Good Morning Everyone
Anyone else in the UK hear that awful wind last night? All I could hear was our creaky fences in the front drive, and I kept waking up thinking that the fence had fallen onto my car and smashed the window (Something that I REALLY can’t afford to be fixing right now!). But it’s all good, my little car is safe and fully in tact.
I really need to stop eating chocolate before bed because it really is giving me some weird old dreams… One of many old wives tales I grew up with. Like the other night, I had a dream that the Upside Down (For my fellow Stranger Things fans) was a real thing, and that all my friends and family were stuck there and I had to save them. Where the Hell is Eleven when you need her?
What do you guys have planned for the day? Perhaps you’re spending a day indoors doing, yet again, some more Spring cleaning? I know If I spring clean anything in my room one more time it will probably disintegrate from the amount of chemicals I’ve been spraying on it! Maybe you’re going outside to face the not so pretty weather and make the most of the new lockdown rules (If you’re in the UK of course)?
Speaking of which, how do you guys feel about that? I know by scrolling through social media and the news that there is a lot of mixed emotions. I myself think it’s a good thing that we’re easing back into the “new normal” slowly, however the announcement yesterday was a bit vague. Hopefully Boris will clear things up a little more today.
Now on with today’s post….
Today I’m going to talk about a diet we’ve probably all heard of by now, whether that’s in a magazine, from a fellow colleague or perhaps from a Celebrity, and that is the Keto diet. Now I personally have not tried this diet for a prolonged period of time (only 5 days max) but this is only because I have very mixed feelings about it, and for me personally I don’t feel like the Keto diet would be safe.
HOWEVER, with an increased number of people looking to begin a healthier lifestyle/ loose weight whilst in quarantine, I’ve been doing my research and I thought I’d put together the pros and cons of this very trendy diet, so that you can decide for yourself whether this is the route you’d like to go down.
Before I start this post, I just want to warn you that there will be diet talk involved, and whilst this post does outline the dangers of extreme dieting and does not promote it, if you are easily triggered by diet talk then I would recommend you skip reading this post.
So what is Keto?
You’ve probably heard of the word Keto, but perhaps don’t know the true meaning of it? Keto is Short for Ketosis which put simply means that the body switches it’s main energy source from Carbohydrates to fat. If you’re body is in a state of Ketosis this means that rather than using Carbohydrates consumed from food for energy, it uses fat stores within the body. This happens when we reduce our Carb intake by a substantial amount and switch to a Higher fat diet.
A lot of people use Keto as a quick way to shift weight, however a lot of people do find that while the Keto diet can help you loose weight quickly, it is not a lifestyle that is easy to maintain (and not exactly healthy for that mater.) and therefore end up piling the weight back on as soon as they finish the diet.
Rapid weight loss is very stressful for the body, and can make people very sick, and putting it back on again and going in a vicious cycle of weight loss to weight gain can be very dangerous for the heart.
Therefore if you are looking to shift weight and keep it off, I wouldn’t recommend using the Keto diet for a prolonged period of time. Of course this is down to the individual, but do your research before you decide what’s best for you!
Before I go into the pros and cons of the diet, let me outline something important…
The Keto Flu:
When a lot of people start the Keto diet, they experience Flu like Symptoms known as the Keto flu – These will include Headaches, achy muscles, fatigue, weakness and sometimes even vomiting.
This is usually known to pass within a week or two, but can sometimes last longer.
When I tried out the Keto Diet myself, I found that I suffered from extremely bad headache, even in the short amount of time that I was doing it. This is because the main source of fuel for the brain in Glucose, which can be broken down from Carbohydrates – Therefore very little Carbohydrates = Less Glucose. There is argument that Ketones (produced from Ketosis) provide an alternative source, but there isn’t much scientific evidence to back this (as far as I’m aware) and the headaches went on far too long for me, meaning that I had to end the diet.
When trying this diet out, this was a huge red flag for me, I know my body, and knew this wasn’t right for me so I stopped straight way. However, It is important to note that the symptoms of the Diet vary from person to person, and some people experience none at all! If you are looking to start this diet, I would definitely give it a little trial run, and slowly ease yourself off the carb’s before you go all out!
So let’s outweigh some of the pros and cons of this diet:
The Pros:
- Keto can provide a quick fix for weight loss, and help to eliminate frequent feelings of hunger. This is because high fat food makes us feel fuller for longer.
- Can be used by body builders to shed weight in a short amount of time.
- Can be beneficial for people who don’t do much exercise as they don’t need as many carbs. This includes people who work in offices and spend a lot of their day sitting down.
- Some studies have shown that Keto done correctly can help prevent some cancer’s, however there is not much evidence to prove this.
The Cons:
- Some people need higher Carb diets (i.e. Athletes, people with certain health conditions…) so therefore the Keto diet would not be safe for some individuals.
- Can make blood sugar levels drop dangerously low, due to not getting enough glucose. This can cause all sorts of issues such as feeling cold, irritability, lack of focus and headaches
- The Keto diet can be extremely dangerous for heart health, as an increased intake of saturated fats can clog arteries and lead to heart disease.
- Keto is very hard to sustain and dramatic fluctuation in weight can be bad for health
- Can increase chances of Kidney disease due to low glycogen
- Can cause Dehydration
The summary – would I recommend this diet, and is it bad for your health?
As you can see, there is many more con’s that I can list then there is pros, and for this reason, I personally wouldn’t suggest going ahead with this diet unless advised to by a health professional/ personal trainer/ dietician for health reasons, due to the vast amount of problems that It can cause.
Although people’s weight loss stories from these diets may look good on the glossy adverts on social media, unless you really know what you’re doing then this diet can be highly dangerous, and it is important not to be sucked in by all the diet adverts you see online.
As mentioned at the beginning of this post, whilst Keto has been proven to be a quick and easy fix for fat loss, I personally would no longer use this method myself. A lot of the time, when people come off this diet, they end up putting the weight back on, and then being in a vicious cycle, which is not good for your body or your heart.
I believe a lot more in lifestyle change, and this as a “lifestyle change” would in no way be realistic. If you are looking to change your lifestyle habits whilst in quarantine, I wouldn’t recommend doing it the Keto way unless you really know what you’re doing, and have been advised to by a health professional
If like me you suffer from low blood sugar or hypoglycaemia, I definitely wouldn’t recommend this diet, as it can become very dangerous! This is the same for people with diabetes UNLESS advised to by your doctor (i.e. some people with diabetes do need less carbs)
At the end of the day, the choice is solely down to the person, and I think it’s important that you do your research and outweigh the pros and cons before going ahead with any dramatic change in diet. I do follow some athletes who swear by the Keto diet, but it is important to remember that an athlete’s lifestyle and physical activity is completely different to the average person, and they often have guidance from a coach or trainer how to do this safely. So please be careful and remember that just because it is right for them, it may not be right for you!
I hope this post helped J if you have any further questions then please do let me know, and remember to do your research! You’re health is the most important thing, so look after it!
Stay safe!
Lots of love
Collette x