The ketogenic diet is a diet high in fat, moderate in protein and low in carbohydrates.
When carbohydrates are consumed, they are converted into glucose, which are then transported throughout the body as fuel. The recommendation for carbohydrates is 50-60% of your daily intake. Our brains can only utilize glucose (not fat or protein) for energy. However, when there are no (or few) carbohydrates consumed, the liver converts fat into fatty acids and ketone bodies. The ketone bodies are used in the brain replacing carbohydrates as a fuel source. The state of ketosis is reached when elevated levels of ketone bodies are found in the blood from this process.
The ketogenic diet was first used as a medical treatment for epilepsy in children. However, most know this diet as a weight loss strategy, with the understanding that the body burns fats instead of carbohydrates. Even though research has shown that following a ketogenic diet can result in weight loss, many other parameters should be taken into consideration.
First item: Ketosis
It is not easy to get into “ketosis”. Simply decreasing carbs and increasing fat will not get you there. In order to be in ketosis, the percentage of calories coming from fat need to be at 75% and only 5% of your calories can come from carbs. Many people think that they can eat a lot of fatty protein on this diet, consuming a lot of red meat, but exceeding 20% of your calories with protein eventually produces glucose — not ketogenic!!
Second item: Fiber
Because the consumption of fiber is so low, ketogenic diets often lead to constipation. Many research groups have shown simply increasing fiber in your diet can be a viable weight loss strategy. Some studies have also shown that the keto diet can elevate lipid values that are considered risk factors for cardiovascular diseases.
Third item: Elimination diet
The ketogenic diet, like many diets, is an elimination diet. Elimination diets have very low long term success rates – meaning the weight is gained back for one or several of the variety of reasons. Eliminating carbohydrates – which, by the way, are literally the main source of energy for many cellular processes in the body – not only is difficult to maintain, but also is detrimental to the natural metabolic processes of your body.
Fourth item: Nutrient deficiencies
Research has shown that the ketogenic diet causes nutrient deficiencies that are not helpful to overall healthy living. Side note: most elimination diets cause deficiencies. Well-balanced macro- (think carbs, fats, protein) and micro- (think vitamins and minerals) nutrients are ideal for not only a healthy, strong body, but also a sound mind (logical thinking, memory, etc) and emotional well-being (less depressive states, more stable feelings, etc).
Fifth item: Long term weight loss
Does a keto diet work for weight loss? In very well-controlled situations, yes it does. But for how long can it be successful? Two months, a year? Many studies investigating weight loss have shown that after two to five years, weight loss is not successful.
Ketogenic diet – It does work for a time, but the other aspects of health that it negatively affects, I would say, are definitely not worth it!!