- Introduction
- The danger of keto diet
- Conclusion
People today are concerned with losing weight so that they look beautiful. The keto diet is a low carb diet restricting the intake of carbohydrates to just 20 or 30 grams per day. The keto diets are different from other weight-loss diets. It focuses on the fat part rather than on the proteins. The daily calorie intake is 60-80% per day, with carbs up to 5-10% and about 30% from proteins. When you are cutting down on carbohydrates, the body suddenly takes fat more. It leads to raising the blood levels of ketones, putting you in a state of ketosis. Hence, the name of the diet is the keto diet!
After making this shift in the body, you tend to lose weight. However, there are specific negative effects to the keto diets. The Keto flu is a real danger happening when the body shifts to a ketogenic diet. Some of the common causes of keto dangers are dizziness, insomnia, fatigue, etc.
The danger of Keto diet people should know about
Putting stress on the kidneys
High-fat animal foods like meat, cheese, etc. are staples of keto diets as it doesn’t contain any carbs. Further, it may damage the kidneys and cause kidney stones if you eat many of these things. The keto diet reduces citrate in the urine that binds calcium, preventing kidney stones.
All people with chronic diseases should avoid keto diets as the weak kidneys might not stop the acid from forming. Overeating animal products can lead to acidic urine.
Occurrence of keto flu
Carb is allowed only 50grams per day in keto diets. While the body switches from carbs to fat as the energy fuel, you might experience flu-like symptoms. Besides, some of the symptoms involved are nausea, fatigueless, and constipation due to dehydration. There happen electrolyte imbalances in the body while adjusting to ketosis.
Many people do get better within weeks of getting keto flu. But it’s so important to monitor all of these symptoms throughout the diet plan. It’s best to have sodium-rich foods and also foods rich in potassium.
Leading to nutritional deficiencies (as Keto involves really less eating)
The low carb diet plan limits all the food kinds that you can have. It eliminates an entire group of foods. Legumes and whole grains are not to be taken strictly. Many of these food sources carry vitamins and minerals, and when you can’t get them from the sources, your body tends to miss them. At that point, the body starts having nutritional deficiencies.
Keto diet is not a long term great diet and not even a balanced diet. A diet not having the required fruits and vegetables leads to micronutrient deficiencies in the body. Also, it can be used only to lose short term weight.
Chances of increasing chronic diseases and early death
The ketogenic diet affects all chronic health illnesses like heart diseases or cancer. Having low carb diets and focusing only on animal products can lead to poor health. Also, vegetable proteins and fats give the body the required nutrients.
When having high carb-rich diets leads to overall death cause all over the world. Likewise, it is necessary to take 50-55% of the total calories daily.
Bad breath
During the ketosis process, the body goes through the fat-burning process. The body makes use of several tactics for removing ketones from the body, even during exhalation. When the lungs take ketones out of the body, it leaves behind foul-smelling acetone. Because of the fat burning in the body, it can lead to bad breath.
To keep yourself hydrated, drink lots of water for reducing bad breath also. If the situation gets out of control, you can take sugar-free mints to save yourself from embarrassing situations.
Leading to muscle loss
The more ketosis you follow, the more fats you are burning. But in the process, the muscle tissue also starts reducing. Besides, protein is the muscle builder, and muscles need a card also for adequate maintenance. It might get challenging to eat calories daily since fat fills up the body.
When people fast for several days, the body requires the calories for regular maintenance. Without it, there is no fat burning capacity in the muscles leading to muscle loss.
Dehydration in the body
All the people following the keto diet are prone to dehydration. A ketogenic diet acts as a water flushing diet lessening the cause of inflammation in the body. It reduces the glycogen stores in the liver and muscles. It is advised to drink at least 2.5 litres of water per day. Also, in the keto diet, you need to limit the intake of alcohol and caffeine.
While they are liquids, but they don’t add to the hydrating process. Also, alcohol adds to the daily carbs diet in the body.
Keto Reduces serum sodium
On a regular diet, people take a lot of sodium, but it is not allowed in keto diets. Due to this, the body experiences low levels of sodium. This leads to muscle cramps, vomiting, decreased energy, etc. It is one danger of the keto diet that people commonly overlook and ignore.
It’s necessary to add a pinch of salt to every meal. Secondly, take sea salt as it contains mineral traces also. There are delicious keto diets where you can add salt.
Changes in bowel movements
Not taking fruits and vegetables will lead to other consequences in the body. People tend to experience bowel changes by not taking fibre rich foods. The keto diet focuses on eat low carb diets. And fibre rich foods can cause bad bowels.
It is best to try some fibrous vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, etc. since it consumes more fats. Have ghee or coconut oil and drink plenty of water.
Menstruation functions change for women.
Periods might stop completely while taking keto diets. This happens because of the rapid weight loss in the body. Not having periods for the long term can have negative impacts on the body. Also, irregular menstruation can lead to cardiovascular diseases. And women with PCOS have high insulin levels in their bodies.
This can lead to an imbalance in sex hormones. All women with PCOS following a keto diet for six months can see improvements in periods’ regularity.
Keto diet leads to YoYo dieting.
Rapid weight loss is the immediate effect of keto diets as there are significantly fewer water levels in the bodies. Reports have proven that the modified keto diets with high carbs and proteins made people lose 14 pounds in a month. But it’s not possible to keep the weight the same. It will come back while going back to regular diets.
The keto diets in various countries change. In the Mediterranean diet, you can eat carbs and many fruits and vegetables just how you want it. The YoYo diet is when you can change the Keto diets according to lifestyles.
Conclusion
If you are thinking of keto diets, ask your doctor first regarding the same. If you have any previous health conditions, you should consult your doctor. Then find a nutrition expert who can work towards making a strict plan. But people with Type 1 Diabetes should avoid the diet.
Get More Nutrition Related Tips