These days, many of my patients are asking about the ketogenic diet. Is the Ketogenic Weight Loss Program Safe? would you recommend it? Despite recent hype, a ketogenic diet isn’t always something new. In medicinal medicine, we’ve been using it for about a hundred years to deal with drug-resistant epilepsy, especially in children. In the 1970s, Dr. Atkins popularized his very low-carbohydrate weight loss plan for weight loss that began with a very strict one-week ketogenic phase. Over time, other fad diets integrated a comparable technique for weight loss.
What is a ketogenic (keto) weight loss plan?
In short, it is a diet that causes the body to release ketones into the bloodstream. Most cells choose to use blood sugar, which comes from carbohydrates, as the frame’s vital source of power. In the absence of circulating blood sugar from food, we begin to break down stored fat into molecules called ketone bodies (the process is known as ketosis). After reaching ketosis, the maximum number of cells in our body will use ketones to generate strength until we start eating carbohydrates again. A shift from using circulating glucose to break down stored fat as a source of power, typically occurs over two to four days of eating less than 20 to 50 grams of carbohydrate per day. Remember the fact that this is a very individualized technique, and some people require an additional restricted diet to produce enough ketones.
Because it lacks carbohydrates, a ketogenic diet is rich in protein and fat. It usually contains lots of meats, eggs, processed meats, sausages, cheeses, fish, nuts, butter, oils, seeds and fibrous vegetables. Because it’s so restrictive, it’s really hard to follow in the long run. Carbohydrates typically account for at least 50% of the typical American diet. One of the main criticisms of this weight loss program is that many people eat too much protein and bad-saturating fats from processed food, with only a few servings and vegetables. Patients with kidney disease need to be careful as this diet plan can worsen their condition. In addition, some patients may also feel a bit groggy initially, while others may also experience terrible breath, nausea, vomiting, constipation, and sleep problems.
Is the Ketogenic Diet Healthy?
We have strong evidence that a ketogenic weight loss program reduces seizures in children, sometimes as well as a treatment. Because of those neuroprotective results, questions have been raised about potential benefits for other brain problems, including Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, sleep problems, autism, or even brain cancer. But, there is no human research to recommend ketosis as a treatment for those conditions.
Weight loss is the number one reason my patients use the ketogenic diet. Previous research shows true evidence of faster weight loss when patients go on a ketogenic diet, or a very low-carbohydrate diet, compared to people on a more traditional low-fat diet, or even a Mediterranean diet. But, this difference in weight loss tends to disappear over time.
A ketogenic diet has also been shown to improve blood sugar control for patients with type 2 diabetes, at least within the short term. There is an even greater controversy when we consider the effect it has on cholesterol levels. Some studies show that in some patients who initially have increased cholesterol levels, it is best to see a drop in LDL cholesterol after a few months. However, there may not be any long-term studies to read its effects on diabetes and excessive LDL cholesterol over years.
Key takeaways from a review of ketogenic weight loss programs?
A ketogenic diet can be an exciting option to combat positive conditions, and may promote weight loss. But it’s hard to see and it can be notoriously heavy on beef and other fatty, processed and salty foods. We also don’t know much about its long-term consequences, probably because it’s so difficult to keep up with that people can’t consume it this way for long periods of time. It is also important to note that “yo-yo dieting” that causes rapid weight loss fluctuations has been associated with increased mortality. Instead of joining the next popular diet that may only last a few weeks to months (the general public includes the ketogenic diet), try a longer-lasting alternative. A balanced, unprocessed weight loss plan, very colorful end result and quality proof for a long, healthy, colorful existence filled with lots of vegetables, lean meats, fish, whole grains, nuts, seeds, olive oil, and water . ,
Source by Joseph Lurther