Did you know Keto Diet can take a toll on our overall health if people are not able to sustain such a drastic change in eating habits that too in a safe manner?

Most of the people around us, who are on their weight loss trail, follow Ketogenic Diet. This high-fat, adequate-protein, low-carbohydrate diet is one of the most popular diets in the recent time as it helps to lose good amount of weight in a much lesser time. But did you know Ketogenic Diet can take a toll on our overall health if people are not able to sustain such a drastic change in eating habits that too in a safe manner? This diet, which excludes a wide array of essential food groups, has been touted as one of the best weight loss programs, at the same time been dismissed by many.

In Keto Diet, as per an ANI report, out of the total daily caloric intake, nearly 70 to 80 percent comes from fat, 20 percent from protein and the remaining 5 percent or so are derived from carbohydrates. The carbohydrate deprivation pushes the body into ketosis, which is a state where fat becomes its primary fuel source. Despite its ability to cause rapid weight loss, this dieting approach doesn’t find many supporters among medical professionals. The Keto Diet is usually not recommended by doctors for the reason that it excludes a wide array of essential food groups that are imperative for optimal health such as grains, fruits, and some vegetables.

Medical professionals caution people to be aware of the difference between weight loss and overall health. The report says, Jeffrey Mechanick a medical director at Mount Sinai Heart’s Marie-Josee and Henry R. Kravis Center for Clinical Cardiovascular Health stated that he would not “recommend the keto diet to anybody.”

Vasanti Malik, an adjunct assistant professor of Nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, expressed her concern regarding this extreme system of eating. “You want to be mindful because these foods – whole grains, fruits, and vegetables – carry a number of beneficial nutrients – vitamins, polyphenols, fibre – that have been shown time and time again to be beneficial for cardiometabolic health,” Malik said, as per the ANI report.

According to Mechanick, depletion of carbohydrates compels the body to scavenge upon its fat and muscle tissue to keep everything up and running. He explained, “In theory, the Keto Diet basically mimics starvation. If you don’t eat carbohydrates but you eat an excessive amount of fat and protein, you’re still going to waste tissue. The tissue is still going to burn off.”

The report further says that fad diets such as Keto also lead to weight rebound issues with people who are not able to stick to them after losing weight. The answer for sustainable weight loss, hence, lies with emphasising on the quality of food and not exclusively the number of calories that are consumed.

Mechanik suggests the minimisation of sugars and starches and an increased intake of vegetables, fruits, nuts, and beans. Malik, on the other hand, recommends people to include more grains, fruits, vegetables, and nuts, while limiting saturated fat, added sugar and added sodium. Tidying up your menu, in conjugation with daily physical exercise would be enough to create a solid foundation for health.

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If at one point you’ve looked up anything related to weight loss in the last few years or so, then there’s a high chance that you’ve come across the ketogenic (or keto) diet. Social media spread its supposed effectiveness like wildfire, with before-and-after photos serving as ~receipts~ about how fast it really works. Even celebs gave it their seal of approval by posting perfectly curated photos of their keto meal plans on their feeds.

But just like many other diets, the ketogenic lifestyle has its fair share of detractors as well. After all, taking up a dietary approach that drops the carbs but focuses on increased consumption of fat DOES sound a bit dangerous.

So what’s the real deal about this diet? Is it really a safe and effective way of losing weight or is it just a fad? Let’s find out.

What’s the keto diet and how does it work?

The keto diet basically restricts the consumption of carbohydrates and sugar, which are commonly used by the body as sources of energy. It was originally designed for people suffering from epilepsy after physicians discovered that they suffered from fewer seizures when given a diet that is low in carbohydrates and high in fat.

In terms of weight loss, it works by forcing the body to burn fat instead of carbohydrates. The high amount of fat and the restriction of carbs make the liver oxidize the fatty acids and produce ketones as an alternative source of energy. A body in ketosis is also considered to be in prime weight loss mode. The reported initial rapid weight loss of people who follow the diet—some claim to lose as much as seven pounds in a week!—however, is hugely attributed to the shedding of water weight since the lack of carbohydrates leads to a reaction called gluconeogenesis which causes the body to flush water. 

Is the keto diet safe?

This is where most of the debate comes in. Some testimonials say that not only did the keto diet help them lose weight—and keep it off—it also improved their lipid profiles and, ironically enough, their good cholesterol, and blood pressure. But then there’s the other side of the debate claiming that this diet is far from being a magical shortcut to losing weight because of how differently it can affect our bodies.

So what’s the real deal about this diet regimen, once and for all? We asked for professionals what they think of the keto diet:

When it comes to weight loss, there’s no doubt that following the keto lifestyle does help in shedding those unwanted pounds. However, the safety of this diet when used for weight loss is something that is not yet sufficiently backed by scientific studies. “The diet has been designed to manage epilepsy as supported by scientific evidence but it is not intended for weight loss or any other purposes,” says Izaac Reyes, an RND Clinical Nutritionist-Dietitian. “A diet designed for losing weight should be tailored for each person—a professional would have to tailor a balanced diet depending on a person’s health and physical activities to avoid any possible complications.”

But what about the other reported health benefits of the diet?

“There are recent researches that have shown promising but still inconclusive data about the other benefits of a ketogenic diet,” says RND, RN, and RDN Cheshire Que. “There are findings about the diet helping patients with brain tumors, and also people who have hypertension, and those with a history of heart disease. There are even researches claiming that it has anti-cancer benefits, but again, these need further studies.”

Reyes agrees and says that there are not enough scientific evidence or extensive clinical studies that would currently support individual claims. “A nutrition regimen or diet with positive feedback from several people does not necessarily mean that it is effective and safe for the entire population.”

As for its cons, Que shares that there are studies showing people with plaque buildups on their arteries after being on the diet for months. This condition, also known as atherosclerosis, increases the risk factor for stroke and heart attack. Reyes adds that a person can also suffer from nutritional deficiencies if they get into the diet without consulting with a professional first.

So is there a right or wrong way to do the keto diet?

Que says that at the end of the day, it will all depend on the purpose for doing it. “If it is to treat an existing medical condition like epilepsy and done with the guidance of a registered dietitian nutritionist, then it will be the right way. But if you just get bits and pieces of information from the internet without assessing risk factors and monitoring with a health professional, then it could really go wrong, even if it’s effective in achieving weight loss.”

Reyes adds, “A patient who wants to try keto should be strictly assessed and supervised by a registered nutritionist-dietitian and a medical doctor to make sure that the diet is effective and safe in relation to the patient’s current medical condition and nutritional status.”

What does a healthy keto meal plan look like?

Here’s an example Que shared for reference.

For lunch or dinner:

• 90 grams of fried chicken (use unsaturated fat for cooking like vegetable oil, pure olive oil or canola oil)
• 1 1/2 cups of sauteed mixed non-starchy vegetables (use unsaturated fat for cooking)
• 2 squares of dark chocolate
• Water with 1 tablespoon of chia seeds

For snacks: a handful of nuts

What’s the verdict on the keto diet?

YES, the keto diet can be effective for weight loss, but that doesn’t make it ideal for everyone and anyone, especially since it is originally designed for other medical conditions. While it has other health benefits that recent studies have supported, more data and research are needed to entirely clear off this diet from the doubts thrown its way. If you really are set on using it as a method to lose weight fast, however, you should consult with a registered nutritionist dietitian first to make sure that you are provided with a healthy meal plan that won’t come biting at you later on.

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 A ketogenic (keto) diet is high in fat and protein and low in carbohydrates. Most of the body’s cells prefer to use blood sugar (glucose) as their main source of energy. The keto diet forces your body to use a different type of fuel. Instead of providing your body with glucose from carbohydrates, the keto diet relies on the liver to break down stored fat into molecules called ketones. (This process is called ketogenesis; that’s where the diet’s name comes from.)

For most people to begin using stored fat as fuel, they need to limit daily carbohydrate intake to fewer than 20 to 50 grams depending on body size. (For comparison, a medium-sized banana has about 27 grams of carbs.) But this is a highly individualized process, and some people need a more restricted diet to begin producing enough ketones. It typically takes two to four days to reach a state of ketosis (when fat becomes a main source of energy).

There’s no shortage of keto-inspired diets. The Atkins, South Beach, and Paleo diets are some of the best-known examples. But a true ketogenic diet is different and calls for up to 90% of your daily calories to come from fat. That is often hard for people to maintain. However, research has shown that people can achieve faster weight loss with a keto diet compared with a calorie-reduction diet. In the short term, a keto diet is probably safe. But over time, it’s tough to keep off the weight this way.

If you do try a keto diet to jump-start weight reduction, choose healthier sources of fat and protein, such as olive oil, avocados, and nuts (almonds, walnuts). But after a few weeks, switch to a reduced-calorie Mediterranean-style diet and increase your physical activity. This will help manage your weight loss for the long term.

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In addition to being widely popular in the mainstream of healthy eaters, the ketogenic diet has also been known to improve some health conditions, too.

One such condition is now thought to be infertility, which affects about nine percent of men and about 11 percent of women of reproductive age in the United States, according to the Nat ional Institutes of Health. 

A functional medicine dietitian, Ali Miller, tells MindBodyGreen that the high-fat, moderate-protein and low-carb diet may be a natural alternative to fertility treatments that can influence the body’s fertility and ability to conceive.

In a column on the health and wellness website, Miller writes that the keto diet may help with four fertility issues: insulin resistance (less insulin is required to maintain blood sugar in ketosis), pituitary dysfunction (the diet optimizes leptin levels to help the body release the appropriate reproductive hormones), elevated levels of the hormone androgen and DHEA (the diet can effectively reduce DHEA levels, balance hormones, and counter androgenic excess), and body composition (keto can help people lose weight, reduce inflammation and promote the healthy production of hormones.)

“The standard American diet, filled with refined carbohydrates and sugar, has been associated with poor sperm health, negatively impacting sperm motility, morphology [shape], and shape count,” Will Cole, a doctor of chiropractic and a functional medicine expert in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, told CCRM Fertility. “Conversely, diets rich in healthy fats, like nuts, seeds, and omega fatty-acid-rich fish, have been shown to improve sperm health.”

Cole noted that even a fertile woman may have trouble getting pregnant if her partner’s sperm is low-quality.

Everyday Health notes that while the ketogenic diet can help someone looking to conceive to “kick-start a new health routine and lose weight,” experts agree that the body should not be in ketosis — the process of the body running on fat, instead of carbs — at conception or at any part of pregnancy.

The Mediterranean diet — which emphasizes fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, whole-wheat carbs and healthy fats — is thought to be ideal for preconception, the time before a woman gets pregnant because carbs are the primary source of fuel for a growing baby, according to Everyday Health.

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