The post Should I Try Keto To Lose Weight? appeared first on Paleo Flourish Magazine.

This isn’t some article persuading you that the Ketogenic Diet is the best one in existence and that you should go try keto today or you’ll be missing out on some great life-changing phenomena! But, if you have been considering a ketogenic diet for weight loss, then it behooves you to learn the facts and figure out if you’re one of the people that a keto diet could benefit.

Jump to a specific section of “Should I Try Keto To Lose Weight”

• What Is The Ketogenic Diet?
• Who Should Try Keto?
• Who Shouldn’t Try Keto?
• I’m An Athlete…Should I Try Keto?
• How Long Should I Go Keto For?
• Conclusion

What Is The Ketogenic Diet?

It’s always helpful to start with a quick definition in case you were mislead about what keto means.

The ketogenic (keto) diet is a diet consisting of very low carbohydrate, moderate protein, and high fat intake.

This combination helps you to get into a metabolic state called ketosis, whereby your body starts to use fat and ketones (which is produced from the breakdown of fats) instead of glucose for energy. That’s why you’ll often hear people say that on ketosis, you’re burning fat instead of sugar.

Originally the diet was created as an effective way to treat epileptic children, but over recent years, more and more people are finding that a ketogenic diet can also be a pretty healthy diet to lose weight, control blood sugar levels, and even perform athletic activity.

Who Should Try Keto?

If you’re doing pretty well health-wise and just want to lose some fat, get your blood sugar under control, or gain more energy and clearer, more focused thinking, then keto is likely a fantastic diet for you to try.

The ketogenic diet is especially great at optimizing your life for those who want an extra boost to an already pretty good lifestyle and diet. Chris Kelly describes the keto diet as a “hack” for getting better performance in life. If you’re an athlete, then see the section below about whether keto might even improve your athletic performance.

One note though, a ketogenic diet can take many forms, and it’s important to remember that sticking to a healthy ketogenic diet (fewer inflammatory foods like seed oils and dairy products) is always the better option.

However, we are not doctors or nutritionists, so it’s always best to check with your doctor. If you don’t have a good doctor or nutritionist, then check out Chris Kelly.

Who Shouldn’t Try Keto?

Keto is definitely not for everyone. In particular, if you’re suffering from serious health issues or autoimmune conditions, then you probably shouldn’t be attempting a ketogenic diet at this point.

If you give keto a try and still don’t feel great after a month, then try adding more carbs into your diet and see if you feel better. There still isn’t any scientific evidence for why this is the case, but anecdotally, some people just do better on a higher carb diet. And in particular, many women report this.

In the end, while keto does help many people shed more fat, it’s definitely not necessary. Eating a healthy diet filled with nutrient-dense foods like fish, vegetables, meats, and some fruits and eliminating inflammatory foods like grains, seed oils, and processed sugars helps many people lose weight by itself.

I’m An Athlete…Should I Try Keto?

Many athletes, especially endurance athletes, have found that a ketogenic diet has improved their performance.

And there’s the potential that even strength athletes may benefit from a ketogenic diet. This 2016 study indicates that both athletes on a low carb (keto-adapted) and high carb diet had the same concentration of glycogen stored in their muscles prior to exercise thereby suggesting that you don’t need to eat a ton of carbs daily in order to have sufficient glycogen in your muscles to do powerful exercises.

Indeed, Dominic D’Agostina “deadlifted 500 pounds for 10 reps after a seven-day fast.” Beat that carbs!

How Long Should I Go Keto For?

There has been nothing to indicate that being in ketosis long term is harmful and many people swear by it long term as a great way to live. But the science on this is a young still…unless you consider the possibility that people in prehistoric times might have been pretty ketogenic considering they ate mostly a diet of meat (including all the organs and probably bone marrow, which are very fatty) and some veg.

However, as Chris Kelly pointed out on a webinar, it’s likely we’ll never have accurate data on this point since you can’t really perform a study where you put a group of people on a ketogenic diet for their entire life and make sure they don’t eat anything else.

Final Words of Wisdom

I doubt this is wisdom since I’m going to tell you what you probably already know deep down so here goes…

The ketogenic diet is not a magic pill for losing weight!

Does it work for some people? Heck, yes! Just take a look at Jimmy Moore! Do some athletes thrive on a ketogenic diet? Heck, yes! Take a look at Ben Greenfield.

But for too many of us, the words “ketogenic diet” is like a siren calling us to ditch our current half-hearted attempted at a diet and jump on board the next one.

So, before you jump onto the keto wagon, make sure you don’t have outstanding health concerns that should be fixed first and remember that the key to losing weight and staying healthy is to eat foods that are nutritious and low-inflammatory regardless of what the diet is called. Oh, and don’t forget about sleep, de-stressing, and exercise – they all matter too!

Images: Copyright (c) Seamartini Graphics and Picture Partners from Fotolia

The post Should I Try Keto To Lose Weight? appeared first on Paleo Flourish Magazine.