") cholesterol.

What About Negative Effects?

The usually mentioned "cons" of a ketogenic diet are nutrient deficiencies due to missing food groups and an unpleasant transitional state called "Keto flu," which may last for days. It comprises hunger, dehydration, headaches, nausea, fatigue, irritability, constipation, brain fog, sluggishness, poor focus, and lack of motivation. Because these symptoms are so similar to those of people quitting caffeine, Keto has been posited as a "detox" plan.

Other negatives include problems with gut health on such a low-fiber diet and difficulties with adherence.

Regarding workouts, the Keto diet probably offers no advantage for most people. In fact, the glycogen depletion it induces may lead to hitting the wall (bonking). Athletic performance involving speed and power may be lower without glucose and carbohydrates as fuel.

The International Olympic Committee has urged athletes to avoid low-carb diets. They may lead to poor training adaptations and decreases in both power output and endurance. A colleague of mine induced cardiac arrhythmias in rats exercising on a low-carb diet.

Due to the low-carb nature of the Keto plan, my concern is how women may fare with respect to serotonin synthesis and function. Carbs play a significant role in transporting tryptophan (the serotonin precursor) to the brain, so serotonin levels might drop without those carbs. How does that affect women in terms of mood, appetite, impulsivity, and more?

What's the Bottom Line?

Keto seems to be viable for short-term weight-loss and the other health issues described above. Whether the approach is suitable long-term is still in debate. Its benefits are still in debate, as well. Critics cite possible kidney damage and the lack of long-term studies and scientific evidence.

Overall, Keto seems to be neither a long-term cure nor the ideal solution for those who just want to "be healthier." Not least, the diet is difficult for many people to follow consistently.

A preferable long-term food plan might be a more balanced one that's low in sugar and "junky" carbs and emphasizes healthful, high-fiber foods, including vegetables.