Are you interested in losing weight? Are you sick and tired of diets that advocate low or no fats and crave your high fat meats? You may well be considering going on the keto diet, the new kid on the market. Endorsed by many celebrities including Halle Berry, LeBron James and Kim Kardashian among others, the keto diet has been the subject of much debate among dietitians and doctors. Can you wonder if the keto diet is safe and right for you?
What is the ketogenic diet anyway?
You must be aware that the body uses sugar in the form of glycogen to function. The keto diet that is extremely restricted in sugar forces your body to utilize fat as fuel rather than sugar, since it does not get enough sugar. Once the body will not get enough sugar for fuel, the liver is forced to turn the available fat into ketones which are used by the body as fuel – hence the term ketogenic.
This diet is a high fat diet with moderate amounts of protein. Based on your carb intake your body reaches circumstances of ketosis in under weekly and stays there. As fat is used rather than sugar for fuel within the body, the weight reduction is dramatic without the supposed restriction of calories.
The keto diet is such that it you should try to get 60-75% of one’s daily calorie consumption, 15-30% from protein and only 5-10% from carbohydrates. This results in you could eat only 20-50 grams of carbs per day.
What can you eat with this diet?
The diet is a high fat diet that is somewhat much like Atkins. However, there’s greater emphasis on fats, usually ‘good’ fats. On the keto diet you can have
Olive oil
Coconut oil
Nut oils
Butter
Ghee
Grass fed beef
Chicken
Fish
Other meats
Full fat cheese
Eggs
Cream
Leafy greens
Non-starchy vegetables
Nuts
Seeds
You can also get yourself a whole range of snacks which are meant for keto followers. As you can see out of this list, fruits are restricted. You could have low sugar fruits in a restricted quantity (mostly berries), but will have to forego your favorite fruits as they are all sweet and/or starchy.
The dietary plan includes no grains of any sort, starchy vegetables like potatoes (and all tubers), no sugar or sweets, no breads and cakes, no beans and lentils, no pasta, no pizza and burgers and very little alcohol. This means no coffee with milk or tea with milk – in fact, no milk and ice-creams and milk based desserts.
Many of these have workarounds as you can get carbohydrate free pasta and pizza, you might have cauliflower rice and now there are even restaurants that focus on keto aficionados.
What are the great things about the keto diet?
Should you be wondering if this specific diet is safe, its proponents and those who have achieved their weight loss goals will certainly agree that it is safe. Among the benefits of the keto diet you can expect:
Loss of weight
Reduced or no sugar spikes
Appetite control
Seizure controlling effect
Blood pressure normalizes in raised blood pressure patients
Reduced attacks of migraine
Type 2 diabetes patients on this diet may be able to reduce their medications
Some benefits to those suffering from cancer
In addition to the first four, there isn’t sufficient evidence to support its effectiveness or elsewhere for other diseases as far more research is required on the long-term.
Are there any side-effects of the diet?
When you initially start the keto diet, it is possible to suffer from what is known as keto flu. These symptoms may not occur in every people and usually take up a couple of days after being on the dietary plan, whenever your body is in circumstances of ketosis. Some of the side-effects are:
Nausea
Cramps and tummy pain
Headache
Vomiting
Diarrhea and/or constipation
Muscle cramps
Dizziness and poor concentrations
Insomnia
Carbohydrate and sugar cravings
These may take up to a week to subside as your system get used to the brand new diet regime. You may also suffer from other problems when you begin the keto diet – you may find that you have increased urination, so it is important to keep yourself properly hydrated. You may also have problems with keto breath whenever your body reaches optimal ketosis and you will use a mouthwash or brush your teeth more frequently.