Is The Ketogenic Diet Right For You?
You’ve heard about The Ketogenic Diet; you may have friends on it or even be considering it yourself. Before you jump into this decision, read below to educate yourself on the latest diet craze.
The Ketogenic Diet is a low carb, high fat diet, which sends your body into something called ketosis. Ketosis is when your body runs out of glucose for energy, so it starts using fat to keep your body energized and functioning. This sounds great, right? Well, yes and no.
Let’s first take a look at the average diet compared to the Ketogenic Diet:
- An average diet: 50 percent carbs, 20 percent protein, and 30 percent fat.
- The Ketogenic Diet: 5-10 percent carbs, 15-25 percent protein, 70-80 percent fat.
With a heavy focus on fat and protein, those on the Ketogenic Diet are likely to experience weight loss because it takes longer for the body to digest these foods, leaving you less hungry throughout the day. It's also said that the Ketogenic Diet helps with blood sugar control, blood lipids going down, and mental acuity going up. Though, it’s important to note, it is unclear if this is because of the ketosis or because the diet results in less empty calories from foods like sugar and white flour.
On the flip side, reducing carbs by 40 percent compared to the average diet, those on the Ketogenic Diet consume 19 grams of carbs for a 1500 calorie per day diet, which is equivalent to only 1.5 cups of veggies or 1 apple. We’ve all heard of cutting back, but this may be too extreme.
Carbs help your body run efficiently, promote muscle growth, build endurance, and energize us through the day. So, while you will burn fat and lose weight quickly on this diet, is it worth the risks that come with extreme carb cutting?
Here’s a more detailed look at the potentially negative side effects of the Ketogenic diet:
- High levels of ketones can poison the body, leading to a process called ketoacidosis. Most likely ketoacidosis won’t happen to a healthy individual, but the ketogenic diet is acidic for your body nonetheless.
- Because there are limited food groups on this diet, people end up eating close to 50 percent protein, which can be hard on your organs in the long term (liver, kidney, heart).
- Nutrient deficiencies can happen when you cut out multiple food groups if you fail to use vitamin and mineral supplements.
- Negative symptoms can occur, especially at the beginning of the diet plan, such as fatigue, dizziness, bad breath, and digestive issues – including constipation from a lack of fiber from fruits, veggies, and grains.
- Low carb diets may cause loss of muscle mass.
- High protein, high acid diets can cause kidney stones and bone breakdown.
- It’s common to eat too little calories and nutrients on this diet, which can result in possible medical issues, as well as failure to stick with the diet due to hunger.
- Increased risk of high cholesterol due to the high fat intake.
Putting it simply, this diet is hard to stick to and follow correctly. Fortunately, there are plenty of nutrition plans that you can sustain for a lifetime. Look for a plan that promotes consuming real whole foods; vegetables, fruit, whole grains, beans, nuts, seeds, dairy, lean meats, and seafood. Remember to be realistic with yourself and your body. Practice portion control and allow yourself a few small cheats a week.
If you insist on following the Ketogenic Diet, it’s a good idea to be monitored by a doctor and/or a dietitian to make sure it’s a good fit and you are doing it safely.