The Pros & Cons Of Keto Diet
Are you considering to start a keto diet in the near future, but uncertain if it is going to be worth it or not?
In this guide, I will explain to you in detail what possible pros and cons of going through a keto diet are and how to get the best out of your keto diet.
What Is A Keto Diet
Before getting to the positive and negative aspects of the keto diet, it is important to clarify what it exactly means to be on this type of diet.
Keto is an abbreviation for ketogenic, whereas the aim is to get your body into a state called ketosis.
In this state, your body turns fats into ketone bodies, which are then being used for energy instead of carbs. This state has been proven to burn fat faster than when your body uses carbs as your primary fuel.
Since the human body prefers converting carbs to glucose over converting fats into ketones, you need to drastically reduce your carb intake for your body to use fats for energy.
This is where the high-fat diet comes into play, whereas by replacing most of your carb intake with fats, you will be able to get into the ketosis state.
Now that we've cleared up the definition, we should talk about possible risk factors & benefits, that such a diet can come with.
Keto Diet Pros & Cons
Before creating the list I went through several studies and articles. This is the product of the most relevant but also tested & scientifically approved aspects of the keto diet.
Positive Aspects
Proven to be related to fast weight loss
Although may vary slightly depending on each individual, there are several studies showing that the decreased carbohydrate intake, while increasing fat is going to speed up fat loss.
Overall there have been endless cases whereas the Keto Diet has helped with losing body fat surprisingly fast.
Reduces Appetite
Since your body takes a long time to digest fat, your body is also going to be provided with energy for a longer time. Therefore the time until you get hungry again is going to be longer, making you eat less on the average.
I found this to be one of the main principles with Keto diets, to eat food that your body can only convert into energy slowly. By doing so you will end up being full for longer periods of time.
Balances & Resets Your Insulin Levels
Studies have shown, that this type of diet is related to a decrease in blood sugar, which is why it can be a good idea to try keto if you are suffering under this condition.
For people with diabetes, it might be a good idea to follow a keto diet, even just for a short amount of time as it is an excellent opportunity to reset their insulin levels while losing weight.
Plenty Of Recipes
Since it is a quite popular diet, there are hundreds of recipes available and with some effort, you can easily make a very tasty meal. The high amount of fat is satisfying to eat & fill you up for a long time.
Negative Aspects
Challenging
Going through a ketogenic diet can be challenging if you are used to consuming a vast range of carbs. Especially getting used to eating a lot of healthy fats can take some planning & effort prior to starting the diet.
Takes time To Get Used To
Since a drastic change in macronutrient happens for most people it is not going to be easy to get used to the diet. However, once your body has adapted to the changes it is comparably easy to maintain the intake of your carbs, fats & protein.
A lot of animal products
When following a Keto Diet it is almost for granted that you are going to eat a lot more animal products than you are used to. Since most plant-based foods contain a lot of carbohydrates you will have to limit yourself to only a narrow range of vegetables.
Also, the high intake of saturated fat increases LDL cholesterol, which has been proven to have a negative impact on the health of your heart.
Please make sure to buy animal products coming from good conditions! Not only for your own health but for moral reasons!
Chickens in the cage on chicken farm. Chicken eggs farm. Bali island.
Keto Flu
Since the diet is clearly a phase of detox, you can experience side effects such as brain fog, headaches and similar which you have to go through for the diet to be effective. This factor can make it very hard to stick with the diet especially during the first days.
Long Term Results:
There have been very few studies looking at long term results of being in a state of ketosis. While the low carb diet will help you to lose weight quickly in the short run, it is likely that the peak of weight loss ends after just a couple of weeks. At that point, most other diets with the same caloric deficit will provide you with similar results.
Controversial
I have found several studies that stand against each other, talking about opposite effects. Whenever you find contradiction it often means that more scientific research has to be done to make a clear statement. (Especially when researching about the types of fat that are "good" or "bad")
How To Do A Keto Diet
Dos & Don'ts
- Unprocessed vegetables that grow above the ground
- Organic Beef (grass-fed)
- chicken/salmon
- Dairy products (organic but preferably even raw)
- Eat plenty of healthy fats (coconut/avocado/olive oil/animal fats)
- Eat plenty of unsaturated fats
- Look up nutrition stats if uncertain
- Any food that is high in carbs including fruit, beer, soft drinks, pasta rice etc.)
- Low carb bread/tortillas or sugar-free candy
- Artificial Sweeteners (besides stevia/erythritol)
- "Bad Fats" - Especially Trans Fats (hydrogenated oils)
My Opinion On Keto Diets
After reading & going through the pros & cons you might have been started to get a rather negative perspective of the Keto Diet. Right now there is not a whole lot of research done & available to study long term effects and interesting aspects such as the consumption of saturated fats.
Therefore, the Keto Diet is probably not the best long term diet that you can do, although it might be suitable for you.
On the other hand, you are going to lose a lot of weight within the first couple of weeks, which makes it more than worth a try if you have been struggling with weight loss.
Low carbohydrate diets have been proven to boost ketosis, which is clearly connected to weight loss. There are also other health benefits such as a more controlled blood sugar & insulin levels, which definetly help people that have diabetes or suffer from other diseases.
Tips
If you want to be successful with your keto diet it is important to have a planned and structured approach.
Try to buy the ingredients that you need in advance and make sure to have a basic plan of what you are going to each day.
It is going to be a lot easier if you have a program, whereas I recommend you to try the custom keto diet. It is a fully customizable program, whereas you have the option to chose preferred foods etc.
Feel free, to read my in-depth review of the program in case that sounds like an interesting option for you. The diet is fully customizable to your needs & likings which makes it a lot easier to follow along and stick to it.
Especially during the first couple of days, it can be tough to keep up with a keto diet since it is such a drastic change in your nutrition. During that kind of days it helps to have a program to avoid quitting before the results set in.
It might be the case for you, that you quite enjoy following a keto diet eventually, which you should keep following if it gives you continuous results.
Remember though that weight loss is not only based on the foods you eat, that caloric deficit is at least as important if your aim is to lose body fat.
Final Verdict:
In the end, the keto diet is still a territory within nutrition that is surrounded by many myths. I have heard of many studies contradicting each other, whereas heart health is still a topic under debate.
It is also important to mention that there are different types of keto diets & foods that people consume, which might explain highly differing results.
Please inform yourself in advance before starting a keto diet. In case this type of diet doesn't sound promising or the right choice for you I've written an article about an entirely different type of diet plan which rather follows old school techniques.
Check it out, if you want to hear an entirely different perspective about weight loss than you are used to.
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