#HealthBytes: Five reasons you shouldn't follow the Keto diet
If you happen to be a weight-watcher, you've probably already heard of the Ketogenic diet, one of the hottest diet buzzwords. The Keto diet encourages increased consumption of healthy fats and reduced intake of protein and carbohydrates, in order to promote weight loss. However, there are some serious dangers of following this low-carb diet. Here are five reasons you shouldn't follow Keto.
How exactly does the Keto diet work?
The Keto diet aims at drastically reducing carbohydrate-intake, and replacing it with fat consumption. Such reduction in carbs leads your body to a metabolic state, known as ketosis. This further helps your body to efficiently burn fat for energy.
The Keto flu
Although it's only short-term, one goes through many sickening side-effects upon switching to Keto. These include poor energy, improper mental function, increased hunger, sleep issues and nausea. An estimate suggests that about 25% of Keto practitioners experience these symptoms. This happens because the Keto diet drains our body of sufficient sugar.
Reduced physical performance
A study published in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness suggests that participants who were on a Ketogenic diet performed worse, as compared to those who followed a high-carb diet plan. Experts believe that this happens because our body is in a more acidic state when in Ketosis, which might limit our ability to perform at peak levels.
Diarrhea
Many report suffering from diarrhea when on a Ketogenic diet. The reason could be 'overwork' on part of your gallbladder, the organ that produces bile to help break down fat. Another reason for diarrhea could be a lack of fiber in diet (owing to low-carb intake). People also tend to take more of dairy when on Keto, which might also be a potential cause.
Less muscle mass and risk of heart disease
Less muscle mass: When you start taking way more fat than protein in your diet (which you do when on Keto), you might experience reduced muscle mass. This will further mess with your metabolic rate. Risk of heart disease and diabetes: Studies suggest that high-fat diets like Keto may eventually raise your cholesterol levels, and increase risk of heart disease and diabetes.
