(As Transcribe From Mini-Med Minutes Podcast)

 

Welcome back to the channel. 

 

Today we’re going to kick start our Meal Appeal Series where we talk about all the trendy diets out there, what they are, how they work, and if it’s even good.

 

I know there’s going to be a lot of criticism for this series. A lot of people treat their diets like their home team.

 

Let me preface that there is no ONE best answer, the BEST diet anyone could have is the one you’re going to stick with.

 

Consistency is king, I say it all the time.

 

Nothing is going to work unless you can repeat it time and time again.

 

THE KETO DIET

 

So to start us off today we’re going to talk about the very controversial Keto Diet.

 

And why is it controversial? We’ll talk about that in a bit but let’s talk about what it is and what goals it’s trying to achieve.

 

So…

 

The ketogenic diet, or “keto” for short, is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate eating plan designed to shift your body’s metabolism into a state called ketosis. 

 

Normally, your body relies on carbohydrates or “carbs” as your primary source of energy. But… by drastically reducing how much carbs you eat, your body is forced to use fat instead for energy.

 

In a typical diet, carbs are broken down into glucose, which the body uses for energy. 

 

On keto, the amount of carbs you eat gets cut to around 5-10% of your total daily calories, while the amount of fat you eat goes up to 70-80% and the rest is Protein.

 

And obviously when you don’t eat enough carbs, your glucose levels will plummet.

 

Without enough glucose, your liver begins turning fat into ketones, which ends up being an alternative energy source for your body, particularly your muscles and your brain. 

 

Once your body starts making ketones and using fat as its main energy source, you’re in a state of ketosis.

When you’re on a keto diet, this usually takes a few days to a week, depending on how much carbs you actually cut.

While in ketosis, your body becomes highly efficient at burning fat, which can lead to significant weight loss, particularly from your stored body fat.

Not only that, the high-fat and protein diet makes you feel full faster and you don’t end up eating as much. You get hungrier less and your calories tend to go down as well.

 

If you think about snacks and things you binge eat, they’re typically all carbs.

 

French Fries, Potato Chips, Candies, etc.

 

Foods your body can use much quicker for fuel.

 

Another possible advantage and I would definitely consult your physician is the reduction in blood sugar levels for type 2 diabetics. 

 

I’ve seen patients come in telling me that they’ve reduced or eliminated their diabetes medications (in consultation with their doctor of course) by converting to a keto or low very low carb diet.

 

I could only imagine this to be an option for those who are borderline or pre-diabetic.

 

Keto diets have also been associated with neurological conditions like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. However, I haven’t found any consistent data to support this. If someone out there has some, let me know.

 

DOWNSIDES

 

Everything sounds great so far, but let’s take a step back and look at the obvious downsides.

 

We said that the keto diet is a diet in which you’re limiting carbs to very low amounts. 

 

That means we’re not getting a lot of fruits, whole grains, fiber, legumes. 

 

Legumes, like beans and lentils are commonly on lists of foods to avoid in keto diets.

 

And legumes are commonly found in the diets of Blue Zone regions. The regions where people live the longest and suffer from fewer chronic conditions.

 

We’re missing out an extensive range of nutrients, vitamins and minerals. 

 

You would almost have to supplement in order to maintain a healthy diet.

 

And then considering that this is a high-fat diet. You could bet you’re likely consuming red-meats, butter, other high-fat foods that increase your cholesterol which could put you at an extremely high risk of heart disease.

 

I know there’s some serious debate on this one because there’s a possibility of keto diets increasing HDL, the good cholesterol, but I have my money against it being able to offset the increase in LDL, the bad cholesterol.

 

The next thing gets me the most.

 

The origins of the keto diet was in the 1920s. It was developed to treat kids with epilepsy (which are seizures), when nothing else worked.

 

So the diet was created to starve the brain of its immediate fuel source.

 

The diet was created in attempts to mute the brain.

 

And now we’re using it as a mainstay diet?

 

I definitely wouldn’t recommend it for most people.

 

OUTRO

 

So the takeaway here is that unless there is an extreme reason to use this diet.

 

You need rapid weight loss, you have epilepsy, your diabetes is out of control. I don’t think there’s really a healthy place for this diet.

 

From a nutrition and medical point of view, the drawbacks to me greatly outweigh the benefits.

 

You could probably create a diet plan that included less saturated fats, less red meats, more plant oils and nuts. Supplement the vitamins and fiber.

 

But at the end of the day, I think the most optimal keto diet will still be far inferior to just eating a regularly balanced healthy diet over a long period of time.

 

If you can get away from the immediate perceived health benefits like weight loss, you would find that you can still achieve that over a longer period of time in a much healthier way.

 

That’s it for our first episode of our Meal Appeal series. If you found this discussion helpful at all, please follow. 

 

If you’re currently on or used to be on a keto diet, and there’s something you’d like to share, do reach out, I’d love to hear about it.

 

If you’re looking for more health articles or would like to reach out to me you can find more articles and contact information at PharmacistNutrition.com

 

Again, thanks for tuning in and I’ll see you next time.

 

Images from FreePik