A ketogenic diet is a diet that includes high amounts of fat, moderate protein, and very little carbohydrate. This diet was used to treat uncontrollable epilepsy in children. The purpose of the diet is to force the body into a state that only burns fat instead of carbohydrates. When carbohydrate intake is reduced as per the ketogenic diet, the body goes into a state called ketosis which is a metabolic state.
Advantages of a keto diet
- The ketogenic diet has been known to largely reduce insulin and sugar levels in the blood. It thus has been known to help diabetes patients be able to completely stop using their meds by completely stopping their symptoms.
- The keto diet has also helped many people in losing a lot of weight. The ketogenic diet is a quick method to lose weight. According to doctors, patients who had a hard time losing weight had excellent results when they began using this diet plan. Rudy Mewer who is a sports nutritionist also says that this diet leaves people feeling fuller even though they haven’t consumed any carbohydrates.
- The diet has also been used to reduce epilepsy in patients who were suffering from extreme epilepsy. Doctors can’t explain why it works, but it does. It has also been known to kill cancerous tissues in the body.
Disadvantages of a keto diet
- As a side effect of ketosis taking place in one’s body, sugar levels go down and the body uses fat as a source of energy. As much as this helps in quick weight loss, people who use it for weight loss could easily gain weight back in a short amount of time if they don’t check on their diet choices.
- The diet also causes fatigue. When there’s little to no carbohydrate being consumed into the body, one feels really fatigued all the time. But these are symptoms that are manageable for someone who needs the diet for whatever reasons.
- For athletes, it doesn’t improve their performance which could discourage the athletes against the diet. Keto diet is also a very strict diet, which doesn’t work if you cheat or don’t adhere to it.
- This diet can be useful for short time uses whereas unhealthy on a long-term basis. This is due to the fact that the initial weight loss is water, with time you also begin losing muscle too which will make you fatigued. After muscle loss, there comes the last stage where your body goes into starvation and it becomes impossible to lose weight.
In conclusion, a ketogenic diet can be useful for your health depending on what you’re using it for. If used in extreme levels when it isn’t necessarily needed, it can cause very harmful effects on your body. People with kidney or liver problems aren’t encouraged to use the diet because it will cause more harm than good on their health. Is keto diet bad for your health? The answer is; “depending on how you use it, it can be good or bad.”
