Keto Diet
Are you interested in trying the keto diet for weight loss or potential health benefits?
Well, this diet does supply some health benefits, as well as some drawbacks.
The goal of this Diet might be improvements in health or weight loss.
Today, I will be discussing this diet in detail so you can decide for yourself whether it is something you should try or not. So buckle up and get comfy!
What is the Keto Diet?
The Keto Diet is a very low carbohydrate, high fat and low to moderate protein style of eating.
The diet claims to help your body shift from burning sugar for fuel to mostly fat for fuel.
On this diet, you will probably eat about 20-50 grams of carbohydrates per day, or incidental carbs only. Contrast this to the diet recommended by the USDA, which contains about 150-400 grams of carbs per day, depending on your calorie needs and lifestyle.
By reducing carbohydrate intake, glucose levels fall. The body becomes more sensitive to insulin, and the body starts producing ketone bodies for energy instead of relying on carbohydrates. This is called ketosis.
High fat intake supplies the energy the body needs, instead of carbohydrates.
Only low or moderate protein intakes are acceptable, because too much protein in the diet can be converted to sugars and prevent you from reaching a state of ketosis, where you produce ketone bodies for energy.
Why was the Keto Diet Developed?
The Keto Diet was developed primarily as a medical diet.
It’s initial use was in helping to treat and reduce the severity of epilepsy and other neurological diseases.
This type of diet might also help slow cancer growth in those with cancer or pre-cancer.
While these might seem like magic health benefits, talk to a doctor before adopting this low carb diet if you have any of those conditions.
Interestingly, the this type of diet might also be recommended for those with Type 2 Diabetes, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome or other medical conditions. These conditions are often accompanied by poor glucose tolerance and metabolic syndrome.
So, a Ketogenic diet can help improve insulin sensitivity in a way that can help the management of these diseases.
It’s only in recent years that this ultra low carb diet has been embraced by some as a weight loss diet. As you will learn later, this type of diet is only one of many types of eating patterns that might promote weight loss. And it might not be best for some people.
What can you eat on a keto diet?
On a Keto Diet, you can eat lots of high fat foods that are low in carbs. Because this is a low carb diet, you cannot eat many fruits or even some vegetables. Starches like bread, pasta and rice are out of the question. One small apple, a food with about 18-20 grams of carbs, might be all the carbs you can eat for an entire day.
On this type of diet, you can eat many different types of meat, some vegetables, cheeses, a very limited selection of fruits, high fat nuts and seeds, cream and butter.
Keto Diet Food List
Here is a list of the foods you can eat on this popular diet plan.
- Beef
- Turkey
- Chicken
- Pork
- Lamb
- Shrimp
- Salmon
- Whitefish
- Cheese
- Cream
- Olive Oil
- Avocados
- Walnuts
- Almonds
- Cashews
- Nut Butters
- Eggs
- Lettuce
- Spinach
- Asparagus
- Leeks
- Celery
- Green Beans
- Berries
- Cottage Cheese
- Tuna
Foods to Avoid on the Keto Diet
Here are some foods to avoid on an ultra low carb diet.
- Apples
- Bananas
- Melon
- Berries
- Bread
- Pasta
- Rice
- Potatoes
- Sweet Potatoes
- Pineapple
- Milk
- Yogurt
- Oatmeal
- Tubers
- Cereal
- Beer
- Wine
- Carrots
- Tomatoes
- Sauces
- Condiments
- Ketchup
- Cakes
- Cookies
- Chips
- Popcorn
- Tortilla Chips
- Soda
Sample Diet Plan
Here is a sample Keto Diet Plan for a full day of eating. For breakfast, you may have eggs with spinach, bacon and coffee with cream. As a snack, you may have an ounce of almonds. At lunch, you eat salmon cooked in olive oil, asparagus and avocado. For a snack you eat 1/2 a cup of cottage cheese with just 1/4 cup of berries. Then for dinner, you have a six ounce fillet with grilled green vegetables and one pat of butter. And for dessert you eat one ounce of dark chocolate.
Macros for Keto Diets
A Keto diet is a high fat, moderate protein and low carb diet. Generally, you eat about 70-80 percent fat, 15 percent protein and only about 5 percent carbohydrates.
What are the Benefits of the Keto Diet?
This type of diet can have some health benefits.
First of all, this diet eliminates a lot of processed foods that are high in sugar. You will be eliminating your intake of cakes, cookies, soda and sugary condiments, which can be beneficial to your health.
The Keto Diet can also help you improve your insulin sensitivity if you are diabetic or pre-diabetic. This can greatly improve your metabolic health.
For many people, this type of diet can reduce your hunger and cravings, helping you stick to a lower calorie diet and lose weight easier.
However, it is important to note that it is the reduced calorie, not low carb, aspect of the Keto Diet that will lead to weight loss.
So, this type of eating will only help you lose weight and body fat if you are eating fewer calories overall. You might lose a bit of water weight in the first week or two of switching to a low carb diet, but otherwise, you won’t lose any fat or weight at all if you are eating too many calories.
What are the Drawbacks of the Keto Diet?
Despite some health benefits, the Keto Diet also contains many drawbacks.
First of all, a low carb plan might be tougher to stick to than a moderate carbohydrate plan.
This type of diet might also cause muscle loss. A low protein diet is not best for preserving or building muscle. In addition, muscle building workouts often require carbs for energy.
The keto diet also is not ideal for most athletes. Most athletes require carbs for fuel. Some athletes might perform well on a Keto diet, but will need an adaptation period first. Athletes should probably stick to the tried and true methods for sports performance! Even if you just like to run or lift recreationally, this might not be the best choice for you.
Health Drawbacks
Additionally, this type of diet might be bad for your liver. Fatty Liver might result from high fat intakes.
Actually, the keto diet might cause brain fog and grumpiness. The brain’s preferred energy is glucose. Without enough carbs, you might feel foggy and crabby.
Furthermore, this style of eating might not be good for your heart. High Saturated Fat Intake can lead to heart problems like clogged arteries and high cholesterol. Experts recommend no more than 20 grams of saturated fat per day, but the Keto Diet may include much more if you are eating a lot of animal-based fats.
While nutrition research is difficult to interpret, a high fat diet might not be good for your heart, brain, liver or body. Many dieticians do not recommend this style of eating.
Low fruit and fiber intakes along with high fat intakes might cause bowel problems like constipation. A limited intake of fruits and even vegetables may cause nutrient deficiencies. A limited intake of fruits might reduce powerful antioxidants and nutrients in your diet.
Additionally, the keto diet might even cause nutrient deficiencies that cause hair loss.
Also, the keto diet might mess up your hormone levels. Low carb intakes can cause hormonal and thyroid problems that may even mimic the effects of too little food intake .
Finally, the keto diet might even cause bad breath.
Keto Diet Pills and Supplements
Some pills or “Ketone Supplements like MCT oil promise to help you get into a state of ketosis.
However, these products won’t help you get into Ketosis unless you are eating a low carb diet with a low to moderate protein intake.
So, you do not need Ketone Pills or Supplements, even if you are using the Keto Diet.
Different Types of Keto Diets
There are many different types of Keto Diets. This list is not comprehensive, but will provide a good start to the different types of Keto Diets.
The standard keto diet includes about 70-80 percent fat, 10-20 percent protein and about 5 percent carbohydrates.
You could combine intermittent fasting with the Keto diet. This means you combine alternate periods of fasting with a low carb eating style. With this approach, you will go long stretches without eating and then eat low carb, high fat meals when you do eat.
You could try a carb cycling approach. This diet alternates low carb days with high carb days. You might eat low carb on rest days and include more carbs on workout days. Honestly, you might not achieve ketosis, but that might not be your goal anyway.
Some of these plans might provide more flexibility to make the Keto Diet work for you. Some approaches might push you out of ketosis, but still might give you some health benefits like weight loss or improved insulin sensitivity
Who should Try the Keto Diet?
The keto Diet may be a good choice for people who have trouble sticking to a regular reduced calorie diet, have cravings for sugary foods, or those with health conditions that may improve with a Keto Diet.
In addition, the Keto Diet can also be a useful short-term diet. For weight class athletes needing to cut weight before a competition, a keto diet can be used for the week prior to competition or for a day or two beforehand.
Actually, this approach works best when the days or week leading up to the competition does not require strenuous training. This type of diet can cause a pound or two of water weight than can be replenished with fluids in the hours before the competition.
Who Should not Try the Keto Diet?
People with heart disease, fatty liver, high cholesterol or other heart problems might be advised not to try the keto diet.
For some people, the drawbacks of the keto diet might not be worse for their health than staying at a healthy weight.
If you are unsure about this particular eating style for health, you might also want to discuss it with your doctor first.
The Keto Diet is an absolute NO for those with Type 1 Diabetes For people taking certain medications, the Keto Diet can cause Ketoacidosis. This is a dangerous medical condition.
The Keto Diet is also not advisable for most athletes. While higher fat diets and low processed food diets may have benefits for some athletes (click here), carbs are still needed for optimal performance!
Does the Keto Diet Work?
While the Keto Diet can work if strictly adhered to and a caloric deficit is used, it may prove too restrictive or might not be the best option for long-term health.
Some positives include reduced intake of sugar and processed foods, but some drawbacks might include high saturated fat intakes or side effects of a low carb intake.
Adherence is truly the best predictor of a diet’s success for weight loss or any health benefits.
If you prefer a low carb diet, you are not an athlete, you have some weight to lose and you feel a low carb, low calorie diet would be easy to stick to, go for it and try Keto with your doc’s permission.
If you would miss fruit and pasta too much and think you can better stick to a moderate carb, moderate fat diet, Keto might not be for you.
Final Thoughts
Just because you don’t want to adhere to a fully Ketogenic diet does not mean you can’t benefit from a lower carb, higher fat diet.
You can achieve the benefits of this plan with a more flexible plan that does not exclude carbs.
