Hence the magic keto diet. There are so many rumors and speculations about him, how many hopes were placed on him, how many hours he spent in the toilet. Keto advocates tout rapid melting of fat glaciers, incredible performance, crystal clarity of mind, and more. and so on. in a similar spirit. We don't know where this information came from, as scientists are just beginning to study this diet under the microscope.
Let's discuss all the pros and cons of a low-fat diet.
The gist for beginners: what it is in simple words
Let's clarify an important point right away: a high-fat diet (ketogenic diet) is still not a low-carb diet, but primarily a very high-fat diet.
The keto diet is a low-carb diet for weight loss with moderate protein and active fat consumption in the diet.
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; sources can be eggs, bacon, sausage, avocado, vegetable oils, coconut oil, butter.
We also want to point out that this is not a diet based on animal fats. an all-meat diet, not at all! Vegetables are consumed, but with moderate or complete avoidance of starchy vegetables such as potatoes.
What is important for beginners to know? What is a "fat 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 further energy production (hence the name "ketogenic" diet), and such a transition is possible only if carbohydrate intake is severely limited.
Our body can fully meet its needs from fat reserves. But the lack of carbohydrates is terrible for our brain and nervous system, which needs glucose: the brain cannot use fatty acids for energy.
When you ignore carbohydrates, the body begins to break down and create ersatz carbohydrates - ketone bodies - in order not to stretch its legs.
Ketone bodies are water-soluble organic biomolecules that are synthesized from fatty acids in the liver when food intake (especially carbohydrates) is reduced. These biomolecules can be used as an energy source after being transported to extrahepatic tissues.
Ketone bodies are constantly synthesized in small amounts 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 that the body is in a state of ketosis.
The ultimate goal of a ketogenic diet is to put the body in a state of nutritional ketosis (not to be confused with pathological ketosis), which shifts the metabolism to use fatty acids and ketone bodies as its primary energy source.
In the initial stages, the main thing is not to exceed it with the amount of protein.
If you eat too much protein (more than 20%), the body starts the process of gluconeogenesis, and as a result, all the excess protein turns into glucose, which prevents you from entering a state of ketosis.
Therefore, it is important to choose fatty foods with some protein. You don't need to stick to chicken, instead buy lean cuts of beef. Buy regular bacon instead of diet turkey bacon. Only 20% of your calories should come from protein.
Also, don't forget to drink a lot. Because the main symptom of ketosis is the smell of acetone on your body and breath. Great, huh?
The point is that excess fat derivatives are excreted by the body, and this gives a special smell. Earlier we discussed that the most "polluting" oil is energy factories.
It is not always possible to completely eliminate the smell. However, most of the odor can be removed with plenty of clean water.
These are. When you drink a lot of water (more than 3 liters per day), excess ketones are excreted in urine and sweat. This removes most of the smell after a shower. 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. Such diets, which clearly demonize any food, are absolutely not included in our concept: "Beauty does not require sacrifice, beauty requires health. "What kind of freedom from papal pressures can we talk about when you eliminate a large amount of food from your diet? . .
We do not deny that the body can exist more or less adequately in conditions of minimal or complete absence of carbohydrates, adequate protein intake and physiologically necessary amounts of fat, but ideally still provides the presence of all three nutrients in the diet, viz. Use a balanced diet to lose weight!
Is it possible to lose weight?
Too often, people start believing all kinds of fairy tales like "cut out this food group and the weight will go away on its own" in pursuit of thinness. Monsters like the paleo diet are born here.
Let's look at this interesting question with you: "Is it possible to lose weight by eliminating protein, carbohydrates or fats from the diet? " Bright Line McDonald will help us with this (excerpts from his work are below).
Let's imagine that you eat a certain amount of calories, but 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.
About carbohydrates
Let's imagine that we get most of our calories from carbohydrates. Under normal nutritional conditions, carbohydrates are rarely converted to fat (a process called de novo lipogenesis).
There are exceptional cases, for example, chronic overeating of carbohydrates. That's 700-900 grams of net carbs per day for a few days.
In this case, the carbs overwhelm your glycogen stores, exceed your caloric needs for the day, and you turn the carbs into body fat.
But when you eat more carbs, you burn more carbs and less fat. And that's why too many carbs make you fat, even if the carbs aren't directly converted to fat.
By inhibiting the breakdown of fat in general, excess carbohydrates force you to store all the fat you eat as subcutaneous stores, preventing you from burning off what's available.
Yes, carbs don't make you fat by directly converting them to fat, but excess carbs still affect your fat stores, preventing you from burning the fat you eat throughout the day.
So exceeding your daily caloric intake by 500 calories of fat or 500 calories of carbs makes you fat, they do it for different reasons and in different ways.
An extra 500 calories of fat is simply stored under the skin, and 500 calories of carbohydrates means that all the fat eaten during the day will go into storage, because carbohydrates, not fats, will be oxidized.
Conclusion: When you eat more carbs, you burn more carbs and less fat; when you eat less carbs, you'll burn less carbs and more fat. Unexpected, right?
On a squirrel
Protein friendly is never converted to fat or stored as such. But if you eat too much protein, the body will use it for energy (rather than carbohydrates and fats), meaning other nutrients will go into storage.
As a result, eating too much protein will make you fat, not just directly, but because all the fat you eat goes under the skin.
Of course, protein has the highest thermic effect, so more of the incoming calories will be used to digest food. Too much protein is unlikely to make you fat anyway, but if the caloric balance is exceeded, you will still gain weight.
But not by converting protein directly into fat, but by reducing the number of other nutrients that are burned.
Bottom line: if you eat more protein, you burn more protein (and therefore less fat and carbs); eat less protein and you'll burn less protein (and therefore more carbs and fat). When presenting your face, you now clearly look like this:
On oil
Dietary fats are mainly stored, if you eat more of them, it does not significantly affect the oxidation of subcutaneous fat.
When you eat fats, their fate accumulates in fat reserves, because. . . their consumption has little effect on fat oxidation. It also has no significant effect on protein or carbohydrate oxidation.
Bottom line: All three options make you fat, but the mechanisms are different.
The only difference is that fat is stored directly and proteins and carbohydrates make you store the fat you eat.
Of course, there will be those who misunderstand that low-carb and/or high-protein diets have no advantage over others in terms of burning subcutaneous fat.
But even though you burn more fat with these diets, you also eat more fatty foods. Thus, despite changes in other components, the overall oil balance remains the same. No matter how you look at it, it's all about energy balance and calorie deficit.
Surely you have a logical question, why don't you stop eating fat?
This is because carbohydrates are converted to fat through de novo lipogenesis. This is 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 case of sufficient fat intake (i. e. more than 10% of total calories), the fate of the fat we eat must be stored in fat reserves, and proteins and carbohydrates are used for other processes.
When the amount of fat consumed is too low, the body begins to convert carbohydrates (and probably proteins) to store them as fat.
Lie or truth
Of course, under certain conditions, the keto diet will work and you will lose weight. But this is not about him, not about fats and not about a special menu. The fact is, you will eat less!
Diets have been vilified for so long, but people don't believe them: and rightly so, because diets work!
Here, for example, is a meta-analysis of about 50 studies comparing 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, the people on the low-carb diet lost more weight. But the general difference in weight loss (differences in indicators) between all diets is insignificant: a few hundred grams.
For example, the average weight loss on low-carbohydrate diets over 6 months was 8. 73 kg and 7. 25 kg at 12 months, and on low-fat diets it was 7. 99 kg at 6 months and 7. 27 kg at 12 months.
Research shows that compared to a strictly calorie-restricted diet, a low-carb diet may be slightly more effective for short-term weight loss.
This is partly due to the depletion of the body's glycogen stores (in the liver and muscles) and associated fluid loss (about 2 kg for a typical adult). But, as we can see, there is little difference between them in the long run.
A study comparing low-carb and low-fat diets over the past 2 years found no significant difference in weight loss between the two.
By the way, note that the diet is 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 impact
The ketogenic diet does not starve people and does not take away calories. Roughly speaking, we simply compensate for the decrease in carbohydrates with proteins and fats.
Of course, this does not mean that by drastically reducing carbohydrate intake, you can eat more 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 are on one diet or another know that the strongest appetite occurs during a diet. The keto diet suppresses hunger pangs. Fatty and protein foods, which the keto diet is rich in, allow a person not to experience brutal appetite and lose weight at the same time.
Damage
Given that the ketogenic diet emphasizes fatty and protein foods, digestive disorders are possible - heaviness in the stomach, bloating, constipation.
This is because the diet contains virtually no fiber, which is found in bread, potatoes, fruits and vegetables. To avoid digestive problems, you should consume some vegetables and fruits in minimum 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 source of energy.
It takes 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 wait at least 21 days to see the results of the diet.
Deficiencies in micronutrients (vitamins/minerals, etc. ) are common on any low-carb diet, as the majority of micronutrients come from carbohydrate foods. Therefore, you should use vitamin-mineral complexes.
A decrease in blood acidity occurs in response to an increase in the amount of ketones in the blood.
If there are problems with carbohydrate metabolism (for example, diabetes), vomiting and "ketoacidosis" are possible. In a healthy body, ketones are used without any results. By the way, the smell of acetone confirms this (a sign of ketone use).
We already see people in ketosis rushing to the comments, shouting, "I've been in ketosis for 116 days and I'm more active than ever! "Let us give you our personal opinion, people in ketosis are worse than vegans in online battles. Not all, but somehow a lot.
Go to any article on this subject and you will see how buckets of dirt are thrown at the author simply because he did not write odes in praise of oil. We always advise them to eat buckwheat and calm down.
It most likely comes from a person projecting their personal, internal conflict onto others. This is especially common in nutrition/exercise/religion. For example, a person's mind is constantly forced to argue with many factors, and such a person tries to argue against them loudly in a debate with an external opponent in order to feel like a winner.
Another example is when some food system neophyte drowns out his doubts in such debates. In short, these people are arguing not with you, but with themselves, it is better not to bother them, they will bite you to death, you are made of protein and fat.
Also, if you personally say "it's all a lie, I don't eat coal and I feel great", it does not mean that it happens to others! A person's personal experience cannot prove or disprove anything.
Why? Yes, because this is your "personal opinion" and your opinions are a wagon and a small cart and everyone is different. Who will you trust, who has a better nickname?
Contraindications for use
For any deviation from health, any diet or exercise should be used only after consulting a doctor. People with kidney, digestive system or intestinal diseases should not use the keto diet.
Glucose deficiency first greatly affects brain activity, so such a diet is undesirable for mental workers.
By the way, the American Dietetic Association does not recommend the keto diet because of ketoacidosis, but recommends other diets that contain more carbohydrates.
Reference: diabetic ketoacidosis (ketoacidosis) is a variant of metabolic acidosis associated with impaired carbohydrate metabolism caused by insulin deficiency: high concentration of glucose and ketone bodies in the blood.
On the one hand, the keto diet is simple, but on the other hand, it is very difficult. Of course, everything depends on the selected form. Some people are so fanatical that the diet ends badly. You can not ignore the rules of the diet, you need to listen to your body and give it a break. After all, the main thing is health, you should not forget it. Think for yourself, decide for yourself.