Are you interested in healthy eating? Are you looking for ways to lose weight or improve your health? Then you’ve probably heard about the benefits of the keto diet. It’s often described as a true panacea. But can this diet really help normalize your weight? Can it improve your mood, boost energy, and enhance endurance? Is it capable of lowering cholesterol levels and making your skin healthy and glowing? In this article, we’ll explore what’s true about the keto diet and what its advantages and disadvantages are.
What Is the Keto Diet?
Typically, carbohydrates are the primary source of energy for the human body. They are quickly converted into glucose, which is then distributed throughout the body to provide energy. The keto diet changes this system. It’s a unique dietary approach that involves almost completely eliminating carbohydrates and moderately consuming proteins. Fats become the main source of energy and nutrients.
What happens if you don’t give your body carbohydrates? It seeks an alternative energy source. Our liver can break down fats into fatty acids and ketone bodies, which can replace glucose and provide energy to all organs, including the brain.
It’s worth noting that the keto diet was first developed in 1921 to treat epilepsy in children. Indeed, a high level of ketone bodies in the blood can reduce the number of epileptic seizures in some cases. For healthy individuals, this diet is not harmful; on the contrary, it can increase energy levels and improve mental clarity.
Also read our article: Healthy Eating – Rules, Tips, and Recipes
Principles of the Keto Diet
The keto diet works based on the body’s ability to derive energy from ketone bodies just as it does from carbohydrates. If you adjust your diet to consist mainly of fats, the body enters a state of ketosis. The liver produces ketone bodies, which become the energy source, replacing the usual glucose.
The transition to ketosis is not very pleasant. You may experience weakness and symptoms similar to a cold. This is not surprising, as the body is adapting to a new “fuel.” Once it transitions to the new state, you’ll feel better, your mood will improve, energy levels will increase, and endurance will rise.
In the state of ketosis, not only dietary fats are broken down, but also visceral fat, which is ideal for synthesizing ketone bodies. Simultaneously, the amount of water in the body decreases since fat tissue retains and accumulates it effectively. According to some reports, even cholesterol plaques in the blood vessels’ walls may dissolve.
Benefits of the Keto Diet
We won’t delve into the benefits of the keto diet for treating epilepsy — that’s a topic for medical professionals. We’re more interested in its positive impact on the daily lives of relatively healthy individuals. So, here are the pros:
- Limiting the intake of fast carbohydrates, which can cause blood sugar spikes;
- Weight loss;
- Increased endurance and strength.
It’s important to note that weight loss often occurs due to a reduction in calorie intake. Although fatty foods are high in calories, they are also very filling. What could you eat more of—lard or candy? Their calorie content is approximately the same, but eating a large amount of fatty lard is difficult, no matter how tasty it is. Additionally, in ketosis, appetite decreases, so the desire to eat something forbidden naturally fades.
Another positive effect of the keto diet is improved nail, skin, and hair health. This diet enhances the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins A and E, preventing dryness and dullness in skin and hair. Additionally, various types of skin rashes and redness often disappear.
A paradoxical effect of a low-carbohydrate diet is the reduction of “bad” fats in the blood. The principles of the keto diet are often recommended for people with high cholesterol levels.
Harm of the Keto Diet
Can the keto diet be harmful? Unfortunately, there’s no reliable long-term data on the impact of the keto diet. What can be said for sure? At the very beginning, almost everyone experiences cold-like symptoms, known as the keto flu. Later, in healthy individuals with normal fat metabolism, these symptoms disappear, and well-being normalizes.
Do you have chronic diseases? Then it’s better not to take risks and consult with doctors before making any radical lifestyle changes. In relatively healthy people, the negative consequences of the keto diet may include:
- Decreased bone density;
- Nephrolithiasis (kidney stones);
- Cardiomyopathy;
- Anemia;
- Optic neuropathy.
But it’s important to emphasize that this information is not 100% proven.
Contraindications to the Keto Diet
Before starting a keto diet, you should consult your family doctor, who can refer you to specialists such as a gastroenterologist, endocrinologist, nephrologist, etc., if necessary. The actual contraindications to the keto diet are few:
- Fat digestion disorders,
- Liver and kidney failure,
- Certain severe hereditary disorders of carnitine metabolism.
Approximate Keto Diet Plan
A classic keto diet plan involves a fat-to-protein and carbohydrate ratio of 4:1 by weight. Naturally, there are different calculation methods. Today, the most commonly used ratio is based on caloric content:
- Fats (70-80%). Which ones specifically? These can include olive oil, avocado, butter, lard and bacon, coconut oil, fatty fish (salmon, mackerel), cheese, cream, nuts, and seeds.
- Proteins (15-25%). Recommended sources include meat (beef, pork, chicken), eggs, fish, seafood, cheese, and high-fat dairy products.
- Carbohydrates (5-10%). Only low-carb vegetables are allowed—leafy greens (lettuce, spinach, chard, mizuna, and others), broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers, avocado, and limited amounts of berries.
Doctors’ Opinions on the Keto Diet – Video
Want to know what doctors think about the principles of the keto diet? Watch the video from Canadian specialists:
Conclusions
Following the principles of the keto diet helps reduce weight and avoid blood sugar level fluctuations. In most cases, this diet has a positive effect on the body. However, long-term effects are still not well understood.
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions About the Keto Diet
It’s possible with the help of plant-based fats, but it requires additional intake of a large number of vitamin-mineral supplements, such as omega-3, vitamin B12, iron, calcium, etc.
You can occasionally consume carbohydrate-free sweeteners, such as stevia-based ones.
Nothing catastrophic will happen. However, ketosis will stop, and your body will switch back to using carbohydrates for energy. You’ll need to restart ketosis and endure the keto flu again.
