Ready to learn for real the truth about the ketogenic diet. Want to know whether or not it is actually healthy for you? Come listen to Dani and Danielle break it all down for you both positive and negatives about keto. They will deliver the real truths you need to know before participating or supporting those you love in this diet plan.
Debunking Keto Myths: How Healthy is it? (Part 1)
Disclaimer: We do have degrees in biochemistry and sport and fitness and are NASM certified nutrition coach and weight loss management specialist and fitness nutrition specialist. But we are not medical doctors or registered dietitians YET! This is not meant to contradict what your doctor recommends/prescribes. If you have a medical condition or are taking medication, please talk with your medical team about what is best for you and any questions you have for your specific needs.
There are many fad diets out in the world today. Whether you’re trying to lose weight or searching for a “healthier” way of eating. These diets range from reducing and counting calories or adjusting levels of macronutrients (like a low-fat, low-carb or high-protein diet), all the way to changing when or even if you eat (such as whole day or intermittent fasting). This episode/post we’re going to discuss the Keto Diet in detail.
What is the Ketogenic Diet?
Most people have heard of this diet and that might be why you’re listening/reading this right now, trying to learn more. Well, it’s a way of eating where people eat very low-carbohydrates, high-protein, and high-fat. There are different ways to obtain such a low level of carbs though. Standard, cyclical and high-protein are the main different variations of a common Keto Diet.
The main goal of this diet however, is to get your body into ketosis.
What is Ketosis?
A condition that happens when there is an abnormal high level of ketone bodies in the tissues and bodily fluids.
What are Ketone Bodies?
Molecules formed from fat which are metabolic byproducts. Ketone bodies are formed when the body is insufficient in carbohydrates for complete metabolization of fat. However, this build up can lead to keto acidosis.
What is Keto-acidosis?
Acidification of the blood caused by a build up of ketone bodies. Body fluids which are normally slightly alkaline become extremely acidic. If let untreated keto acidosis can be life threatening and can lead to coma and death.
Side Effects of Ketoacidosis
What we need to know about The Ketogenic Diet before we attempt to participate or support others whom participate.
Keto and Diabetics
When someone suffers from diabetes or hyperglycemia their body is unable to use glucose as energy the same way normal people can. So the body will then use proteins and fats. Often times the body will use proteins from muscles to attempt to meet energy needs. This is bad because even though they could be potentially “losing weight” they are doing this by muscle wasting and becoming weaker and weaker.
With diabetes the body attempts to use fat for energy as well and this can cause many other problems. When excessive fat is being utilized as energy, the absence of glucose byproducts of metabolism which creates a build up of ketone bodies. Too much ketones in the body can lead to keto acidosis.
Someone with Type 1 diabetes has to inject insulin into their blood stream in order to regulate blood glucose levels and avoid keto acidosis. Someone with Type 2 diabetes has to take medication to regulate blood glucose levels. Type 2 diabetics do not develop keto-acidosis as easy as someone whom has Type 1, but under extreme stressful conditions they still can. Although if they do not regulate their blood glucose levels they too can damage many body tissues.
Both Types of diabetics can develop
Keto and potential disease accumulation
The Ketogenic diet can be a healthy weight-loss method for some populations. Although for someone looking to lose a few pounds should look at the entire picture before making this decision. This diet can be very risky when someone is not totally focused on doing it the right way. One must be very careful to not yoyo with this diet your either all in or all out. You're completely changing the way we digest food naturally. A person can be successful and take 10 steps back when they quit and gain the weight back three times at a rapid pace. The ketogenic diet should be done through cycles and watched closely by a doctor in order to truly be healthy. One should really analyze the risks to benefits from this diet before making the decision to use it. Just because your friend is doing it and they lost all this weight and feels amazing doesn’t mean it will be for the long haul nor does it mean they are in perfect health.
Keto for the general population
Do you still think putting your body into ketosis on purpose is “healthy”? So your healthy and you want to lose 10 pounds for spring break or swim suit season? Alright quit playing decrease your calories 200-500 and start exercising, drink more water and eat more veggies. So you still want to go keto? Alright you need to understand that more than likely the weight loss is going to be from water and muscle. The minute you go off the diet (which you will have to in order survive pretty much) you will gain the weight back and also have reduced muscle mass to even get back to where you were before. Its going to take so much more work to even get back to the healthy person you were before you started the diet.
So your friend lost all this weight and you still want to try it. Know the facts, ask your doctor or dietitian is this is a good solution for you, request blood work to be done to make sure your not putting your self in a starvation mode, and also make sure that you are still getting all the nutrients your body needs to remain healthy.
Keto for weight loss
The ideal weight loss program will moderately restrict calories, have balanced macro and micronutrient levels, and accompanied by increased exercise. When we lose too much weight too fast we are losing fat free mass and water which does not give us the desired outcome. We want to lose body fat not muscle when going on a diet. Combining exercise and a balanced nutrient diet by only reducing 200-500 calories at a time and consuming daily calories in 3-5 meals a day is the goal.
When individuals start a keto diet with the goal to put their body into ketosis for weight loss it is vital that they understand they are also putting themself at risk for muscle wasting and dehydration. All of which can convert to the diseases we described above. Our body is designed to utilize carbohydrates for fuel. Now if you re morbidly obese and your doctor or dietitian prescribed you a ketogenic diet they are saying that your obesity is causing more damage to your body than what the diet will do to you. In which losing the weight is the focus and then we will adjust the balanced diet.
Things to note if you are doing a ketogenic diet. You will add the pounds right back on when you start adding carbs back into your diet. The keto diet appeals to individuals with portion control problems because you can feel full fast with the high fat consumption. Keto diets decrease muscle mass and decrease metabolic function. This can in turn decrease all bodily processes in every facet. After wasting muscle away and obviously sustaining the diet isn’t realistic the weight you gain back is all in fat because you lost muscle by just doing to diet. So the proportions now are worse than when you started. You metabolic rate will now suffer more because you don’t have the muscle you once did therefore weight loss next time is going to be that much more difficult.
Keto for athletes
Many athletes on off season often over eat because they are used to eating for their sport. Often times these athletes go to quick crash diets limiting calories and carbohydrates for energy. Most of this weight loss occurs in in the muscle, tissue, and water weight. Because the carbohydrate stores are diminished the body will use free fatty acids for energy. As a result ketone bodies are present and accumulate in the blood causing the athlete to go in to ketosis. This condition further increases water loss which can induce dehydration. Yes these athletes can lose substantial amount of weight, but that weight loss is from fat free mass which in turn will severely compromise their performance.
Ketosis what’s it feel like?
When your body goes into ketosis providing ketones in the blood stream to use as energy instead of carbohydrates you will feel immediate fatigue, muscle weakness, headaches. This is because of the lack of immediate energy stores available from carbohydrates. We are training the body to get used to using fat as fuel versus carbohydrates. Eventually people report feeling more energy and less sick.
Keto craze and fad diets
Keto, Paleo, Atkins, South Beach, Low Carb, are all fad craze trendy diets that most often lead to the yoyo affect. Going on and off a diet can lead to more weight and fat gain in the end when one goes off the diet. This is was we call it a FAD diet. When does become massively popular very quickly and businesses make lots of money off the fad we all start believing it is the next big thing. If you decide to participate in any fad diet it is important to access the longevity potential of this diet. Do you see yourself using this diet for the long term and if so is it actually healthy to do so.
Optimal Health and Longevity should be the ultimate goal for everyone. Sustainability, maintainability, and scientifically realistic should be accessed as well. Of course we all want to be skinny now and quick but if we told you will be fatter and reduce the metabolizing potential in the future is it really worth it? Make a plan if you are going to go through one of these diets and ask for professional help when coming off of the diet so you do not develop a worse situation than you had before.
Keto food products
Lately I have seen all these keto products in the grocery store selling processed keto cookies and such available to those utilizing the diet. The misconception is that these foods are heathy for the everyday person. If you are not on a keto diet and you are consuming high fat foods thinking this is a healthy option you are WRONG. Look keto means high fat, low carb when it comes to food. Fat yields 5 calories more per gram than carbs and proteins. You can easily over eat calorically eating these products. Even Keto diet participators should be eating whole foods for their diet to ensure they are getting all the vitamins and minerals they need to avoid degeneration of cells that could lead to health conditions.
Keto Recipes in Normal Diet
Be aware that if you are consuming keto recipes and you’re not following a keto diet you can very easily consume too much fat which in turn is too much calories for one meal. When a person is eating a keto high fat meal but mixing it with a normal balanced meal the body is going to use the sugar from carbs first for energy. It will not use the fat as energy over the carbohydrates from the next balanced out meal. So this is not going to benefit you to mix these different meals. You’re just going to be consuming extra calories from the high fat meal. This is not going to help you lose weight or body fat if anything its going to create a whole mess in your metabolism and your will more than likely gain weight.