Is the keto diet the best for weight loss?
We’re back with another edition of the debunking popular weight loss diets series! This time we’re doing the keto diet. You can read my previous debunking of a low fat diet here.
What is the keto diet?
The ketogenic diet is a very low carbohydrate, high fat diet. It
typically involves less than 50g of carbs a day. For reference, the recommended
intake for carbohydrates is 260g a day. It can also be expressed as a ratio –
so your diet is 10% carbs, 20% protein, and 70% fat.
The keto diet was originally created for use in children with epilepsy. By following a ketogenic diet, children can see up to a 90% reduction in seizures. It works by reducing the excitability of the brain and making a seizure less likely to occur. It's only more recently that it's been used as a weight loss diet.
The idea behind the keto diet is that by not consuming
carbs, your bodies usual energy source, it will use fat for energy instead.
After a few days of keto, your bodies glucose stores are depleted, and the body
is looking for something else to fuel it.
It begins to break down the fat stores and creates ketone bodies to be used as energy. This is called ketosis. The idea is that this then leads to weight loss, as you’re using up body fat for energy.
Is the keto diet the best for weight loss?
Research has shown that following the keto diet can lead to
significant weight loss when compared to other diets, like a low fat diet.
However, there isn’t enough long term information about
whether this weight loss is maintained. People tend to regain weight after
a while. And the people in the studies find it difficult to stick to the keto diet often going over the 50g daily carb allowance.
To put it plainly, the keto diet 'works' like any other diet. It creates a calorie deficit that leads to weight loss, and when you stop this calorie deficit (i.e. eat more carbs), you put weight back on.
What are the negatives of the keto diet?
While the keto diet can lead to weight loss, there are many
pitfalls.
It deprives the body of glucose:
Glucose is the body and brain’s main energy source. Your
brain takes up 2% of your body weight but uses 20% of the energy. It needs
a lot of energy to function! The brain can also use ketone bodies for energy, but
glucose is preferred. I don't see a benefit in depriving your body of it's preferred fuel source.
It is unsustainable and restrictive:
The keto diet is highly restrictive as it’s a very low carb
diet. It involves limiting bread, rice, pasta, other grains, potatoes, beans,
some dairy products, fruits, and some vegetables. Its restrictive nature can
make it very difficult to maintain in the long term.
It would require lots of meal planning, meal preparation, and likely extra costs as the bulk of the diet would be meat/fish and vegetables which are expensive.
It can lead to nutrient deficiencies:
With the diet being so restrictive in what you can eat,
there’s a risk of nutrient deficiencies. The keto diet can lead to deficiencies
in: magnesium, potassium, fibre, some of the B vitamins, and vitamin
C. This can lead to a whole host of problems as all of these nutrients are
essential for bodily health.
You might get the ‘keto flu’:
Following the keto diet and drastically reducing your intake
of carbs can lead to lots of unpleasant symptoms. This is because it can take
your body a while to adjust to not using its preferred energy source of
glucose. This is so common that it’s been nicknamed the keto flu. It can lead
to headaches, irritability, nausea, fatigue, and constipation to name a few.
Are there any benefits of keto?
You eat less ultra-processed foods:
In my post about processed foods, I wrote about how a diet high in ultra-processed foods can increase the risk of obesity and other diseases. As the keto diet restricts these foods, it could reduce the risk of some diseases. But you can still get ultra-processed keto friendly products too like keto cookies by the Skinny Food Co. So, it’s not a guarantee.
There are short term improvements in blood sugars:
The keto diet can improve insulin sensitivity and blood sugar levels in the short tern. But it's likely that this benefit comes from the weight loss and not the keto specifically. It also doesn't have a lasting effect on your blood sugars and tends to lessen after a year.
There are some positives of the keto diet, but whether it’s worth all the downsides is another question.
If you’d like to lose weight without a drastic reduction in carbs, my weight loss E-book, How To Lose Weight For Good, is available to buy here.
Key points:
- A ketogenic diet is a very low carb, high fat diet. The aim is to have less than 50g of carbs a day.
- The keto diet was created for children with epilepsy and can be successful in reducing seizures.
- By not consuming carbohydrates, your body uses fat for energy – this is called ketosis.
- Following a keto diet can lead to weight loss initially, but it will be difficult to keep the weight off.
- A keto diet is highly restrictive, which makes it unsustainable in the long term. It can also lead to nutrient deficiencies and unpleasant symptoms.
- A keto diet can mean you’re less likely to eat ultra-processed foods.
I hope you enjoyed this blog post; I’d love to hear your
thoughts in the comments below.
Bye for now! 👋
References:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6251269/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3900881/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32232045/
https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/21/22/8767
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8322232/#s4
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnut.2021.702802/full
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6361831/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9832569/
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1528-1167.2008.01821.x
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12097663/
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