My Take on the Keto Diet 25/84

Most of the responses I got on my original Poll for content were for nutrition, so I need to make sure I'm keeping up on those. One diet that hes grown in popularity a ton in the last few years is the ketogenic diet, usually known as the "keto" diet. The keto diet is a super low carb diet that basically barres and consumption of carbohydrates, outside of what you would get from vegetables and left over from things like nuts and other plant sources. The point of this diet is to stop your body from running on glucose (sugar) like it does now, and get it running on fat via molecules knows as ketone bodies (thus the name). Proponents of this diet claim that it is more healthy than traditional diets and is great for weight loss and longevity.

These things can both definitely be true, tons of people has lost tons of fat from doing ketogenic diets and other low carb diets, but that is obviously not a guarantee. Just like any other diet, it works primarily through calorie reduction. Also, this diet can be very sustainable if you're really into it. For most people I don't think that's realistic, but it's definitely possible. Eating is this way can totally help get you to your weight loss goals but it definitely has some downfalls as well.

The biggest issue that I often hear about is how most people's performance suffers due to the lack of carbs. If you're someone who competes in any type of sport or cares at all about getting stronger and making gains in the gym, then keto may not be for you, at least not for very long. Any activity like running, lifting, or pretty much any sport that primarily runs on glucose (still sugar) will become much more difficult and you may see some strength losses while you're lifting. For most people I work with, this is reason enough to stray away because we focus a lot on trying to lift a little more weight each time we work out.

The other big issue is sustainability. On a super low carb diet like this, it makes it much harder to have fun and live a social life. Although very possible, it would be very tough to stick to your moderate protein, high fat ways at every family event and dinner date you went on. This may not be a concern for some people but my goal is to find a healthy way of eating that you can build good habit around and stick with for a long time.

So with that said, who could keto be good for? The biggest group of people who can benefit from this or those who are sedentary. If you're not exercising then you don't really need carbs so this could be perfect. I would hope that sedentary lifestyle wouldn't fit with most people reading this so that probably wouldn't fit very well. This can also be good for people who's hormones are way messed up and want to do a "reset" of sorts. If you're rather overweight, spending a small amount of time on a low-to-no carbs diet can help increase insulin sensitivity and get your body working properly. If this is the case, you can jump right in to a keto diet and spend a couple of weeks there to let you body fix itself. After that, slowly start to reintroduce carbs and see how you feel. If you're good with low carbs then great! Stick to it. If you do better with a little higher carbs and a little lower fat then great! Find what works for you .

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