Why do these celebrities swear by the keto diet?
“For years, I am following keto diet,” says Halle Berry, the Oscar-winning actress. Hale Halle thinks it is more than a diet to her; it is a “lifestyle change”.
Vanessa Hudgens had to put on 20 pounds for her role in Gimme Shelter. Afterward, to lose the weight she decided to follow the keto diet. “I think there is a misconception that fat is bad, but in reality, fat actually will make you feel fuller for longer,” she says.
Even after 3 kids, Megan Fox has been able to stay svelte by following a strict low-carb diet. “I cut out all types of pieces of bread and other foods that have carbohydrates,” says Megan.
Celebrities and common people alike are showing greater interest towards keto diet. How is it better than the normal staple diet we take?
Lose weight and maintain your weight loss over a long term by following a keto diet
A keto diet is a type of diet which is low on carbohydrates and high on fats. It is also known as ketogenic diet or a Low Carb High Fat (LCHF) diet.
When you start taking a keto diet, the carb intake drops and our body gets into a body state that is called ketosis.
Ketosis is one type of natural state process that is initiated by the body where so that we are can able to in situations survive where food is scarce when food intake goes low. In this state, the liver produces ketones (what are ketones ?)by breaking down fats and the body starts using ketones as its main energy source.
The aim of a keto diet is to burn to use more fat instead of carbs to generate the energy required by our body.
How to know if you have actually entered a state of ketosis?
This can be checked by measuring breath or blood samples and by testing urine.
There are other common symptoms that will help you recognize if you are into ketosis.
- Dryness in mouth and increase in thirst
- Increased urination
- Keto breathes which smells like nail polish remover or fruity. You may well get the same smell from your sweat while working out.
- Reduced hunger.
- Improved energy levels in a few days after starting a keto diet.
What are the things which should be present in your daily menu when on a keto diet?
Eat your heart out (literally)
When selecting any food item to ensure that it has less than 5% carbs. Additionally, you should not take a high protein diet (that contains between 15 to 25% protein). Excess protein gets converted into glucose and makes it harder for you to transition into ketosis.
Let us look at food items and their carbohydrate content:
- Vegetables that grow above ground such as cabbage, cauliflower, zucchini, broccoli, and avocado.
- Unprocessed meats (give examples of unprocessed meat)
- Seafood and fish
- Eggs
- High-fat sauces such as like Bearnaise sauce
- High-fat dairy products such as like butter, cheese, and yogurts. But, avoid milk since 1 glass of milk contains about 15 grams of carbohydrates
- Nuts can be taken in moderation on moderation. However, you should avoid cashews since they are high on carbs instead try pecan nuts or macadamia
- Water, whether it is sparkling or flavored, should become your preferred drink.
- When taking coffee do not put sugar, you can add cream or milk but only a small amount and small amount of cream or milk will be fine
- Tea (you have mentioned specific things for coffee but not tea, also which types of teas are good for keto??)
High-carb foods – The big no-nos
- Food items containing sugar such as soft drinks, juice, candy, pastries, sports drinks, cakes, ice cream, chocolate, and buns. You should also avoid artificial sweeteners
- Foods that those are high in on starch. This list includes rice, bread, potatoes, pasta, porridge, French fries, muesli, etc.
- Avoid legumes which are high on carbs such as lentils (the difference between lentils and legumes is?)and beans.
- Fruits contain plenty of sugar so eat them occasionally, like a natural candy.
Things to be wary of while selecting low-carb foods.
Many companies will try to trick you into purchasing low-carb food that is actually high on carbs. (Actually, the fact is that low-carb items are added with extra sugar to make them as tasty as high carb foods) Few of the things you can do to avoid such junk would include:
- Avoid low-carb alternatives to high-carb food items like ice-cream, chocolate, and cookies.
- Do not purchase food items that show the net carbs value. That is actually a way of tricking you into buying their high carb product.
- How many carbs can one eat when on a keto diet? How much fat can be consumed safely?to eat? You should ideally keep daily carb intake below 20 grams. Regarding fat, you should eat the amount that will make you feel satisfied. Simply, eat when you feel hungry and stop when you start feeling satisfied.
Benefits of keto diet
Weight loss
To start with, insulin (a type of hormone) allows the body to use glucose (sugar) from carbohydrates to meet body’s energy needs.
When on a low-carb diet, insulin level drops and body starts burning fat at a higher rate to meet its energy needs. The higher rate of fat burning results in greater weight loss.
Appetite control
On a keto diet, the body burns fat to produce ketones and use them as its energy source.
As ketone levels increase they bring down ghrelin levels and increase cholecystokinin levels.
Ghrelin is a hormone responsible for increasing appetite and when its level goes down, your desire to eat will likely go down as well.
On the other hand, cholecystokinin( same as leptin ) is a hormone which reduces appetite( indicates satiety). When its level increases, your appetite reduces and feeling of hunger goes down significantly.
When you feel less hungry, it is likely that you will be eating less, which in turn will help in reducing your weight.
Are there any side-effects of a pure keto diet?
Constipation | Leg Cramps | Heart Palpitation | Reduced Physical Performance | Hair Loss | Keto Flu
Constipation
As you suddenly increase your fat and protein intake while cutting down on carb intake, it can negatively affect your digestive system. This usually happens when you try to fulfill your fat and protein requirement by eating more meat, eggs, and fish.
Another reason could be dehydration. When you are on a keto diet, the body rapidly loses water weight. This happens as glycogen (a type of molecule responsible for retention of water) stored within muscles goes down when you cut back on carbohydrate intake( simply this and explain in easier terms).
This, in turn, results in dehydration and the consequent problem of constipation.
How to stop constipation?
Drinking more water is one of the simple solutions to get rid of the problem and normally taking about a gallon every day will help to fix the issue.
In addition to it, you may well include some non-starchy vegetables (like amaranth, asparagus, baby corn, artichoke, etc.) in your diet to make things better.
Leg cramps
Leg cramps are an issue when someone is starting up on a keto diet. Leg cramps are a common issue faced by people who have recently changed to keto diet or recently adopted a keto diet.
As mentioned before, our body tends to lose water at a faster rate in the state of ketosis.
As we noticed earlier (while looking at reasons behind constipation), our body rapidly loses water weight while on a keto diet. This fluid also carries different electrolytes (like magnesium, potassium, chloride, and sodium) with it.
Since magnesium plays an important role in muscle contractions, lack of magnesium in the body results in cramps.
How to stop leg cramps?
Start drinking a lot of fluids and add salt to your diet. This way you will be able to stop loss of magnesium from your body and solve the problem of cramps.
Heart palpitations
Elevated heart rate is common in initial stages when you have just started on a keto diet. A common reason for this the same is sodium deficiency lack of salt and dehydration.
Salt contains sodium m (the electrolyte we mentioned while discussing leg cramps) and lack of sodium in turn results in heart palpitations.
Why does a keto diet lead to sodium deficiency?
When you are eating low carb diet, it brings down your insulin (it is a hormone that stores fat) levels.
In addition to maintaining glucose levels, apart from storing fat, insulin also tells kidneys to hold onto sodium.
On a keto diet, as insulin levels go down, the body also starts shedding excess sodium. The result? , lower sodium level in our body.
How to stop heart palpitations?
The best thing to do in this situation is to get enough salt and also drink plenty of fluids.
Reduction in physical performance.
In the initial stages, your physical performance can go down. This happens due to two reasons.
- Lack of salts and fluids
- Adaptation to burning fats
How to improve physical performance?
- Before you start exercising, just take a glass of water with 0.5 teaspoons of salt in it an hour before you start.
- It will take more time for your body to adapt to this change and start burning fat for energy instead of sugar. The adaptation will occur at a faster rate when you start exercising more while taking a low carbohydrate diet.
Hair loss
Hair loss is seen in first three to six months after you start a keto diet. This occurs when you make a dietary change. Any sort of dietary change can initially cause hair loss. However, this is a temporary phenomenon and within a few months, you will notice that new hair growth has started. More importantly, the thinning of hair will hardly be noticeable.
How to stop hair loss?
Make sure you are not limiting calorie intake way too much.
In addition to it, also ensure that you are getting enough sleep, l which is like at least eight hours of sleep every night.
Induction flu or keto flu
Right after starting a keto diet you will feel quite bad for the first 2-3 days. Few of the problems you will face could include; fatigue, headache, light nausea, and dizziness.
This happens as your body losses excess salt and water from kidneys when on keto diet also, the changes in the levels of insulin could also cause similar weakness and discomfort. Mainly due to lack of insulin as mentioned above while we discussed heart palpitation.
How to prevent keto flu?
You just have to increase salt intake and drink more fluids. Another thing you can do is drink a cup of broth/bouillon couple of times in a day. Don’t keep conclusion as any of the headings. It is not a formal essay. It's a health article.
In Conclusion:
In a nutshell…
Keto diet is a fun way to lose weight because unlike other diets it is not too restrictive in nature. You are free to consume fats ( under safe limitations, obviously), which almost never happens in any diet plan. This diet is easy to include in your daily routine and it keeps you satiated while helping you drop those extra pounds.
But remember, it needs to be supplement with a suitable exercise routine to help you reach your weight loss goals. One of the biggest advantages of this ketogenic diet is that it completely removes sugar from your diet.
All you need to do is keep your water and sodium levels high and you are good to go!
Keto diet can certainly help you lose weight and also control your appetite. By following a strict low-carb diet it is likely that you will be able to achieve your weight loss goals.
Reference Articles:
1. http://www.diagnosisdiet.
com/ketosis-and-constipation/
2. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-08-keto-diet is-fat-key-weight.html
3. https://www.nps.org.au/medical-info/clinical-topics/news/magnesium-a-treatment-for-leg-cramps
4. https://ketodietapp.com/Blog/post/2017/09/21/the-importance-of-magnesium-in-low-carb-diets
5. https://zerocarbzen.com/2015/08/17/muscle-cramps-on-a-zero-carb-diet/
6. https://www.livestrong.com/article/299666-sodium-heart-palpitations/
7. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/5-most-common-low-carb-mistakes#modal-close
8. https://www.dietdoctor.com/yes-a-low-carb-diet-greatly-lowers-your-insulin
9. http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=718265
10. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29105987
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13. https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/87/1/44/4633256
14. https://www.womenshealthmag.com/weight-loss/g16641173/keto-diet-celebrities/
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