LifeHakx - The Answer to "The Keto Diet is Dangreous".
By Eva Wisenbeck 22/12/2019
True or False? The keto diet is dangerous.
Truth: Keto can be a great tool in managing diseases, improved brain health and also for weight loss!
Solution: Try Keto for 30 days and see how you feel. If you like it consider using it in a cycling on and off fashion to still enjoy all the spectrum and benefits of a wider range of vegetables etc
It may seem like just the latest fad, but the high-fat, low-carb keto diet is about 100 years old. Can you lose significant amounts of weight on keto? Absolutely! Was that its original purpose? Nope. In reality, one of the major benefits of ketosis is the way it impacts brain function — this diet’s initial studied benefit, which has stood the test of time, is for reducing symptoms of epilepsy.
What does a keto diet mean?
The keto diet is also often referred to as Low-Carb High-Fat aka LCHF. The name keto refers to ketones. When you eat more fat and less carbs your body and brain gets what’s called fat adapted and starts burning ketones as fuel rather than glucose from carbs.
The fewer net carbs you eat, the more effective it seems to be for weight loss, appetite suppression, type 2 diabetes, and more. A strict keto diet is a very low-carb diet, containing less than 20 grams of net carbs per day, and tends to be highly effective however depending on your situation and lifestyle you can adapt the diet to suit you
Here are three examples of low-carb meals, based on how many carbs you aim to eat in a day. Note that only the left plate is reliably ketogenic, as in will keep you in ketosis:
A few of the possible health benefits of a keto diet are:
Weight loss and appetite suppression
One of the best natural biohacks for mental performance
Control blood sugar and reverse type 2 diabetes
Can reduce gut issues such as IBS etc
May improve Parkinson’s symptoms
May help treat epilepsy
May reduce risk of heart disease
How does a keto diet work for anyone with epilepsy? The BrainFacts.org says:
“During a seizure, networks of neurons fire when they are not supposed to. This can happen because the brain cells are more excitable and are releasing lots of excitatory neurotransmitters, like glutamate. Or it could be that neighboring brain cells aren’t able to suppress the spread of excitability like they normally would using inhibitory neurotransmitters like gamma-aminobutyric acid, or GABA.
The ketogenic diet reduces the amount of glutamate in the brain and enhances the synthesis of GABA, making it less likely for a seizure to occur. The diet can also reduce inflammation in the brain, and inflammation due to infections like meningitis, encephalitis, or autoimmune disorders can trigger seizures.
There have also been a couple of really interesting studies recently that examined how the ketogenic diet can alter the gut microbiome, the trillions of microorganisms inhabiting the digestive tract. These studies found the ketogenic diet can increase certain bacteria species that promote an increased proportion of GABA to glutamate in the brain.”
And if you want to reap many of the benefits but aren’t sure if a long term keto diet is the best for your body or lifestyle, a cyclic ketogenic diet might be the answer. It involves carb-loading one to two days of the week (on good slow carbs like root vegetables I hasten to add!), followed by a standard low-carb ketogenic diet the remaining days of the week. Cyclic keto has many benefits—it allows the body to enter a state of ketosis regularly while also satisfying carb cravings, improving sleep, and promoting a healthier balance of gut bacteria.
So is a keto diet suitable for everyone?
If you are pregnant or breastfeeding your body and foetus/child will need more glucose.
If you have gallbladder disease or no gallbladder, or if you‘re kidney disease or kidney stones be cautious.
It’s also worth mentioning that is your hormones are out of whack or you are under a lot of stress a very low carb keto diet can put extra stress on your adrenals so consider adding more carbs. A good tip is to keep an eye on if your sleep quality gets worse, if so try adding some more slow carbs with your dinner and see if that helps.
If you are taking any prescription medication or have been diagnosed with a disease, as always, please consult with your health professional to implement any changes safely!
To finish I'll add this great short video from Mark Hyman at The Cleveland Clinic on carbs and why we shouldn't fear them, as always, the devil is in the detail:
This is based on a wonderful article by the great Dr Josh Axe and his roundup of “The 11 Largest Nutrition Lies In the Media” for more details and links to the research papers and studies please look here: https://draxe.com/health/nutrition-lies/
If you are curious and would like more information about the keto/LCHF diet and the latest research here are some great resources.
The Diet Doctor “A ketogenic diet for beginners”
The Diet Doctor “How much food is 20 or 50 grams of carbs?” https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/keto/20-50-how-much
The Diet Doctor “How low carb is keto?”
The Diet Doctor “How to eat low carb as a vegan”
Chris Kresser “A Complete Guide to the Keto Diet”
Mark Sisson from Mark’s Daily Apple “The Beginner's Guide to the Ketogenic Diet” https://www.marksdailyapple.com/keto/
BrainFacts.org “How Do Ketogenic Diets Help People With Epilepsy?” https://www.brainfacts.org/diseases-and-disorders/epilepsy/2018/how-do-ketogenic-diets-help-people-with-epilepsy-081418
David Perlmutter “New Study Validates Ketogenic Diet for Epilepsy Treatment in Adults” https://www.drperlmutter.com/new-study-validates-ketogenic-diet-epilepsy-treatment-adults/
David Perlmutter “Yes – Alzheimer’s Can be Reversed!” https://www.drperlmutter.com/yes-alzheimers-can-be-reversed/
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