A so-called Ketogenic Diet (very low carb, very high fat) diet is currently being studied to treat various disorders. And the best-known therapeutic application of this diet is treating drug-resistant epilepsy in children. This diet involves eating very few carbohydrates and large amounts of fat, leading to greatly increased concentrations of ketones in the blood.
The ketogenic diet is advertised as a weight-loss wonder, but this eating plan is actually a medical diet that comes with serious risks. The Paleo, South Beach, and Atkins diets all fit into that category. They are sometimes referred to as ketogenic or “keto” diets. For some reason, the diet dramatically reduces the rate of seizures in epileptic children.
Yes! Of course, even those who haven’t had success with multiple different types of drugs. As an example, the fatty acids in Coconut Oil get shipped to the liver and are basically turned into ketones. Whereby, they are often used in epileptic patients to induce ketosis. While, at the same time, allowing for a bit more carbs in the diet. So, what is the hype all about?
What Is A Ketogenic Diet?
By definition, Ketogenic Diet is a very low-carb, high-fat diet that shares many similarities with the Atkins and low-carb diets. It involves drastically reducing carbohydrate intake and replacing it with fat. This reduction in carbs puts your body into a metabolic state called ketosis in general. When this happens, your body becomes incredibly efficient at burning fat for energy.
It also turns fat into ketones in the liver, which can supply energy to the brain. Ketogenic diets can cause massive reductions in blood sugar and insulin levels. This, along with the increased ketones, has numerous health benefits. In the world of weight-loss diets, low-carbohydrate, high-protein eating plans often grab attention.
Resource Reference: How To Build Muscles Effectively: Things You Need To Do
But a true ketogenic diet is different. Unlike other low-carb diets, which focus on protein, a keto plan centers on fat, which supplies as much as 90% of daily calories. And it’s not the type of diet to try as an experiment. “The keto diet is primarily used to help reduce the frequency of epileptic seizures in children. Equally, it also has been tried for weight loss as well.
But, only short-term results have been studied, and the results have been mixed. We don’t know if it works in the long term, nor whether it’s safe.,” warns registered dietitian Kathy McManus, director of the Department of Nutrition at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Today, there are several versions of the ketogenic diet in place
Some of the ketogenic diet plans include:
- A Standard Ketogenic Diet (SKD): This is a very low-carb, moderate-protein, and high-fat diet. It typically contains 75% fat, 20% protein, and only 5% carbs.
- The Cyclical Ketogenic Diet (CKD): This diet involves periods of higher-carb refeeds, such as 5 ketogenic days followed by 2 high-carb days.
- A Targeted Ketogenic Diet (TKD): This diet allows you to add carbs around workouts.
- High-Protein Ketogenic Diet: This is similar to a standard ketogenic diet, but includes more protein just to be clear. The ratio is often 60% fat, 35% protein, and 5% carbs.
However, only the standard and high-protein ketogenic diets have been studied extensively. Cyclical or targeted ketogenic diets are more advanced methods and are primarily used by bodybuilders or athletes. Burning fat seems like an ideal way to lose pounds. But, getting the liver to make ketone bodies is quite very tricky.
On one hand, it requires that you deprive yourself of carbohydrates, fewer than 20 to 50 grams of carbs per day (keep in mind that a medium-sized banana has about 27 grams of carbs). While, on the other hand, it typically takes a few days to reach a state of ketosis. Last but not least, eating too much protein can interfere with ketosis.
What Are Ketones?
Everyone has ketones, whether you have diabetes or not. To enumerate, Ketones are chemicals made in your liver. You produce them when you don’t have enough insulin in your body to turn sugar (or glucose) into energy. You need another source, so your body uses fat instead.
Your liver turns this fat into ketones, a type of acid, and sends them into your bloodstream. Your muscles and other tissues can then use them for fuel. For a person without diabetes, this process doesn’t become an issue. When you have diabetes, however, you can build up too many ketones in your blood — and too many ketones can become life-threatening.
You might need a ketone test if you have type 1 diabetes. In this type, your immune system attacks and destroys cells in your pancreas that make insulin. Without it, your blood sugar rises. People with type 2 diabetes can also get excessive ketones, but it isn’t as common as it is with type 1. Tests can show you when your level gets high so you can treat it before you get sick.
What Is Ketoacidosis?
Excessive ketone bodies can produce a dangerously toxic level of acid in the blood, called ketoacidosis. During ketoacidosis, the kidneys begin to excrete ketone bodies along with body water in the urine, causing some fluid-related weight loss.
Ketoacidosis most often occurs in individuals with type 1 diabetes because they do not produce insulin, a hormone that prevents the overproduction of ketones. However, in a few rare cases, ketoacidosis has been reported to occur in nondiabetic individuals following a prolonged very low carbohydrate diet.
Many versions of ketogenic diets exist, but all ban carb-rich foods. Some of these foods may be obvious: starches from both refined and whole grains like bread, cereals, pasta, rice, and cookies; potatoes, corn, and other starchy vegetables; and fruit juices. Some that may not be so obvious are beans, legumes, and most fruits.
Most ketogenic plans allow foods high in saturated fat, such as fatty cuts of meat, processed meats, lard, and butter, as well as sources of unsaturated fats, such as nuts, seeds, avocados, plant oils, and oily fish. Depending on your source of information, ketogenic food lists may vary and even conflict.
The Topmost Ketogenic Diet Benefits To Consider
People use a ketogenic diet most often to lose weight, but it can help manage certain medical conditions, like epilepsy, too. The diet aims to force your body into using a different type of fuel. Instead of relying on sugar (glucose) that comes from carbohydrates (such as grains, legumes, vegetables, and fruits), the keto diet relies on ketone bodies.
Whereby, just as we aforementioned, a ketone is a type of fuel that the liver produces from stored fat. It also may help people with heart disease, certain brain diseases, and even acne, but there needs to be more research in those areas. Talk with your doctor first to find out if it’s safe for you to try a ketogenic diet, especially, for type 1 diabetes.
When you eat less than 50 grams of carbs a day, your body eventually runs out of fuel (blood sugar) it can use quickly. This typically takes 3 to 4 days. Then you’ll start to break down protein and fat for energy, which can make you lose weight.
This is called ketosis. It’s important to note that the ketogenic diet is a short-term diet that’s focused on weight loss rather than the pursuit of health benefits. And now, with that in mind, below are the Benefits of a Ketogenic Diet that you should know.
1. Epilepsy Control
Ketogenic diets have helped control seizures caused by this condition since the 1920s. But again, it’s important to work with your doctor to figure out what’s right for you or your child.
These affect your brain and spine, as well as the nerves that link them together. Epilepsy is one, but others may be helped by a ketogenic diet as well.
Including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and sleep disorders. Scientists aren’t sure why, but it may be that the ketones your body makes when it breaks down fat for energy help protect your brain cells from damage. Insulin is a hormone that lets your body use or store sugar as fuel.
Ketogenic diets make you burn through this fuel quickly, so you don’t need to store it. This means your body needs — and makes — less insulin. Those lower levels may help protect you against some kinds of cancer or even slow the growth of cancer cells. More research is needed on this, though.
3. Heart Disease
It seems strange that a diet that calls for more fat can raise “good” cholesterol and lower “bad” cholesterol, but ketogenic diets are linked to just that. It may be because the lower levels of insulin that result from these diets can stop your body from making more cholesterol. That means you’re less likely to have high blood pressure, hardened arteries, heart failure, etc.
It’s unclear, however; how long these effects last. A ketogenic diet may help you lose more weight in the first 3 to 6 months than some other diets. This may be because it takes more calories to change fat into energy than it does to change carbs into energy. It’s also possible that a high-fat, high-protein diet satisfies you more, so you eat less, but that hasn’t been proven yet.
5. Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
This is when a woman’s ovaries get larger than they should be and small fluid-filled sacs form around the eggs. High levels of insulin can cause it. Ketogenic diets, which lower both the amount of insulin you make and the amount you need, may help treat it, along with other lifestyle changes, like exercise and weight loss.
Carbohydrates have been linked to this skin condition, so cutting down on them may help. And the drop in insulin that a ketogenic diet can trigger may also help stop acne breakouts. Important to realize, insulin can cause your body to make other hormones that bring on outbreaks. Still, more research is needed to determine exactly how much effect, if any, the diet actually has on acne.
7. Diabetes Control Plus Endurance
Low-carb diets seem to help keep your blood sugar lower and more predictable than other diets. But when your body burns fat for energy, it makes compounds called ketones. If you have diabetes, particularly type 1, too many ketones in your blood can make you sick. So it’s very important to work with your doctor on any changes in your diet.
What about exercise endurance? Well, a ketogenic diet may help endurance athletes — runners and cyclists, for example — when they train. Over time, it helps your muscle-to-fat ratio and raises the amount of oxygen your body is able to use when it’s working hard. But while it might help in training, it may not work as well as other diets for peak performance.
One thing is for sure, the keto diet has such a high-fat requirement, therefore, followers must eat fat at each meal. In a daily 2,000-calorie diet, that might look like 165 grams of fat, 40 grams of carbs, and 75 grams of protein. However, the exact ratio depends on your particular needs.
What To Include In Your Ketogenic Diet Plan Plus Risks
Some healthy unsaturated fats are allowed on the keto diet — like nuts (almonds, walnuts), seeds, avocados, tofu, and olive oil. But, saturated fats from oils (palm, coconut), lard, butter, and cocoa butter are encouraged in high amounts.
Protein is part of the keto diet, of course. But, it doesn’t typically discriminate between lean protein foods and protein sources. Especially, those high in saturated fat such as beef, pork, and bacon. On the same note, all fruits are rich in carbs, but you can have certain fruits (usually berries) in small portions.
Vegetables (also rich in carbs) are restricted to leafy greens (such as kale, Swiss chard, spinach), cauliflower, etc. As well as the likes of broccoli, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, bell peppers, onions, garlic, mushrooms, cucumber, celery, and summer squashes. A cup of chopped broccoli has about six carbs.
Realistically, a ketogenic diet has numerous risks attached to it too. Top of the list: it’s high in saturated fat. Keep saturated fats to no more than 7% of your daily calories. Obviously, because of the link to heart disease. And indeed, the keto diet is associated with an increase in “bad” LDL cholesterol, which is also linked to heart disease.
Other risks include:
- Constipation. The keto diet is low in fibrous foods like grains and legumes.
- Liver problems. With so much fat to metabolize, the diet could make any existing liver conditions worse.
- Nutrient deficiency. If you’re not eating a wide variety of vegetables, fruits, and grains, you may be at risk for deficiencies in micronutrients, including selenium, magnesium, phosphorus, and vitamins B and C.
- Kidney problems. The kidneys help metabolize protein, and McManus says the keto diet may overload them. (The current recommended intake for protein averages 46 grams per day for women, and 56 grams for men).
- Fuzzy thinking and mood swings. The brain needs sugar from healthy carbohydrates to function. Low-carb diets may cause confusion and irritability.
Always remember, all the above risks among others will always add up — so make sure that you talk to a doctor and a registered dietitian before ever attempting a ketogenic diet. Popular low-carb diets (such as Atkins or Paleo) modify a true keto diet. But, they come with the same risks if you overdo it on fats and proteins and lay off the carbs.
Why Do People Follow These Keto Diets?
They’re everywhere, and people hear anecdotally that they work. Theories about short-term low-carb diet success include lower appetite because fat burns slower than carbs. But again, we don’t know about the long term. And eating a restrictive diet, no matter what the plan, is difficult to sustain. Once you resume a normal diet, the weight will likely return.
The more common side effects of the dietary plan aren’t usually serious: You might have constipation, mild low blood sugar, or indigestion. Much less often, low-carb diets can lead to kidney stones or high levels of acid in your body (acidosis). Other side effects can include the “keto flu,” which may include headache, weakness, irritability; bad breath; and fatigue.
When your body burns its stores of fat, it can be hard on your kidneys. And starting a ketogenic diet — or going back to a normal diet afterward — can be tricky if you’re obese because of other health issues you’re likely to have, like diabetes, a heart condition, or high blood pressure. If you have any of these conditions, make diet changes slowly.
But, make these changes only with the guidance of your doctor. Last but not least, we hope the above revised dietary plan was helpful. However, if you’ll have more contributions, suggestions, additions, or even questions, please Contact Us to ask for more help. Share your insights and thoughts in our comments section below and let us know how we can come in.
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