Keto diet: how much weight can you lose and why is it dangerous?

What foods can be eaten on a ketone diet, a menu for a week and who is absolutely contraindicated in a ketogenic diet

The now fashionable keto diet was originally developed as a health food. It is used to adjust insulin levels in diabetic patients, and is also used in the treatment of epilepsy and cancer. However, curative does not mean safe at all. The ketogenic diet has many contraindications and even side effects. Who is the keto diet suitable for, what type of ketone nutrition to choose for beginners and how to achieve proper weight loss through ketosis, we understand our material.

The main principle of the keto diet

We get a daily boost of vital energy from carbohydrates. Fast carbohydrates (such as sugar and flour products) give us an instant energy boost that goes away just as quickly. Complex carbohydrates (cereals, legumes, root vegetables, leafy vegetables) break down longer, and therefore saturate the body with energy for the whole day. Consuming complex carbohydrates is one of the usual principles of healthy and proper nutrition. It is against this principle that the keto diet is directed.

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The main principle of the keto diet is a carbohydrate-free diet / istockphoto.com

A ketone (or ketogenic) diet triggers completely different processes in the body: in this diet, a person receives energy through the breakdown of not carbohydrates, but fats. Sounds like the rosy dream of any woman: to eat more fatty foods, and at the same time lose weight. It's actually not that simple, and the fats in the ketone diet are not grilled wings and fries.

The main feature of our body is the ability to adapt. When there are not enough carbohydrates for life, he begins to look for other resources. One such resource is ketone bodies (acetone, acetoacetic acid, and beta-hydroxybutyric acid), which the liver synthesizes from dietary fats and body fat. The condition in which the body receives energy from ketone bodies is called ketosis in medicine. Ketosis is usually triggered during fasting, but it can also be achieved with a special diet.

The basis of the keto diet

At its core, ketosis is a complete change metabolism. To rearrange the body on a new track, you need to completely change the diet. The main task: to reduce the amount of carbohydrates to a minimum and replace them with animal and vegetable fats. To do this, you need to completely exclude from the diet everything that used to bring pleasure: flour, chocolate, alcoholic beverages. In addition, high-carbohydrate foods such as cereals, most fruits, and green leafy vegetables are banned. At first, the optimal amount of carbohydrates per day is 35-40 grams. Further, the ratio will depend on the type of keto diet you choose.

The basis of the keto diet is fatty meats / istockphoto.com

The basis of your diet on a ketogenic diet should be the following foods:

meat and many times meat (preferably fatty varieties): turkey, duck and goose, lamb, pork
fish (sea fat) and seafood: salmon, tuna, mackerel, saury, mackerel
fatty dairy products: butter, sour cream, cottage cheese with a high fat content
hard and semi-hard cheeses
vegetable oils: olive, flaxseed, coconut, avocado oil
nuts and seeds
low carbohydrate vegetables (tomatoes, peppers, onions)

Side Effects of the Keto Diet

Be prepared for the fact that "entering" ketosis is not a pleasant state. Due to the fact that this is an atypical mode of operation for the body, at first it will resist. Therefore, for three to five days, you are likely to be tormented by the following symptoms:

"Acetone" breath: odor from the mouth with a distinct note acetone
decreased appetite
"Keto flu": lethargy, weakness, loss of strength and apathy
lethargy and decreased brain activity
intense thirst, frequent urge to use the toilet "in a small way" and stool disorders (constipation) due to fiber deficiency.
irritability and insomnia

After experiencing "ketone withdrawal", you will receive a new burst of energy. Some people note on the keto diet an improvement in brain activity, greater stress resistance and increased energy: you want to work for two, fatigue comes less often and your mood is always normal. Among the medicine-proven effects of ketone nutrition are a stable level of insulin in the blood and a decrease in the risk of developing diabetes, normalization of the endocrine system and regulation of cholesterol synthesis. Yes, yes, on a ketogenic diet, "bad" cholesterol is replaced by "good" and stops clogging your arteries with plaque.

What are the types of keto diet?

The types of keto diets depend on the amount of fat in the daily amount of food

Keto diets depend on the amount of fat in the daily amount of food / istockphoto.com

To achieve a positive effect, you need to choose the right type of ketogenic diet for yourself. Since it was originally a health food, which has only now been transformed into a method of losing weight, a whole variety of types of keto diet have appeared, for every taste and for every request:

classic (the total calorie content of the diet is divided according to the following proportions: 75% fats, 20% proteins and 5% carbohydrates)
cyclical (5 days on a standard keto diet and 2 days of fasting "weekend" with a high carbohydrate intake)
protein (the proportions of calories in the diet change in favor of protein: 60% fat, 35% protein and 5% carbohydrates)
target (often used by athletes: the amount of carbohydrates in the diet increases on days of intense physical activity)
vegetarian (subject to the proportions of the classic diet, animal fats are replaced by vegetable fats)
"Dirty" (moderate consumption of unhealthy keto foods is allowed: fast food based on meat, sausages and sausages, sodas without sugar)

It is better to "enter" ketone nutrition gradually and taking into account the characteristics of the organism. For example, you can start with a cyclical diet - the ability to eat carbohydrate food in the allowed two days reduces the risk of "falling out" of the diet. The protein type of the ketone diet saturates the body well, so you will not feel hungry, and you will not have to dissuade yourself from carbohydrate snacks. A "dirty" keto diet is generally a dream: it compensates for the lack of carbohydrates with a legal right to sausage and harmful fast food. In the future, you can gradually switch to the classic type of ketone nutrition: it has been studied best of all and is considered optimal for maintaining the body in a state of ketosis.

How much weight can you lose on a ketone diet?

Objectively, losing weight on a ketone diet is not a goal, but an added bonus. The weight goes away very smoothly: in a month you can lose from 2 to 4 kilograms. The main plus is that you no longer gain weight: in a state of ketosis, the body practically does not accumulate fat. If you "sat down" on a keto diet in order to certainly get rid of the round priests and folds at the waist, you will have to additionally monitor the calorie content of food. The number of daily calories will have to be reduced by at least 500.

To lose weight on a keto diet, you need to monitor calories / istockphoto.com

In order to reduce weight, you need to eat keto foods often and little by little: at least 5 times a day with a break of 3-4 hours. Plan your last meal so that it is no later (but not earlier!) Than three hours before bedtime. In general, on a ketone diet, it is recommended to eat immediately before bedtime, but for weight loss, this recommendation should be delayed in time. Drink as much liquid as possible: up to 3 liters of water per day. Water on a ketogenic diet is an essential element that helps maintain the level of ketone bodies in the body at the correct level.

Contraindications for the ketone diet

It is highly advisable to select a keto diet and draw up a ketogenic menu together with a doctor. Firstly, because it is still a health food, therefore, a properly adjusted diet will help not only lose weight, but at the same time correct malfunctions in the body. Secondly, in the initial stages of ketogenic weight loss, there is a risk of falling into maximalism and forbidding yourself more than you need. As a result, you can earn depletion of the body, vitamin deficiency (due to a lack of vitamins that used to come with vegetables and fruits), chronic breakdown and depression.

Be sure to keep in mind that the keto diet has contraindications. Due to the heavy load on the liver (which, in fact, synthesizes ketone bodies), it is impossible for people even with problems of this organ to go on such a diet. Hepatitis (even if you had jaundice in childhood), cirrhosis, liver failure, liver enlargement for any reason - these are all direct prohibitions for switching to ketone nutrition. The same is the case with the kidneys: in a ketogenic diet, the regulation of water exchange in the body is very important. Therefore, any kidney problems (even sand and stones) create a taboo on all keto diet options. Another contraindication: gallstone disease in an advanced stage. With the transition to a new diet, stones in the gallbladder may move: if they are large, then there may be a risk of blockage of the bile duct.

Keto diet: an example of a menu for a week

Keto diet is not cheap: you need a lot of meat and fish / istockphoto.com

Monday

Breakfast: scrambled eggs with spinach and tomatoes. You can add some bacon
Lunch: salad with turkey, feta cheese and broccoli with olive oil
Dinner: grilled salmon steak and asparagus in oil

Tuesday

Breakfast: scrambled eggs with goat cheese and tomatoes. Bacon or ham allowed
Lunch: black bread burger with hard cheese, fried mushrooms and spinach
Dinner: meatballs in sour cream sauce, bell pepper

Wednesday

Breakfast: cheesecakes with sour cream
Lunch: seafood salad with avocado and olive oil
Dinner: chicken in a creamy sauce, broccoli.

Thursday

Breakfast: fried eggs with bacon, sun-dried tomatoes.
Lunch: mushrooms baked with hard cheese, arugula salad with linseed oil
Dinner: minced pork fried in a pan with tomato sauce.

Friday

Breakfast: boiled eggs, a slice of ham on black bread.
Lunch: beef with sour cream sauce, tomato and greens salad
Dinner: black bread burger with bacon, cheese and fried egg

Saturday

Breakfast: fatty cottage cheese with sour cream and herbs
Lunch: salmon ear
Dinner: cabbage rolls with pork in sour cream sauce

Sunday

Breakfast: mushroom omelet with hard cheese
Lunch: ham salad with nuts, hard cheese and arugula
Dinner: baked trout, tomatoes, bell pepper