There is a lot of confusion on what Keto is and if it is healthy or a fad diet, or? I hope to clear up some of the confusion surrounding Keto.
History
From News Medical Life Sciences:
The ketogenic diet became popular as a therapy for epilepsy in the 1920s and 30s. It was developed to provide an alternative to non-mainstream fasting, which had demonstrated success as an epilepsy therapy. However, the diet was eventually largely abandoned due to the introduction of new anticonvulsant therapies. Although it emerged that most cases of epilepsy could be effectively controlled using these medications, they still failed to achieve epileptic control in around 20% to 30% of epileptics. For these individuals, and particularly children with epilepsy, the diet was re-introduced as a technique for managing the condition.
https://www.news-medical.net/health/History-of-the-Ketogenic-Diet.aspx
In summary, the ketogenic diet was created in the 1920s to help save those with epilepsy. So, this is not a fad diet, it’s a healthy way of eating for people with certain ailments. The benefits do not stop there though.
Other Benefits
Many doctors are finding that the ketogenic diet has other benefits as well. From Healthline.com:
- It can lessen your appetite.
- Faster weight-loss at the beginning
- More of that fat loss comes from your abdomen
- Triglycerides come down drastically
- HDL Cholesterol (good cholesterol) goes up
- Reduced blood sugar and insulin levels
- May lower blood pressure
- Effective against Metabolic Syndrome
- Improved LDL (bad) cholesterol levels
- Therapeutic for several brain disorders
These are all benefits that I, personally, have seen occur, or know someone that has benefited in these ways.
Negatives
So, what are the negatives? Personally, I have found none. But these three are the mmost common ones that people will say are negatives and why they can’t do it.
- Cost – You can actually eat a ketogenic diet for as little as $5 a day. Is it clean keto? No. But you don’t have to eat grass-fed and finished meat for every meal. Eat what you can afford, specially at the beginning. You’ll quickly find that you suddenly have more money and can splurge on better quality ingredients.
- “I have to have my (insert your favorite bread, pizza, pasta, sweet here) – If you HAVE to have that carb, you are suffering an addiction. You do not HAVE to have it. Now, with that in mind, there are a lot, and I mean a lot, of substitutions that you can use to get by. Want cheesecake? Have a keto one. This one is from keto-connect.net. Want pizza? There are many different pizza crusts you can make. My favorite is this one from 2krazyketos.com, which is a variation from one from keto-connect.net. There are also ways to make pasta.
- “I need my sweets in the afternoon/evening.” – There are sweetener substitutes that you can use. Allulose, monk fruit, Swerve (one of the more popular brands). Yes, those can be a little more expensive then traditional refined sugar, but you’ll find that after a few months, you won’t be craving that sweetness any longer.
- It causes Ketoacidosis – It actually does not. Ketosis and Ketoacidosis are two different things. It is very rare to get a ketone level so high that it causes ketoacidosis. It is more common for those with Type 1 diabetes, but again, it is a rare occurrence. More information? From the CDC website: Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a serious complication of diabetes that can be life-threatening. DKA is most common among people with type 1 diabetes. People with type 2 diabetes can also develop DKA.
Causes of DKA – Very high blood sugar and low insulin levels lead to DKA. The two most common causes are:
- Illness. When you get sick, you may not be able to eat or drink as much as usual, which can make blood sugar levels hard to manage.
- Missing insulin shots, a clogged insulin pump, or the wrong insulin dose.
Other causes of DKA include:
- Heart attack or stroke.
- Physical injury, such as from a car accident.
- Alcohol or drug use.
- Certain medicines, such as some diuretics (water pills) and corticosteroids (used to treat inflammation in the body).
what is considered keto?
What is Keto? Keto is when your body goes into ketosis. To get there, keep your carbs under 20g a day. For some people, they can go up to 30g of total carbs. 50g of carbs a day or less is considered low carb. That is the jist of it. Depending on where you are on your journey will depend on where your fat intake and protein intake levels are. If you want to lose more weight, eat less fat and higher protein. If you don’t want to lose weight, you add more fat and make it closer to 1 to 1 fat to protein.
I can help you with that, including a quick menu, exercises you can do, and overall support. Click on one of the options on my homepage, to set up some coaching time. There are currently, as of January 2022, 2 options that are based on Maria Emmerich’s ketogenic coaching program. Maria is one of the most well respected, most popular, and well loved health coaches in the world. She has over 30 books on the subject.