Your Cart is Empty
Over the decades we have seen many diets come and go, but few have been as controversial as the keto diet. In South Africa, there was even a court case about the"banting diet" – as it is called there. The medical profession remains cautious about this low-carb, high-fat diet. As with most diets, the keto diet has benefits and drawbacks.
But the keto diet, or ketogenic diet, is not new. It was developed almost a century ago to treat children with epilepsy. The other low-carb diet was the Atkins diet that became popular in the 1970s – you certainly lose weight on it but it's near impossible to stick to.
Let's learn more about keto and find out where the medical profession stands with it now.
The body normally uses glucose ( sugar in your blood) from carbohydrates for energy. If you consume more carbohydrates than your body needs, it stores some of these carbohydrates withincells (as glycogen) and converts the rest to fat. The glycogen is readily available to the body for energy when needed.
When you follow the keto diet, carbohydrates are severely restricted so there isn't much glucose for the body to use as energy. Instead, the body goes intoa state of ketosis where it starts burning fat for energy. This process of fat burning produces compounds called ketones which now become the body's main energy source.
The keto diet limits carbs to typically as low as 50 grams a day. But it involves high fat intake and allows moderate amounts of protein. So, there are several iterations of the keto diet with varying ratios of the macronutrients. But for the most part, the ratio of macronutrients is roughly:
Fats: 50–60%
Protein: 30–35%
Carbohydrates: 5–10%
On a keto diet, protein is not limited to lean meats but it does exclude plant-based proteins like legumes because they are high in carbs.
Keto diet proteins include:
Fresh meat, poultry, fish, and seafood – contain no carbs and are high in proteins, B vitamins, and minerals like iron, zinc, and magnesium.
Eggs – High in protein and low in carbs, and also contain alist of nutrients as long as your arm.
Cheese – well-suited to the keto diet since it is high in protein and fats but low in carbs.
Though for this diet, some cheeses are better than others. The best for the keto diet arecheddar, gouda, goat's cheese, and blue cheese. Per ounce, these cheeses deliver on average 9 grams of fat, 7 grams of protein, and less than 1 gram of carbs.
Yogurt – a good choice of protein but stick to plain Greek yogurt. Milk contains carbs and so does yogurt. However, plain Greek yogurt islow in carbs and high in protein.
Stay away from flavored yogurts – the moment yogurt contains fruit, nuts, seeds, or other ingredients; the list of additives and the sugar content also increases.
Heavy cream – the one luxury you have on a keto diet. Heavy cream is high in fat which is fine for the keto diet, and containsonly 1 gram of net carbs per 30 ml.
Plant-based milk choices – that are safe to drink on the keto diet include almond, cashew, and soy milk. A cup of almond milk has onlyone gram of net carbs, a cup of cashew milk has2 grams of net carbs, and one cup of soy milk has3 grams of net carbs.
On the keto diet, many delicious vegetables are not allowed because they are high in carbs, such as potatoes, carrots, and beets.
Low-carb vegetables allowed on keto include zucchini, asparagus, broccoli, cucumber, kale, bell peppers, eggplant, green beans, cabbage, celery, tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, and mushrooms.
Because fruit is high in carbs (sugar) more are excluded than allowed. The few fruits allowed on the keto diet are strawberries, watermelon, lemons, tomatoes, raspberries, peaches, cantaloupe, and star fruit.
Fats are the main focus of the keto diet. These include:
Olives and olive oil
Avocadoes
Seeds & nuts
Butter and Ghee. Ghee is clarified butter made by warming butter and removing the milk solids as they rise to the top. Ghee doesn't need to be refrigerated.
The keto diet has some definitive benefits, and additional potential benefits are under scientific investigation.
The ketogenic diet can be helpful for the treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy in children. This treatment has been usedsince the 1920s. Epilepsy is usually treated with drugs, surgery, or vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), but some patients don't respond to this treatment.
An overview of19 studies found that some patients experience fewer seizures while a small percentage are cured on this diet.
Many people go on the keto diet to lose weight, and many of them then stay on the diet to keep their weight under control. Especially people who have struggled with their weight for many years are motivated to stay on the diet.
Research also proves that keto is effective for weight loss. A 2013 meta-analysis compared traditional low-fat and low-carb diets. The reviewers found thatindividuals on a low-carb diet achieved greater weight loss than those on a low-fat diet and concluded that a low-carb diet may be helpful against obesity.
A ketogenic diet may be an effective treatment for people with type 2 diabetes. I personally know a few people who found keto helpful in keeping their blood sugar levels under control.
Research also provides evidence that keto can improve blood sugar control in patients with type 2 diabetes. Seven of the 21 patients who completed the 16-week trial were able to go off their meds afterward.
In onestudy, a low-carbohydrate diet helped people with type 2 diabetes reduce medication. The researchers compared a low-carb diet with a low-glycemic diet and found the former more effective.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder for which there has been no effective therapy until now.Several studies have found that the keto diet may be a promising approach for improving cognitive function in patients with AD.
The various mechanisms of the disease are still not fully understood and more large-scale clinical trials are needed. More research is also required to establish the possible adverse effects and safety of the diet for the treatment of AD.
High levels of cholesterol can increase the risk of heart disease and traditionally people were warned to avoid eating saturated fats – mostly present in meat, poultry, butter, and ghee. The keto diet has put a question mark on this traditional outlook.
The keto diet is high in saturated fats. However, the evidence fromanimal and human studies shows that it can improve some heart health markers, such as increasing HDL or good cholesterol and lowering triglycerides. However, the diet's impact on LDL or bad cholesterol is inconsistent. Some studies found reductions, while others reported increases in quantities or enlargement of LDL particle size.
Since LDL cholesterol is a major risk factor for heart disease, the inconsistent research results make it unclear whether keto truly reduces overall cardiovascular risk.
It seems the ketogenic diet can improve behaviors and symptoms in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Scientists are investigating it as supplemental therapy for children with ASD who do not respond to conventional treatments.
One 2018 study involving 15 children between the ages of 2 and 17 years, found the ketogenic diet had apositive effect on symptoms associated with ASD such as social communication deficits, stereotypic behaviors, and social cognition issues. The study involved a modified ketogenic gluten-free diet supplemented with MCT {medium-chain triglycerides).
The scientists suggest more research is needed to understand how KD improves behavior.
The number one criticism against keto is that it's high in saturated fat, which has traditionally been regarded as a risk for heart disease. But this point of view has been reassessed by scientists worldwide, including the Cochrane Group in 2020. Morethan 20 review papers concluded that "the data from randomized, controlled trials do not provide consistent or adequate evidence for continued recommendations limiting the intake of saturated fat".
Does this mean the keto diet is safe? Not really. The issue of saturated fat and cholesterol can be controversial. ACochrane review found that eating less saturated fat for at least two years can lower the risk of heart-related problems. Replacing saturated fat with polyunsaturated fats (like those in fish, nuts, and seeds) or carbohydrates may be beneficial. However, it's still unclear if swapping it for monounsaturated fats (like olive oil) has the same effect.
The diet can increase LDL Cholesterol.Keto diet includes red meat as the main protein source and it’s high in saturated fat. Research has foundsignificant increases in LDL cholesterol levels in patients on the ketogenic diet and a drastic improvement in LDL cholesterols when they stopped the ketogenic diet. High levels of LDL are associated with heart disease.
The keto diet can have some adverse side effects when usedchronically. For example, children following the diet to manage epilepsy and other neurological conditions have a higher risk of kidney stones, osteoporosis, high cholesterol levels, and impaired growth.
The keto diet poses a potential risk of nutrient deficiency. Since it excludes many healthy foods so if a person on this diet is not meticulous about what they choose to eat, they can become deficient in vitamins (especially vitamin C), and micronutrients like selenium, magnesium, and phosphorus.
A ketogenic diet can be challenging for the liver and kidney functioning.Some people are born with livers that are not optimal metabolizers of fat. Children with such livers tend to get nauseous from eating meat with fat or cream on cakes. The keto diet can exacerbate liver problems because of its high fat content which the liver has to metabolize. The keto diet with its high protein and fat content may also be challenging for kidneys that help metabolize protein.
The keto diet can cause constipation as it doesn't include many foods high in fiber. Grains, vegetables, and fruits are high in fiber but excluded from this diet. Meanwhile, proteins and fats have no fiber.
Low-carb diets like keto can lead tofuzzy thinking and mood swings. The brain needs sugar obtained from healthy carbohydrates to function optimally. When the brain is deprived of this energy source by a low-carb diet, it may result in confusion and irritability.
Of course, you can! You don't have to deprive yourself of comforting carbs to lose weight. Besides, going on a diet to lose weight is so yesterday. Rather regard yournew eating plan as a lifestyle change for a better, healthier life.
A balanced eating plan provides all the nutrients you need to be healthy and energetic. And when you experience higher energy levels, you'll automatically be more active, which helps to burn calories naturally, boosting your weight loss attempts.
There certainly are proven benefits to the keto diet, but I would suggest that this is a diet that one should consider only under certain circumstances, such as a specific health issue. And then, I would only attempt it under a doctor's supervision.
As for weight loss – there are easier ways to achieve a weight loss goal. The keto diet is very restrictive and hard for most people to stick to.