What Is the Ketogenic Diet – Pros and Cons

The ketogenic diet becomes very popular among people who what to lose weight. If you’ve also heard about it, but have no idea if it’s worth trying, you are at the right place. In this article, we will give you answers to the questions of what is the keto diet, what foods are included in the diet, and what are the pros and cons.

The ketogenic diet or shortly keto is a diet that decreased the intake of carbohydrate consumption and substitutes it with high fat intake. The goal is to achieve ketosis. This is a metabolic condition that reduces the levels of carbohydrates in the body.

Ketosis leads to burning fats and releasing energy. Fats convert into ketones which provide energy for the brain. During this process, the levels of the main energy source – glucose are reduced. This helps the body to focus on burning fats instead of carbohydrates.

What Is the Keto Diet Menu

The keto diet includes the consumption of 55% to 60% fat, 30% to 35% protein, and 5% to 10% carbohydrates. It is recommended to take 2000 calories per day. These numbers include only 20 to 50 g of carbohydrates per day.

The idea of the keto diet is to get your calories from fats. You can include foods consisting of animal proteins, oils, nuts, and butter in your daily menu.

Here is a list of the most common food products that the keto diet includes:

• Seafood – salmon, shellfish, sardines;
• Fresh meat – great souse of high-quality protein;
• Eggs – increase feeling of fullness;
• Cheese – blue cheese, cheddar, cottage cheese, halloumi, Brie, mozzarella, feta, and others;
• Plant-based milk – soya milk, almond milk, coconut milk;
• Green leafy vegetables – spinach, cabbage, lettuce, bok choy;
• Fat veggies – avocado and olives;
• Nuts and seeds – almonds, macadamia nuts, flaxseed, pecans, chia seeds, walnuts;
• Dark chocolate – minimum 70% cocoa;
• Berries – strawberries; raspberries; blackberries; blueberries;

What Are the Pros of the Keto Diet

The main goal many people have when they start a keto diet is to lose weight. There are some studies that show this diet is more beneficial to achieve the goal. The secret of the big success of the keto diet is that when the body converts protein and fats into carbs you can burn a lot of calories for short time.

Another essential thing for weight reduction is eating less. The keto diet makes you full with a smaller quantity of food and this helps you also to consume fewer calories. There is another reason why the keto diet increases satiety. Fat takes more time to get digested carbohydrates.

The high level of carbohydrates affects the brain and makes it lazy. When you follow a keto diet, your intake is only 5% to 10% carbohydrates. This decreases the level of glucose which is the main reason the brain gets lazy. Many people share eating keto helps them to be more focused and improved their brain functions.

The ketonic diet is the best for diabetics because helps them to decrease their sugar levels in a natural way. Everyone that suffers from diabetes knows that limit their carbohydrate consumption. As you already know eating keto is a way to convert carbs into fats which is essential for diabetes.

What Are the Cons of The Keto Diet

Every diet can affect nutrient deficiency in our bodies. Same for the keto. Even though the keto diet allows eating many healthy food products it can lead to a deficiency of some important vitamins and minerals. This list includes magnesium, iron, calcium, and potassium.

You can intake supplements to compensate for the lack of these essential vitamins and minerals but never do this without a prescription.

Have you heard about keto flu? If you want to start the keto diet, be ready to go through this statement in the first few weeks. The keto flu is a side effect that shows your body is under stress. This is normal when you change your diet, but some people admit is not a pleasant experience.

The most common symptoms are body weakness, headaches, and constipation. Gastric discomfort is also a side effect because reducing carb consumption might irritate your gastrointestinal system.

The keto diet is efficient for losing weight for short period. When people see the result, they tend to cheat and the possibility to give up soon is high. The keto diet is difficult to maintain and requires a lot of time to put into preparing food.

Last but not least a low-carb diet can have a negative impact on your health. The high-fat intake will increase blood levels which is not the best for people suffering from heart disease.

Our advice is to speak with your doctor before you take any action on changing your diet. There is a big possibility the keto diet brings your more negatives than positives.