The keto diet is a low-carb diet that is high in fat and sufficient in protein. For the first time, such diets began to be used at the beginning of the 20th century in the treatment of epilepsy. But over time, effective medications have emerged to treat this disease.
It so happened evolutionarily that the main and predominant source of energy for our body is glucose. Carbohydrates from food are converted into glucose, which is extremely important for the nutrition and function of the brain, muscles, and other organs and systems. However, if there are not enough carbohydrates in the diet, then fat stores are converted to fatty acids and ketone bodies.
Role of ketone bodies:
Under stress or short-term fasting, they serve as reserve sources of energy for the body instead of glucose. That is, the essence of theketo diet is to replace or transfer the body from using the energy of carbohydrates to the energy of fats. Which, by the way, is not a substitute for equal calorie content, since fats are more than twice as caloric as carbohydrates.
On a keto diet menu, energy comes primarily from fat, while on a traditional diet, most of its energy comes from carbohydrates.
However, the effectiveness of the keto diet for weight loss is by no means in ketosis. At its core, it is a normal calorie, as it excludes a number of high-calorie foods- baked goods, confectionery, fast food, and other products made from refined carbohydrates with high-fat content. Anyone who does this will lose weight, this is quite logical. This can be achieved without a keto lunch on a traditional no-frills diet.
The pros and cons of the keto diet
Pros: The keto diet is tasty, not hungry, understandable and easy to follow, effective for weight loss, however, like any other nutritional system.
There are many more disadvantages: the keto diet is not physiological and contradicts the WHO recommendations for the use of foods – it does not include the recommended 5 servings of vegetables and fruits per day necessary for health.
With this type of nutrition, whole grains, fruits, and berries are excluded – sources of biologically active phytocompounds, antioxidants, organic acids, vitamins, and minerals, as well as dietary fiber-fiber, which is necessary for the normal functioning of the intestines and the vital activity of beneficial intestinal microflora.
Compliance with the keto meal plan is often clouded by constipation or diarrhea. In the first case, due to a lack of dietary fiber in the diet, in the second – due to excess fat, which the pancreas cannot handle.
Contraindications for the keto diet
The keto diet is contraindicated in cases of gallbladder disease or in its absence, and it is also not recommended:
- pregnant and lactating women,
- children, as protein and fat requirements differ depending on age,
- with the insufficient secretory function of the pancreas,
- with urolithiasis,
- with an increased level of uric acid in the blood and gout,
- with an increased level of cholesterol in the blood, with atherosclerosis.
