A nutritionist told why a fashionable keto diet is dangerous, from which you lose weight dramatically
Initially, the diet was used to treat epilepsy.
Candidate of Medical Sciences, Russian nutritionist Tatyana Solntseva named the disadvantages of the ketogenic diet, which is becoming increasingly popular and with which you can noticeably lose weight in a short time.
– In fact, the diet was proposed 100 years ago by Dr. Russell Wilder. It was originally used to treat childhood epilepsy, says Solntseva. – Particularly attractive was the side effect: rapid weight loss. And it began to be used also in the treatment of obesity.
The keto diet is restrictive and involves the exclusion of a whole group of important nutrients – carbohydrates. The amount of proteins is also limited, the main share in the diet falls on fats.
On a low-carb diet, you can eat meat, fish, dairy products – all high-fat, eggs, butter and some types of nuts. And a very limited set of vegetables – leafy, which contain mainly fiber, berries in small quantities. Starchy vegetables, grain products, legumes, fruits are excluded.
Rapid weight loss is achieved due to the fact that when switching to such a diet, the biochemistry of metabolism completely changes. Usually the body uses carbohydrates as an energy source – it breaks them down and converts them into glucose. But with a keto diet, carbohydrates are not enough, and there is a forced adaptation to a new source of energy – fats. This stressful state continues for several days. Then the body enters ketosis – it begins to use ketone bodies instead of glucose. They are synthesized in the liver from long chain fatty acids, these include β-hydroxybutyrate, acetoacetate and acetone. And therefore, those who follow the keto diet sometimes smell specifically.
– The diet has advantages: a rapid and significant weight loss, a decrease in blood glucose levels, and an increase in efficiency. The feeling of hunger is dulled – after all, fats and proteins give a longer saturation. In addition, ketosis often causes a feeling of euphoria, improves mood, and increases energy. All of the above happens when the body has already rebuilt. And before that, there may be dizziness, weakness, loss of strength, – explains the nutritionist.
However, the diet has many disadvantages.
– Let’s say you lost a lot of weight on a keto diet – 7 kg in a month. Why? There is a loss of glycogen stores, and it binds water very well, so we lose it. Only due to this, up to 4 kg of weight can go. The first week on a keto diet is always the most successful. But at the same time, due to a lack of minerals (especially magnesium), convulsions occur, the activity of the cardiovascular system is disrupted, and tachycardia occurs. In addition, sometimes the so-called ketone cold begins – in terms of symptoms, it does not differ from the usual one. There may also be a rash on the skin, bad breath. Of course, cholesterol rises.
And further. When we remove vegetables, fruits, cereals, whole grains from the diet, we deprive the body of fiber that performs the functions of prebiotics. This affects both the digestive system and the immune system in general. Because the microbiota (beneficial bacteria that live in the gut) is deprived of its usual nutrition. The composition of the microbiota can change, which will affect the general condition of the body. By the way, some people, amid the euphoria of ketosis, do not even notice the emerging health problems, which can be regarded as an eating disorder. In the long term, side effects can result in chronic diseases: pathology of the intestines, kidneys, osteoporosis, urolithiasis and others, Solntseva warned.
Healthy-eating.rf, photo: unsplash
2023-08-11 16:20:22
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