Hence, the magical keto diet. There are so many rumors and speculations surrounding her, how many hopes are pinned on her, how many hours have been spent in the bathroom because of her. Keto apologists preach rapid melting of fat glaciers, incredible performance, crystal clear mental clarity, etc. and so on. with a similar spirit. We don't know where this data comes from, because scientists are just starting to study this diet under a microscope.
Let's talk about all the pros and cons of a high-fat diet.
The essence for beginners: what it is in simple words
Let's clarify one important point right away: a high-fat diet (ketogenic diet) is not yet a low-carb diet, it is primarily a very high-fat diet.
The keto diet is a low-carb diet for weight loss with a moderate amount of protein in the diet and active fat consumption.
If you are counting calories, the % distribution of calories would be:
- 80% of calories come from fat,
- 15% protein kcal,
- the remaining 5% are carbohydrates.
That is, at least 75% of the calories in your diet should come from fat; the sources of which can be eggs, bacon, sausages, avocado, vegetable oils, coconut oil, butter.
We would also like to point out that this is not a diet based on so-called animal fats. Purely meat diet, not at all! Vegetables are consumed, but moderately or completely avoid starchy vegetables such as potatoes.
What is important to know for beginners? What is a "fatty diet" in simple terms?
So, the essence of the ketogenic diet is simple in words. With such a nutritional system, the body enters a state called "ketosis" and begins to synthesize ketones for subsequent energy generation (hence the name "ketogenic" diet), and such a transition is possible only if carbohydrate intake is strictly limited.
Our body is able to fully satisfy its needs from fat reserves. But the absence of carbohydrates is terrible for our brain and our nervous system, which need glucose: the brain cannot use fatty acids for its energy supply.
When we ignore carbohydrates, the body, in order not to stretch its legs, begins to pervert and create surrogate carbohydrates: ketone bodies.
Ketone bodies are organic biomolecules, soluble in aqueous media, which are synthesized in the liver from fatty acids when food intake (especially carbohydrates) decreases. Once transported into extrahepatic tissues, these biomolecules can be used as an energy source.
Ketone bodies are constantly synthesized in small quantities in the human body, but normally the concentration of ketones is so low that they are not detected in a urine test.
However, when the level of ketone bodies in the blood increases (a condition known as ketonemia), they begin to be excreted in the urine (known as ketonuria); Ketonemia and ketonuria taken together indicate the body's transition into a state of ketosis.
The ultimate goal of the ketogenic diet is to put the body into a state of nutritional ketosis (not to be confused with pathological ketosis), which ultimately directs the metabolism to use fatty acids and ketone bodies as its main source of energy.
In the initial stages, the important thing is not to overdo it with the amount of protein.
If you eat too much protein (more than 20%), the body starts the process of gluconeogenesis and eventually all the excess protein is converted into glucose, which prevents you from entering a state of ketosis.
So it's important to choose fatty foods with some protein. You don't need to lean on chicken, but rather buy fatty cuts of beef. Instead of diet turkey bacon, buy regular bacon. Only 20% of your calories should come from protein.
Also remember that you need to drink a lot, a lot. Because the main sign of ketosis is the smell of acetone on your body and breath. Fantastic, right?
The fact is that excess fat derivatives are expelled from the body, giving this specific odor. Previously we discussed that fat energy factories are the most "polluting".
It is not always possible to completely remove the smell. But most of the odor can be removed with plenty of clean water.
Those. When you drink a lot of water (3 liters per day), excess ketones are excreted in urine and sweat. This removes most of the odor after showering. In addition, it improves well-being (eliminates lethargy).
Interesting fact: The keto diet was originally invented for epileptics.
Why we don't recommend it: The dangers of eating fat
For one simple reason: this is not a balanced diet. And such diets, which openly demonize any food, are absolutely not included in our concept: "Beauty does not require sacrifice, beauty requires health. "What kind of freedom from papal pressure can we talk about when we exclude a huge amount of food from our diet? . .
We do not deny that the body can exist more or less adequately in conditions of minimal or total absence of carbohydrates, subject to an adequate protein intake and the physiologically necessary amount of fats, but ideally we still guarantee the presence of all three nutrients in the diet, Meaning what. Follow a balanced diet to lose weight!
It is possible to lose weight
Often people, in pursuit of thinness, begin to believe in all sorts of fairy tales like "exclude this group of foods and the weight will disappear by itself. "This is where monsters like the paleo diet are born.
Let's answer this interesting question with you: "Is it possible to lose weight by eliminating proteins, carbohydrates or fats from the diet? " The brilliant Line McDonald will help us with this (the following are excerpts from her work).
Let's imagine that you consume a certain amount of calories, but you get them from different sources: in the first case you will get them mainly from carbohydrates; in the second - from proteins, and in the third - from fats.
On carbohydrates
Let's imagine we get most of our calories from carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are rarely converted to fat (a process called de novo lipogenesis) under normal dietary conditions.
There are exceptional situations, for example chronic overeating of carbohydrates. That means 700-900 grams of net carbs per day for several days.
In this situation, carbohydrates overwhelm your glycogen stores, exceeding the number of calories required for the day, and you end up converting carbohydrates into body fat.
But when you eat more carbs, you burn more carbs and less fat. And that's why, even though carbs don't convert directly into fat, too many carbs make you fat.
In general, by inhibiting the breakdown of fats, an excess of carbohydrates forces us to store all the fats ingested in the form of subcutaneous reserves, preventing the burning of existing ones.
Yes, carbs don't directly make you fat by storing them in fat, but excess carbs still affect your fat stores, preventing you from burning the fat you eat throughout the day.
This is why exceeding your daily calorie intake of 500 calories of fat or 500 calories of carbohydrates makes you gain weight, they just do it for different reasons and in different ways.
An additional 500 calories of fat is simply stored under the skin, and 500 calories of carbohydrates causes all the fat consumed during the day to go into reserve, because the carbohydrates will be oxidized, not the fats.
Bottom line: when you eat more carbs, you burn more carbs and less fat; when you eat fewer carbs you will burn fewer carbs and more fat. Unexpected, right?
On a squirrel
The protein companion is never converted into fat or stored in this way. But if you eat a lot of protein, the body will use it for energy (rather than carbohydrates and fats), which means other nutrients will be stored.
As a result, eating too much protein will make you gain weight, but not directly, but because all the fat you eat goes under the skin.
Naturally, proteins have the highest thermic effect, so more of the incoming calories will be used to digest food. In any case, excess protein is less likely to make you fat, but if the calorie balance is exceeded, you will still gain weight.
But not through the direct conversion of protein into fat, but through a decrease in the amount of other nutrients burned.
Bottom line: if you eat more protein, you burn more protein (and therefore less fat and carbohydrates); eat less protein and you will burn less protein (and therefore more carbohydrates and fats). Presenting your face, you now clearly look like this:
On fat
The fats supplied with food are mainly stored; if you eat more of it, this does not significantly affect the oxidation of subcutaneous fat.
When you eat fats, their fate is to be deposited in fat reserves, because. . . their consumption has a minimal effect on fat oxidation. It also does not have a significant effect on protein or carbohydrate oxidation.
Overall conclusion: all three options make you fat, but the mechanisms are different.
The only difference is that fat is stored directly and proteins and carbohydrates force you to store the fat you eat.
Of course, there will be those who misunderstand that low-carbohydrate and/or low-protein diets have no advantage over others in terms of burning subcutaneous fat.
But on these diets, even though you burn more fat, you also eat more fatty foods. So the overall fat balance remains the same, despite changes in the other components. No matter how you look at it, it all comes down to energy balance and calorie deficit.
Surely you have a logical question: why not stop eating fat?
This is because carbohydrates are converted into fats by de novo lipogenesis. This is the case when the amount of fat consumed through the diet falls below 10% of the total calories consumed. In this case, your body starts the process of lipogenesis de novo, so you will still gain weight.
The body is smarter than us. In a situation of adequate fat intake (i. e. greater than 10% of total calories), the fate of the fat we eat is to be stored in fat reserves, and proteins and carbohydrates are used for other processes.
And when the amount of fat consumed is too small, the body begins to convert carbohydrates (and most likely proteins, although much less frequently) to store them as fat.
Lies or truth
Of course, under certain conditions, the keto diet will work and you will lose weight. But it's not about her, not about fats and not about a special menu. The fact is, you will simply eat less!
They've been vilifying diets for a long time, but people don't believe it: and rightly so, because diets work!
Here, for example, is a meta-analysis of about 50 studies that compared 11 popular diets that can be grouped: low-carb (Atkins, South Beach, Zone), low-fat (Ornish, Rosemary Conley), balanced (Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem, Weight Watchers).
It turns out that (surprise) any diet for weight loss is better than no diet at all.
After six months, people on a low-carb diet lost more weight. But the overall difference in weight loss (differences in indicators) between all diets is insignificant: a few hundred grams.
For example, with low-carb diets for 6 months, the average weight loss was 8. 73 kg and 7. 25 kg in 12 months, and with low-fat diets 7. 99 kg in 6 months and 7. 27 kg in 12 months.
Research has shown that, compared to a severely low-calorie diet, a low-carb diet may be slightly more effective for short-term weight loss.
This is partly due to the body's decreased glycogen stores (in the liver and muscles) and resulting fluid loss (which amounts to approximately 2 kg for a typical adult). But, as we can see, in the long term the difference between them is minimal.
A study comparing low-carb and low-fat diets over the past 2 years found that there was no significant difference in weight loss between the two.
By the way, keep in mind that the diet was most effective in the first six months. And after a year, the weight generally began to increase. A striking example of metabolic adaptation.
Benefit and effect
The ketogenic diet doesn't make you hungry and doesn't take away calories. Simply put, we simply compensate for the decrease in carbohydrates with proteins and fats.
Of course, this does not mean that by drastically reducing your carbohydrate intake, you can eat fatty and protein foods. Calorie intake should be kept within normal limits. Another undoubted advantage of the keto diet is appetite control.
Many people who have followed one diet or another know that the strongest appetite comes precisely during the diet. The keto diet eliminates the feeling of hunger. Fatty and protein foods, which the keto diet is rich in, allow a person not to experience a brutal appetite and at the same time lose weight.
Harm
Considering that the ketogenic diet places emphasis on fatty and protein foods, digestive disorders are possible: heaviness in the stomach, bloating, constipation.
This is because the diet contains virtually no fibre, which is found in bread, potatoes, fruit and vegetables. To avoid digestive problems, you should consume fruits and vegetables in minimal quantities. For example, cabbage and sour grapes are suitable.
Another disadvantage of the keto diet is the unpredictability of glucose deficiency. It is not known how your body will behave if you deprive it of such an important energy resource.
It will take some time for the body to convert to ketone bodies. As a rule, in the first week a person feels malaise, dizziness and general weakness. It is important to resist at least 21 days to see the results of the diet.
A decrease in the amount of micronutrients (vitamins/minerals, etc. ) is a common occurrence with any low-carb diet, because most of our micronutrients come to us from carbohydrate-containing foods. Therefore, it is necessary to use vitamin-mineral complexes.
A decrease in the acidity of the blood occurs as a response to an increase in the amount of ketones it contains.
If you have problems with carbohydrate metabolism (for example, diabetes), vomiting and "ketoacidosis" are possible. In a healthy body, ketones are used without consequences. By the way, the smell of acetone confirms this (a sign of ketone use).
We're already seeing people in ketosis rushing into the comments shouting "I've been in ketosis for 116 days and I'm more active than ever! " Let's say our personal opinion, ketosis people are worse than vegans in online battles. Not all, but for some reason very many.
Go to any article on this topic and you will see how they pour buckets of dirt on the author, simply because he does not write laudatory odes to fat. We always advise them to eat buckwheat and calm down.
This probably comes from the fact that a person projects his personal, internal dispute onto others. This happens especially often in matters of nutrition/sport/religion. For example, a person's mind is forced to constantly argue with many factors, and such a person tries to loudly express his arguments against him, in a dispute with an external opponent, in order to thereby feel like a winner.
Another example is that a neophyte to some food system suppresses his doubts in such disputes. In short, these people don't argue with you, but with themselves, better not to disturb them, they will bite you to death, you are made of proteins and fats.
Moreover, if you personally "everything is a lie, I don't eat coal and I feel great", then this does not mean that this happens to others too! An individual's personal experience cannot prove or disprove anything.
Why? Yes, because these "personal opinions" and reviews of yours are a carriage and a cart and everyone is different. Who will you trust, who has a nicer nickname?
Contraindications for use
For any deviations from health, any diet or exercise should be used only after consulting a doctor. People with kidney, digestive, or intestinal disease should not use the keto diet.
Glucose deficiency initially greatly affects brain activity, so such a diet is undesirable for mental workers.
And by the way, the American Dietetic Association does not recommend the keto diet due to ketoacidosis, but recommends other diets that contain more carbohydrates.
Reference: Diabetic ketoacidosis (ketoacidosis) is a variant of metabolic acidosis associated with impaired carbohydrate metabolism resulting from insulin deficiency: high concentrations of glucose and ketone bodies in the blood.
On the one hand the keto diet is simple, on the other hand it is very difficult. Of course everything depends on the form chosen. Some people act so fanatically that the diet ends badly. You cannot neglect the rules of the diet, you need to listen to your body and give it a break. In the end, the main thing is health, you should not forget about it. Think for yourself, decide for yourself.