Keto Diet

The ketogenic diet is defined as a high-fat, adequate-protein, and low-carb diet. The keto diet does not cut out carbohydrates completely, but it does reduce your intake of them drastically. The idea is to get most of your calories from proteins and fats and leave behind the unhealthy carbs. Most often, the foods you cut out during the keto diet are sugars, white breads, and soda. Contrary to most low carb diets, being keto mainly focuses on a large intake of fats, rather than proteins.

Helps with weight loss- Just like most diets, being ketogenic can cause you to lose weight. Since the diet has a large concentration of fats, it makes you less hungry, reducing your risk of overeating. Fats take more time to break down in your body, so you will also go a longer amount of time before feeling hungry again.

May prevent cancer- Although it is not fully proven yet, researchers have noticed the connection in low carb diets aiding in the prevention of cancer.

Not sustainable- The keto diet is very restrictive and prevents you from eating a lot of foods. It is recommended to only go keto for a short amount of time for quick weight loss results and then easing into a less restrictive but still healthy diet. Doing this will help you keep your results and not fall into the trap of “yo-yo dieting.”

Nutrition deficiencies- Similar to most diets, with the keto diet limiting your food options, many important nutrients get left out of your diet. When you lack a lot of these nutrients, you can become fatigued and feel foggy. These symptoms of very common and is referred to as the “keto flu.”

Popular keto foods:

• Seafood

• Meat

• Eggs

• High-fat dairy products

• Nuts

The keto diet can have large benefits in your life, but make sure to be careful to not stay on the diet too long. There are side effects to it, which may not be good for your health in the long run. You can use the diet as a first step into a healthy lifestyle and slowly ease into a more sustainable diet that will end up being a more permanent part of your life.