The ketogenic diet, let’s break down what all this hype is about.
I’m gonna tell you what it is, briefly how it works, and discuss some of the claims they’re most commonly made on the subject. Before we get into the ketogenic diet, let’s break down some very simple nutrition basics.
There’re three major macronutrient groups that we’re gonna be paying attention to: proteins, fats, and carbs. These are nutrients that you find in the foods you eat every single day. This standard American diet consists of 35% of fats, 15% of proteins, and 50% of carbs. Now if you’re looking at ketogenic diet, the numbers are quite different with 75% being fats, 20% being proteins, and only 5% being carbs.
Think about that, that’s 10 times less carbs than in an standard American diet. Let’s say you switch from your standard diet to a ketogenic diet. what happens inside of your body? Your body deals with this very low carb consumption in two ways:
- First, it enters a state called ketosis, which shifts your body’s energy source to a primarily fats. Which basically means that it breaks down fats into something known as ketones, hence ketosis, and then uses those for energy? Simply put, your body begins to burn fat as its primary energy source, and moves away from glucose, which is a carbohydrate. The process of going into ketosis does take a few days, and during those days. People experience some adverse side effects: brain fog, irritability, nausea, GI discomfort. Some people label this the “Keto Flu.”
- The second process your body uses is gluconeogenesis, which sounds scary, but it’s really not. All it is is your body creating glucose because now all cells can function on fats alone. Fun fact here, for survival purposes, you don’t need to consume any carbs as long as you’re getting enough fats and proteins.
Now where did all of this hype for the ketogenic diet come from? Let’s take a look at the claims and find out what’s true, and what’s not.
Claim number one:
the ketogenic diet is good for weight loss. Yeah, the ketogenic diet is good for weight loss, and this happens through two important mechanisms:
First, since you’re using fats as your primary energy source, you’re burning a lot of stored fat. Second, because fat is very satiating, makes you feel full, when you eat a high fat content meal, you actually don’t want to eat as much. Therefore, you limit the amount of calories you take in throughout the day. A lot of people are surprised that when they start the ketogenic diet, that they lose weight very quickly. but that’s a little misleading because the majority of the weight loss initially comes from water loss, not fat loss. For those of you seeking long-term weight loss, the ketogenic diet is not super sustainable.
Claim number two:
The ketogenic diet is good for the brain. The truth of the matter is the jury’s still out on this one. because science hasn’t given us the answer. The research on this area just hasn’t been completed yet.
Anecdotally, some people say they feel more focused or sharper when on a ketogenic diet. I don’t like using anecdotes as reasons why a certain diet is good or not.
I need quality research, which I just don’t have.
Claim number three:
A keto diet prevents, or manages, many chronic diseases. This is a yes and no answer, where a keto diet really shines is in Type II Diabetes.
Because when you have Type II Diabetes, you have insulin sensitivity issues, you have high sugar content in the blood, and research has shown over and over again that the ketogenic diet for Type II Diabetes works.
We have to talk about Childhood Epilepsy because that’s where the keto diet actually got its roots. We can actually prescribe the ketogenic diet to children who have refractory epileptic seizures, and what we find is once they get into a state of ketosis, they have a decreased frequency of these seizures.
It works, it’s proven, and it’s evidence-based science.
The ketogenic diet has shown some promise in the field of oncology, aka cancer.
It’s not ready to be a prime time cancer treatment just yet, and the research doesn’t fully support it to be a preventive measure for developing cancer.
But what we do know is that some promises there, and more research needs to be done. Some harms that can stem from following a ketogenic diet: nutritional deficiencies from cutting out large groups, and increase in your “bad” LDL cholesterol, kidney issues, bone issues, and even the increase of some certain cancers when you’re overeating foods like processed or red meat.
My final thoughts on the keto diet, I think it’s a good diet for weight loss. I think it’s better for short-term weight loss than long-term weight loss.
So if you have a wedding that you’re getting ready for, or some kind of big event that’s upcoming, and you’re otherwise healthy. I don’t think it’s a bad diet to go along.
The fact that the diet is very difficult to adhere to because of how much you have to drastically change your eating patterns of the possible adverse effects that can come from following the diet. and frankly, from the lack of knowledge, and the lack of research we have on its long-term effects. all put into question and really encourage me to not recommend this diet to the majority of to you at home.