According to some of the recent studies of American universities, it has been showing that the ketogenic diet is becoming more popular rather than the Atkins diet can help you to lose extra pounds faster than physical exercises. Along with this, it has also been suggested that the ketogenic diet principles can suit every individual. It would help if you kept in mind that there is a need to consult a doctor before starting any diet.
Principles of Keto Diet
The ketogenic diet’s significant advantage is fast weight reduction due to fat dissolving without involving any muscle mass. It is fascinating to know that you will never feel hungry. This diet allows you to have a snack by using the allowed foods and won’t even need to give up fried food. However, what is the basic principles of this diet?
- It is essential to keep in mind that the ketogenic diet doesn’t demand you to eat different foods separately. You can eat meat with any of the allowed foods, whether the food is mushrooms or eggs.
- There is no need to give up on salt that adds taste to food and helps to restore the balance of electrolytes.
- The diet cannot become a forever diet as it’s unbalanced.
- There are recommendations regarding calorie quantity. However, you should not get more than 5,000 calories a day.
What Do You Eat on a Keto Diet?
It is essential to keep in mind that the ketogenic diet has a high-fat requirement; followers must eat fat at each meal. However, a daily 2,000-calorie diet might look like 165 grams of fat, 40 grams of carbohydrates and 75 grams of protein. The exact ratio of these nutrients depends on your particular needs.
Along with these nutrients, some healthy unsaturated fats are allowed on the keto diet, such as nuts, seeds, avocados, tofu, and olive oil. On the other hand, saturated fats from oil lard, butter, and cocoa butter are encouraged in high amounts.
Protein is also a major part of the keto diet. However, it doesn’t typically discriminate between lean protein foods or protein sources high in saturated fat such as beef, pork, and bacon.
What about keto vegetables and fruits? Almost all the fruits are rich in carbs, but you may have certain fruits such as berries in small portions. On the other hand, vegetables are restricted to a leafy green, cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus, bell peppers, onions, cucumber, Brussels sprouts, garlic, mushrooms, celery, and summer squashes.
Risks of Keto Diet
Keto diet is high in saturated fat. Recent studies recommend that you keep saturated fats to no more than 7% of the daily calories because of the link to heart disease. There is a great need to know that the keto diet is directly associated with an increase in bad cholesterol, which is also linked to heart disease.
However, some potential keto risks are:
Nutrient deficiency
If you are not eating a wide range of vegetables, fruits, and grains, you may be at risk for deficiencies such as selenium, phosphorus, magnesium, and vitamins B and C.
Liver problems
With so much fat to metabolize, the keto diet could make any existing liver conditions worse.
Kidney problems
The kidneys play an essential role in protein metabolism, and a keto diet may overload them.
Constipation
The ketogenic diet is low in fibrous foods such as grains and legumes, which means you may suffer from constipation.
Fuzzy thinking or mood swings
The human brain needs sugar from healthy carbohydrates to function properly. Low-carb diets can cause confusion and irritability.
What About The Other Diets?
Some of the other popular low-carb diets, such as Atkins or Paleo, modify a true keto diet. However, these diets come with the same risks if you overdo it on fats or proteins and lay off the carbs. If you want to know some other diets, check this.