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With all the diets out there today it can be confusing. Atkins Vs Paleo Vs Keto? Which is the best?
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Each diet has its own dark side. Learn what the dark sides of each diet is and how to overcome them. Make the best choice for your health today.
Atkins, Paleo, Keto are very powerful diets and have helped people to get their dream body. With these diets, people lose the weight that they were never able to lose before. But what about Atkins vs Paleo, or the Keto Diet vs Paleo? At first glance, the Atkins diet and the Keto diet seem almost the same.
The difference comes in when you look at the macros (the bigger nutrients- fat, protein, and carbohydrates). But if these diets are all so good, what does it matter? Your health depends on seeing the whole picture and being able to make informed decisions. Learn how to decide which diet plan to choose and what the dark side of each diet is. Let’s have a look:
The Atkins Diet
Dr. Robert Atkins said that “Obesity is an epidemic” because of insulin. This is true, although it isn’t the only thing that can cause obesity. The types of food we eat play a big role in how high our blood sugar spikes and how much and how often insulin is released. Insulin sensitivity is key in maintaining a healthy weight and preventing diseases like diabetes and heart disease.
Since discovering the link between insulin resistance and obesity, Dr. Atkins strongly advocates “no carbs or low carb”. He established a company called Atkins and then started providing the public with processed foods like the Atkins bars and Atkins meal replacement shakes that are very low in carbs.
The Dark Side of the Atkins Diet
Processed Food
People lost weight on the Atkins Diet but then they saw some health issues. We all are lazy, we do not want to cook food, we want pre-made food, so this makes the Atkins diet very appealing. They lost some weight and their blood sugar levels were stable but then they started developing other health issues.
These processed foods, the bars, the shakes, the cereals, etc, will never be able to replace real foods. What are real foods? Food from nature, not man-made foods. Any time that food is highly processed it loses some of the benefits that nature so neatly packages in foods that are not processed or processed very little.
A big example of this is the loss of fiber and the quality of vitamins and minerals.
Quality of Food
If you are not eating carbs it means you need to increase proteins and fats. The Atkins diet doesn’t control the source of the proteins and fat. People started seeing a rise in their triglyceride levels, this is a clear risk factor for heart disease. This could also be due to a low fiber intake which is important for gut health and helps to control cholesterol levels naturally.
It also doesn’t control how much protein you eat. Some people found that their kidneys started becoming unhealthy due to the overconsumption of protein, especially since often it was from poor quality meat and even processed forms of meat cooked at high temperatures.
A cheeseburger, even with a low carb bun is just not the same as grass-fed steak topped with cheese and a side of non-starchy vegetables drizzled with olive oil.
Energy Levels
Sometimes the amount of carbs eaten are not low enough for ketosis meaning that your body doesn’t burn fat for energy, but you are not giving it enough carbs to run efficiently either resulting in low energy and weakness.
The Paleo Diet
When our society starts civilizing, we started agriculture. Now, slowly what happened as the agriculture introduced 10,000 years ago is that obesity started increasing. Like hunter-gatherers, we do not eat the full animal and we eat a high-protein diet.
The Paleo diet takes us back to before there was any major agriculture. Our ancestors only ate what they could gather and hunt. There is little to no processed food depending on how strict you are about the diet which is one of the good things about Paleo. Clean eating. No doubt people lose weight on it and if done correctly, can be very healthy. The problem is, not everyone does.
The Dark Side of the Paleo Diet
Quality of Meat
In the world, there are very few companies that encourage say grass-fed meat or grass-fed chicken. Most meat now is from very industrialized farms aiming for maximum output. Due to space and time constraints, animals are injected with hormones to speed up growth and are fed grains that lack the nutrients from the grass and that are sprayed with pesticides.
People who are following the Paleo Diet are eating a lot of meat like hunter-gatherers, forgetting that the source of your protein is important. So these people will eventually lose weight and then they develop hormone problems because these pesticides create havoc in your body.
The biggest hormone disruptors are endocrine disruptors which are fed to animals and then get into our body, not to mention the extra hormones that are injected into the animals and make it onto your plate.
Limit of Proteins
People on the Paleo diet take a lot of protein and the extra protein that your body does not use gets converted into sugar and some will be removed by your kidneys which places a lot of strain on them.
If you are a bodybuilder, lift heavy weights, or if you have a job where you are very active then the Paleo diet is better because your body will use more of the fuel, so less will become sugar, if any. If you are not very active, this is not the best diet for you, particularly if a large amount of your food is protein-based and not fat-based.
The Keto Diet
The Ketogenic diet is a very low carb diet. Unlike the Atkins diet, it requires a lot more control when it comes to your macro ratios so that your body can run on fat and remain healthy. It has good quality fats and it also regulates the source of fats so that you end up much with a healthier type of cholesterol and better triglyceride levels than on the Atkins diet.
Because the body switches to using fat for fuel, a ketogenic diet it results in weight loss and easier maintenance of a healthy bodyweight despite eating full-fat foods.
The Dark Side of the Keto Diet
Needs a Lot of Control
A Ketogenic diet needs to be very closely monitored in order for your body to stay in ketosis. Eating more carbs than you should for too long makes your body convert back to using carbohydrates for energy and then you need to start all over again. This can cause your body to go through some of the initial side effects such as nausea and fatigue that you may have experienced before.
Nutrient Deficiencies
Fats do not cover the entire nutrition profile. The problem with the Keto diet is that it excludes a lot of nutrient-rich foods because they are high in carbs. A lot of people also make the mistake of eating so many fat-rich foods that they do not eat enough vegetables. 80% of your plate should be vegetables.
If you are on a Keto diet and not taking nutritional supplements or not getting a little help from a professional coach or nutritionist you could suffer from nutrient deficiencies long term.
Which diet do I choose?
When I go to a gym and lift heavy weights I go for the Paleo Diet. But I make sure to feed my body with high-quality proteins. When I am on the Keto diet I make sure I take my food supplements so that I do not suffer from nutrient deficiencies.
How Do You Know if You Have Nutrient Deficiencies?
The main problem, especially on the Keto diet is that your body no longer holds onto as much water, so you release a lot of nutrients when you urinate more. Check for the following:
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Heart palpitations: When you are on the Keto diet and you get heart palpitations, it means you are losing your electrolytes, mainly potassium, and magnesium. In addition to supplements, be sure to include leafy greens and yogurt (or kefir) in your diet to help with this.
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Muscle cramps: If you are having muscle cramps, it means you need magnesium and/or salt (sodium).
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Constipation: If you are not getting enough fiber, this is an obvious cause, but it can also indicate magnesium is lacking.
In Ketogenic diet vs Atkins, the Ketogenic diet wins. In Keto vs Paleo, it depends on what your body’s needs are. Athletes and highly active people may benefit more from the Paleo diet, but a Keto diet can work under the right circumstances too. Overall, eat as healthily as you can, no matter which diet you are on.
Please share your success stories with us all or feel free to ask questions. If you would like one on one coaching, you can get the process started here.
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