Answered: Should I Try the Ketogenic Diet?

There are a myriad of fad diets out there that claim you’ll lose weight. However, if you try the ketogenic diet, you’ll soon find out why many people are making the permanent switch to it for better health. The keto diet restricts one food group: carbs.

Those who have studied this diet have found that you will see weight loss while on it. This is mostly because it’s really just a high fat low carb diet. People who are on this diet eat food that is very high in fat, like olive oil, and restrict their grams of carbs to fewer than 50 grams a day. And while lots of people are switching to this diet permanently, there are some who may not benefit and lose weight when they try the ketogenic diet.

Is it sustainable?

Usually, most fad diets are not sustainable because they take out a main food group. Keto does restrict your carbs a lot, but it doesn’t necessarily say you can never have them. When people try keto diets, they may try it too intensely off the bat. Rather than easing themselves into it, the diet becomes too hard and they quit. There are some people who stay on this high fat diet for a very long time and don’t see any ill side effects. Really though, it hasn’t been around long enough for researchers to study what would happen if you stuck with the ketogenic diet for the rest of your life.

It’s not an easy diet to follow for many because they have to log every food and know their exact carb count throughout the day. If you really want to do keto as it is intended, your body needs to go into a state of ketosis. This means that your body is burning fat instead of carbohydrates, which could lead to a greater weight loss than with other diets.

The results may not last.

One problem with the keto diet is that the results are usually short term. As soon as someone goes back to high carb diets, their results are reversed. That’s not to say that keto can’t help you slim down and get to your goal weight. But, if you are not careful, the results may not last for very long.

It's dangerous for disease.

There are some people who should steer clear from the keto diet. While it might be good for regulating blood sugar with those who have type two diabetes, it can be extremely dangerous for those who have type one diabetes. Instead of going into ketosis, type one diabetics will go into diabetic ketoacidosis, which can lead to death.

Another person who should steer clear from the keto diet is anyone who has a family history of heart disease. It's important to weigh the pros and cons of a keto diet. Researchers have found that low fat diets can help prevent heart disease, so it’s important to know your family history before you set out to try the keto diet.

Take the right approach.

When people hear high fat low carb diets, they suddenly think they can go out to all the fast food restaurants and eat french fries and burgers for every meal. Unfortunately, that’s not how keto diets work. If you’re trying to lose weight, you need to take careful measurements of your net carbs and grams of fat that you are eating every day.

Just because something is high in fat does not mean that it is healthy. Eating fast food for every meal, even under the keto guidelines, will not lead to healthy weight loss. Instead, you need to monitor what you are eating and aim for the ultimate keto diet food list and healthy options that are not processed.

It's not an all you can eat diet.

Another thing that can hurt a keto diet is when you think that you can eat however much you want. Even if something is healthy, that doesn’t mean that it suddenly is calorie free and you can eat however much you want. This is not an all you can eat buffet! Keto diet or not, you need to be mindful of your portions if you are aiming for better overall health.

Even when something is healthy it does not mean you should have more than the recommended portion size. A lot of people who try keto suddenly eat multiple spoonfuls of peanut butter or as many nuts as they want a day, and that can actually make you gain weight since they are high in calories. Eating sensible portions of high fat low carb foods can help you in your health journey.

Let's look at the healthy keto diet.

A better way to do the keto diet is to focus on whole and unprocessed foods that are naturally high in fat and low in carbs. This means that you can eat avocados, olive oil, coconut oil, grass-fed meat, eggs, and dairy. You also need to try to focus on the quality of food that you are eating. If you can afford it, buy organic. Also, plan out your meals ahead of time because it can help you stick to the diet and save money. Even when you are getting the grams of fat that you need, you still need vitamins and nutrients from healthy vegetables as well.

Keto diets work the best when they are done with a conscious approach to healthier eating. Those who use the keto diet for short term results are usually the ones who are eating incorrectly. However, following a healthier approach and looking up best recipes for a ketogenic diet including lots of colorful vegetables and protein rich meat can be a sustainable life choice.

Before you try the keto diet, you should always check with your healthcare professional. There are a lot of reasons why the ketogenic diet may not be for you, and your doctor can help you decide whether or not it would help you reach your weight loss goals. Once you get the answer from your doctor, you can try the ketogenic diet and decide for yourself whether or not it’s for you.