Is Keto a Healthy Diet?

Mayo’s verdict: While the ketogenic diet may be recommended for some people with uncontrolled epilepsy, the high-fat content — especially the high level of unhealthy saturated fat — combined with limits on nutrient-rich fruits, veggies, and grains is a concern for long-term heart health.

Few things are as well established in nutrition science as the immense health benefits of low-carb and ketogenic diets. Not only can these diets improve your cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar, but they also reduce your appetite, boost weight loss and lower your triglycerides.

This means that the keto diet can be useful for both controlling your weight and managing pre-diabetes. Because the diet helps to control the amount of glucose in your blood, some doctors recommend it as a treatment for obesity, and as a way of managing pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes.

Foods you can eat on the keto diet include fish and seafood, meat and poultry, non-starchy vegetables like bell peppers, broccoli, and zucchini, avocados, berries, nuts and seeds, eggs, high-fat dairy products, olive oil and other oils, and high-cocoa chocolate.

The Keto diet is strictly not advisable for the ones with extra high levels of blood glucose, diabetes type 1 or type 2 who are taking regular doses of Insulin, Metformin supplements, and other forms of medication since the Keto diet can have adverse effects on the medicines.

The keto diet may be too restrictive for most people, leading to poor long-term adherence. Furthermore, the keto diet is more likely to cause unwanted side effects ( 13 ). Therefore, a low-carb diet is likely a better option for most people.

They found that people who follow such diets have a significantly increased risk of developing heart disease, LDL cholesterol buildup, kidney failure, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, and cancer. They also discovered that keto diets are particularly dangerous for people who are currently pregnant or may become pregnant.

• Supports weight loss.
• Improves acne.
• May reduce the risk of certain cancers.
• May improve heart health.
• May protect brain function.
• Potentially reduces seizures.
• Improves PCOS symptoms.
• Risks and complications.

Very-low-carbohydrate ketogenic diets have been long been used to reduce seizure frequency and more recently have been promoted for a variety of health conditions, including obesity, diabetes, and liver disease. Ketogenic diets may provide short-term improvement and aid in symptom management for some chronic diseases.

Fortunately, the answer is no. You will not necessarily regain the weight, provided you are thoughtful during and after the transition. There are many reasons people choose to stop maintaining a high-fat diet that keeps them in a state of ketosis.

You’re naturally going to gain a few pounds when you reintroduce them back into your diet because they contain water. The key is to pick healthy, whole carbs that won’t cause gigantic spikes in your blood sugar. The worst thing you can do is go hog wild and start eating donuts and cookies.

Base your keto meals on meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and other protein-rich foods. Include lots of leafy greens, non-starchy veggies, and salads. Use fats like olive oil for flavor and to fill in calories, if needed. Avoid sugary and starchy foods.

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