A ketogenic diet (keto diet) contains approximately 90-99% of calories from fat and protein and only 1-10% from carbohydrates.Eating this way may have some benefits for weight loss or reducing the number of epileptic seizures.
However, as new research has shown, following a keto diet provides health benefits only for a short period of time - 1-2 weeks, after which its negative effects begin.
What is the keto diet?
The ketogenic diet (abbreviated as the keto diet) is a very low-carb, high-fat diet that may have some health benefits.
More than 20 studies have shown that this type of diet can help you lose weight and improve your health.The ketogenic diet may have some benefits for diabetes, brain cancer, epilepsy, and Alzheimer's disease.
The ketogenic diet is a very low carb (no more than 1-10%), fat diet that has many similarities to the Atkins diet and the low carb diet.Following this diet leads to a sharp reduction in carbohydrates and replacing them with fats and proteins.This significantly reduces the body's consumption of carbohydrates and switches the body to use fat as its main source of energy.If there is little glucose in the body, the liver processes fat into fatty acids and ketone bodies.
When the amount of ketone bodies in the body increases, ketosis occurs and the brain begins to use these ketone bodies instead of carbohydrates.When this happens, the body becomes incredibly efficient at burning fat for energy.
A ketogenic diet can significantly lower blood glucose and insulin levels.This, along with the increased amount of ketones, shows some benefits for the body.
However, the keto diet can be potentially dangerous for people with type 1 diabetes.
Keto Diet Benefits
One study of 63 people created two groups: either a low-fat diet group or a low-carb diet group.The low-fat diet group was calorie restricted.This study lasted for 12 months.
The low-carb group lost more weight, 7.3% of total body weight, compared to the low-fat group, which lost 4.5%.The difference was statistically significant at 3 and 6 months, but not at 12 months.At the end of the experiment, there was no difference in weight between the groups of people.
Notably, the low-carb (keto diet) group had higher blood triglyceride and HDL levels, but other biomarkers were similar between groups.
If we analyze the 23 known human clinical trials evaluating the effects of a low-carb diet (keto diet), we can formulate the general conclusions of these studies.Most studies have found statistically significant differences in weight loss (always in favor of low-carb diets).
A few more factors should be noted:
- A low-carb diet often results in 2-3 times more weight loss than a low-fat diet.In some cases there was no significant difference.
- In most cases, calories were restricted in the low-fat groups, while the low-carb groups could eat as much as they wanted.
- When all groups of subjects were restricting calories, the low-carbohydrate diet still showed a greater reduction in body weight, although this was not always significant.
- There was only one study in which the low-fat diet group lost more weight, although the difference was small (0.5 kg) and not statistically significant.
- In some studies, weight loss was the earliest.People then start to regain weight over time and after they stop the keto diet.
- When the scientists looked at the amount of belly fat (bad visceral fat), the low-carb diet had a clear advantage in reducing this type of fat.
The two main reasons why a low-carb diet (keto diet) is so effective for weight loss are the high protein content of the food and the appetite-suppressing effects of this style of eating.This leads to a sharp reduction in calorie intake.
Harmful effects of the keto diet
Clinical studies have shown that the keto diet can improve a person's health in the short term (up to 12 months) by reducing the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and, as a result, reducing inflammation caused by fat cells.
A study conducted at Yale University showed that the positive and negative effects of diet are related to the behavior of immune cells called gamma delta T cells (γδ T cells), tissue-specific cells that reduce the risk of diabetes and inflammation.
Gamma delta T cells are immune T cells that have a distinctive T cell receptor (TCR) on their surface.Most T cells are αβ (alpha beta) T cells with a TCR consisting of two glycoprotein chains called the α (alpha) and β (beta) TCR chains.In contrast, gamma delta (γδ) T cells have a TCR consisting of one γ (gamma) and one δ (delta) chain.This group of T cells is generally less abundant—about 4–10% of all T cells—than αβ T cells, but has the highest abundance in the intestinal mucosa, in a population of lymphocytes known as intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs).
Gamma-delta immune T cells are characterized by a number of features that place them in the boundaries of the more evolutionarily primitive innate immune system, which provides a rapid response to various pathogens, and in the boundaries of the adaptive immune system, where lymphocytes coordinate their actions.At the same time, (γδ) T cells have long-term memory capacity to respond even more quickly to pathogens when they are encountered again in the future.
The keto diet leads to an increase in the presence of immune (γδ) T cells and their decrease in adipose tissue.
The keto diet tricks the body into burning fat, said study author Dr. Vishwa Deep Dixit of the Yale School of Medicine.When the body's glucose level drops due to the low carbohydrate content of the food, the body acts as if it is fasting, even though it is not, and begins to burn fat instead of carbohydrates.
This causes the body to use β-hydroxybutyrate (beta-hydroxybutyric acid) for ATP production and reduces inflammation mediated by NLRP3, a cytosolic protein involved in the activation of the inflammatory interleukins IL-1b and IL-18.
The process of reducing carbohydrates in the food, in turn, begins to produce ketone bodies (ketones) as an alternative source of fuel.As the body burns ketone bodies, protective gamma delta T cells spread throughout the body.And the number of these protective immune cells in adipose tissue is drastically reduced.In adipose tissue, γδ T cells decrease, and the level of inflammation previously contained by these cells begins to increase.Inflammation is known to stimulate the accumulation of fat cells.
In addition, mice lacking immune γδ T cells exhibited impaired glucose homeostasis, leading to elevated blood glucose levels.
The keto diet reduces the risk of diabetes and inflammation, as well as improves the body's metabolism, the scientists noted.After a week on the keto diet, the mice showed reduced blood sugar and inflammation.
But when the body is in this "starvation-not-starvation" mode for long enough (more than 1-2 weeks), fat accumulation occurs simultaneously with its breakdown, the scientists found.When the mice went on a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet, they consumed more fat than their bodies could burn.And then the signs of diabetes and obesity increased.
Keto Diet Side Effects
Although the ketogenic diet is safe for healthy people, there may be some initial side effects before your body adjusts to the new diet.
This presentation is often called the keto flu and usually ends in a few days.Keto flu includes low body energy and decreased mental function, increased hunger, sleep problems, nausea, digestive discomfort, and decreased performance during exercise.
To reduce this, you can start a low carb diet for the first few weeks.This can train your body to burn more fat while you completely eliminate carbs from your diet.
The keto diet can also change your body's water and mineral balance, so adding extra salt to your food or taking a mineral supplement may help.Try getting 3,000-4,000 mg of sodium (salt), 1,000 mg of potassium, and 300 mg of magnesium per day to reduce side effects.