If you keep up with the latest health trends, then you are sure to have heard of the famous Keto diet that has taken the world by storm. The hype around the high-fat, low-carb diet is difficult to ignore, so we are here to break it down for you and see if this new-age way of clean eating actually works.
What is the Keto Diet?
Formally known as the ‘ketogenic diet’, this eating routine consists of the bulk of calories (around 70%) deriving from fat, and the rest of the 30% from carbs and protein. Yes, that’s right – the vast majority of this diet is made up of fat-heavy foods, including a lot of cheese, bacon, eggs, butter, nuts, and non-starchy vegetables such as spinach, greens, broccoli, and cauliflower.
The keto diet works by restricting the usual dietary carbs that you are likely to consume in other diets, which are the body’s main source of energy, and breaking down stored fat to create ketones as the main source of energy instead. It’s important to remember, however, that calories do still matter and if you overeat on fat or protein, resulting in more calories than what your body is burning, it is very unlikely to see any weight loss.
The foundation of this diet is mainly high fat and high protein foods, which increase satiety and the feeling of being full for longer. So what typically happens is total calorie intake is lower than what the body burns, resulting in rapid weight loss.
Does the Keto Diet Work and Can I Lose Weight?
The majority of people that do the keto diet do experience weight loss at a quick speed, this is partly due to the loss of water weight. This is down to the fact that when the body stores carbs, it stores it with a high level of water, so when all the stored carbs are used up, you lose a lot of water weight in the process.
It is difficult for most people to burn a sufficient amount of calories in order to lose over two pounds of fat on a weekly basis. So, results from keto diets that total more than that are likely down to losses in water weight.
It is also extremely common for weight gain to occur on the keto diet, as it is very difficult for people to sustain the eating practices of this diet long term. Also, once carbs are reintroduced, people very often experience weight gain and the keto diet results are quickly lost.
That isn’t to say that the keto diet is an absolute no-go, as people that try it do experience weight loss results in the first 2-6 months. Afterwards, however, weight loss does seem to slow down as it is difficult to maintain the eating pattern of a low-carb, high-fat diet.
Keto may be best used to kick start a diet and see encouraging results at a swift pace, before making the transition to a balanced and consistent carb intake that can be maintained long term.
If you would like any further advice on the keto diet and whether it’s the best option for you, please contact us for a free consultation, we can also discuss alternative diet options.
