Keto Diet: It's Not For Everyone - Busting My Fat Belly

A keto diet is composed of high fats, moderate proteins, and low carbohydrates. It is a dietary lifestyle that starves the body of carbs and at the same time, floods it with fats. This makes the body to evolve from using carbohydrate-derived glucose for fuel to ketones that are derived from the breakdown of fats — in a metabolic process known as ketosis.

The ketogenic diet has become very popular around the world mainly because of its ability to aid weight loss. This property is thought to be due to its ability to promote the breakdown of stored fatty materials in the body, as well as its potential to control appetite and suppress hunger hormones.

While the keto diet has been proved by research to be effective in aiding weight loss, there are still concerns about the long-term use of such kind of diet. A lot of healthcare professionals have debated about its possible health effects. Are there any side effects? Who should not do keto? Well, all these, and many more would be answered in the following paragraphs.

Why do doctors not like keto diet?

While keto works to facilitate weight loss, a lot of doctors are still not exactly sure when it comes to recommending such kind of diet to their clients. This position from healthcare professionals is probably due to concerns from the high-fat intake a keto diet advocates. Not every kind of fat, but saturated fat that has been deemed unhealthy by scientific research. Findings have shown that saturated fat can cause elevated blood cholesterol levels, and increase one’s chances of having a heart disease.

To work around this cause of concern, nutritionists have recommended avoiding foods that are high in saturated fat. Some of them include coconut oil, palm oil, red meat, pork, full-fat dairy product, pastries, ice cream, biscuits, sausages, and bacon. One can focus on eating foods that are rich in unsaturated fats instead. Some of them include avocados, nuts like almonds, walnuts and hazelnuts, olive oil, and fatty fish. Unlike the saturated type of fats, unsaturated fats are beneficial to the human body. They can improve blood cholesterol levels, regulate heart rhythms, and lower inflammation.

Who should not do keto?

In truth, there are some concerns about the ketogenic diet as healthcare professionals believe it is not a diet everyone can adopt, due to the possible health risks it poses. For some, it may end up doing more harm than good. Some of these kind of people include:

Pregnant women

If there’s a health that should be treated with utmost priority, then it’s that of the pregnant women. If you ask me, I’d personally say there’s no point in trying to lose weight during pregnancy especially by significantly altering your diet. In such conditions, eliminating certain important foods like fruits, grains, and some high carb vegetables, may go on to seriously impact the nutrients a fetus may derive from their mother.

People with digestive problems

A ketogenic diet that’s high in fat and devoid of carbs that contain essential pieces like fiber, could only make worse numerous digestive conditions. Besides, fiber is well-known to support the growth of a healthy gut microbiome, which plays important roles in numerous aspects of digestion and overall well-being.

People with liver or kidney problems

Since the liver is involved in breaking down the fatty materials we eat, a ketogenic diet might only make worse the condition of people with liver problems. The excess amounts of protein that compensates carbs elimination in the keto diet can also put more stress on the kidneys of someone suffering from various kidney disorders.

Vegans

For people following the vegan lifestyle, it is super difficult to go ketogenic for even a day or two, as vegans rely solely on high-carb fruits, vegetables, and grains for their nutrients. Moreover, the bulk of high-fat foods do come mostly from animal sources — which is not an option for the vegans.

Breastfeeding mothers

Cutting off carbs supply in breastfeeding mothers can seriously impact milk supply for their infants, and increase the risk of getting dehydrated. Water-rich foods like fruits and vegetables should be taken regularly, as they can help improve milk supply, which is more than 80% water.

What are side effects of keto diet?

Once someone on a ketogenic diet begins to reach ketosis (the state where your body is no longer using glucose for fuel, but the ketones from fat cells), certain changes in the body might begin to manifest, especially during the transitional phase of the diet. Some of these symptoms or side effects include:

One of the first side effect is the keto flu — which is often characterized by headaches, constipation, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, dizziness, and weakness. It is the change from the use of glucose for fuel to ketones that causes these flu-like symptoms. However, for most people, the keto-flu lasts for only a week.
Another side effect might come in the form of frequent urination, which is as a result of ketone excretion. In general, there’s increased loss of water by the body, and in fact, it is this water-loss that’s attributed to the weight loss effect of the ketogenic diet.
There’s also hypoglycemia, which is low levels of sugar in the blood. It may come along with symptoms like fatigue, irritability, anxiety, light-headedness, confusion, and sweating.

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