Keto diet

nutty192

Any thoughts on the me to diet? I have reached a long term plateau and need something new. Thanks

kjm3579

https://nutritionfacts.org/2015/05/19/low-carb-diets-and-coronary-blood-flow/

Twiley510

I am on the Ketogenic way of eating to treat my autoimmune disorders. My doctor prescribed it for me and monitors me closely.

The reduction of inflammation throughout my body has been tremendous. My energy level is better than any other time in my life. That being said, weight loss is a happy side effect of the treatment that is saving my life.

If you can commit to learning the lifestyle and plan to live it forever, I say go for it.

If you are thinking this is a short term diet. please don't.

kimny72

nutty192 wrote: »

Any thoughts on the me to diet? I have reached a long term plateau and need something new. Thanks

If you've reached a "long term plateau" that means you are eating your maintenance calories and need to eat less calories, regardless of what diet you do. Have you been logging your food accurately, and consistently hitting your calorie goal?

If you are filled up easily by fatty foods and don't tend to overeat them, and/or if you tend to overeat carbs or they are a trigger for you for over-eating, keto or a less restrictive LCHF macro distribution may help. The caveat is - can you see yourself giving up or greatly limiting fruits, grains, starchy vegetables, your typical sweet treats for the long term?

Ultimately, you want to find a way of eating that is practical, satisfying, and enjoyable to you at the right calorie level for maintaining a healthy weight for the rest of your life. For some people, lower carbs are the right choice, for others not so much. I personally do much better eating @ 50% carbs.

magnusthenerd

kjm3579 wrote: »

https://nutritionfacts.org/2015/05/19/low-carb-diets-and-coronary-blood-flow/

I wouldn't use NutritionFacts.org as a source for learning about nutrition. Greger tends to commit motivated reasoning far too much to be reliable. His linkage doesn't even make sense he says:

Now we have studies that measure the impact of low carb diets on arteries directly, and a review of all the best studies to date found that low-carb diets impair arterial function, as evidenced by a decrease in flow-mediated dilation, meaning low-carb diets effectively stiffen people’s arteries.

And the word study links not to a study, but a comment on a study. Going from there to the actual systematic review and meta-analysis the comment is on, the abstract actually says:

A systematic review and meta-analysis were carried out to study the effects of low-carbohydrate diet (LCD) on weight loss and cardiovascular risk factors (search performed on PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and Scopus databases). A total of 23 reports, corresponding to 17 clinical investigations, were identified as meeting the pre-specified criteria. Meta-analysis carried out on data obtained in 1,141 obese patients, showed the LCD to be associated with significant decreases in body weight (-7.04 kg [95% CI -7.20/-6.88]), body mass index (-2.09 kg m(-2) [95% CI -2.15/-2.04]), abdominal circumference (-5.74 cm [95% CI -6.07/-5.41]), systolic blood pressure (-4.81 mm Hg [95% CI -5.33/-4.29]), diastolic blood pressure (-3.10 mm Hg [95% CI -3.45/-2.74]), plasma triglycerides (-29.71 mg dL(-1) [95% CI -31.99/-27.44]), fasting plasma glucose (-1.05 mg dL(-1) [95% CI -1.67/-0.44]), glycated haemoglobin (-0.21% [95% CI -0.24/-0.18]), plasma insulin (-2.24 micro IU mL(-1) [95% CI -2.65/-1.82]) and plasma C-reactive protein, as well as an increase in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (1.73 mg dL(-1) [95%CI 1.44/2.01]). Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and creatinine did not change significantly, whereas limited data exist concerning plasma uric acid. LCD was shown to have favourable effects on body weight and major cardiovascular risk factors; however the effects on long-term health are unknown.

The abstract tends to indicate a LCD diet is favourable toward cardiovascular risk, so unless Greger is referencing some particular in the whole text, the paper goes against his article.

For his actual study on blood flow, there's a bit of an issue when digging into the actual study beyond the abstract:

Instead patients tended to adhere to the diet for several months at a time, return to prior eating habits, and then return again in an effort to lose weight. By the end of the study, patients had lost only an average of 1.0% body weight.

^ That seems to be in reference to the high protein diet group.

Annie_01

nutty192 wrote: »

Any thoughts on the me to diet? I have reached a long term plateau and need something new. Thanks

This is assuming that you have no medical reasons for eating Keto...

If you have researched it and understand the commitment that this diet requires and are willing to give up some of the foods that you have possibly been eating most of your life then I see no harm in trying it. If you find out that it is not right for you then you can always abandon Keto and rethink how you would like to be eating. All diets are work regardless of how you choose to eat. They all take a commitment.

IMO For any new eating plan I believe that success depends on the work and commitment that you put in to it. They all again IMO require some determination to stick to it because at times no matter what way of eating you choose there will be times when it becomes difficult.

No one can answer these questions for you. You have to answer those questions yourself.

Just to add...I do not do Keto. I choose not to give up my pasta and potatoes and I have stomach issues when I eat a high fat content. Hopefully I never have to do this type of diet for medical reason...I would be pretty unhappy.

Good luck with whatever decision that you make.

MikePTY

Keto is not any more effective for long term fat loss than a normal calorie restrictive diet. So if you are wanting to try it because you hear it is the hot new diet that will provide some special weight loss benefits, then you may be disappointed. People tend to lose quickly the first few weeks on Keto because when you cut out carbs, your body depletes your glycogen stores, which are stored with 3-4g of water per gram of glycogen. So the scale will usually go down quickly if you do a Keto diet. But that is water weight, not fat, and if you ever go back to eating carbs again your life, it will come back.

Keto is effective for people who enjoy the foods in the way of eating and find that it helps keep their hunger in check compared to a normal balanced diet. These people are likely to be able to commit to it long term. But a lot of people find it difficult to commit to long term because of the restrictions. I know personally it is not for me. If it works for others, that's great. But there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to continue your progress on a normal balanced diet if you would enjoy that more.

It is also important to note that Keto can have some side effects, from keto flu, to keto breath, to keto other things that may make transitioning to the diet unpleasant for some people.

nvmomketo

Some like it due to the appetite and craving reduction that most people experience. I've done it for years due to the health benefits that I experienced.

There are very few negative physical side effects. Keto flu is a preventable loss of electrolytes that more salt would solve. A small.kinority get strong smelling breath, but dehydration or high protein is usually the cause.

Mentally, some may feel deprived and binge. Others like me, find we are less likely to binge if we avoid problem foods altogether.

If you want to try it, go for it. It won't hurt. If you dont like it, you can quit.

ultra_violets

I didn't know if I could give up carbs. After all, like most Americans, I'd been eating them all my life. Bread, potatoes, noodles, rice, desserts, fast food, etc. But my weight and my diabetes were out of control and I was in the throes of a full-blown carb addiction. I've been battling binge eating since I was 11 years old (I'm 49 now). Long story short, on January 1st this year, I just stopped. No more sugar or grains. I still eat 20-30 carbs a day but they come mostly from vegetables and nuts. For me it was easy. Almost a relief. I've been fortunate not to have any real cravings, feelings of deprivation, etc. One important thing to note about keto is that you really don't have to give up anything. Just about anything you can think of, there's a keto recipe for it, even bread and pizza crust. You don't need any fancy supplements or to buy anybody's books. Just the willingness to try something new. BUT having said that, please talk to your physician first. My doctor encouraged me to try it, and it's been very good for me. I've lost 40 lb and my blood sugar has dropped over 200 points. But everyone is different, and you shouldn't embark on any new eating plan without checking it out thoroughly first. Youtube is a great place to learn about keto, and a great, supportive environment for someone curious about trying it.

Phirrgus

I would say try it out. If keto works for you great, if not, try something else You'll gain the benefits of firsthand experience instead of just wondering and relying on other's answers.

zeejane4

nvmomketo wrote: »

Some like it due to the appetite and craving reduction that most people experience. I've done it for years due to the health benefits that I experienced.

There are very few negative physical side effects. Keto flu is a preventable loss of electrolytes that more salt would solve. A small.kinority get strong smelling breath, but dehydration or high protein is usually the cause.

Mentally, some may feel deprived and binge. Others like me, find we are less likely to binge if we avoid problem foods altogether.

If you want to try it, go for it. It won't hurt. If you dont like it, you can quit.

I've been experimenting with lower carb for a few days and not even getting keto low, (I'm anywhere from 40-75ish net carbs a day), I've been experiencing some pretty intense appetite reduction, to the point where I have to be intentional about making sure I'm eating. The whole things been a bit surreal! So, one may not even need to get to keto levels to have this benefit/side-effect. I didn't really have cravings before and I haven't noticed any difference there.

lemurcat2

I often find lower carb more satisfying just because I prefer eating that way, but for me that's more like 100-150, depending. When I was on my lowest cals (I did 1200 for a bit) it would be around 100 g (total, I didn't bother with net carbs), and then when I raised them it was more like 120 g, and at maintenance I tend to naturally be around 150 g (but with around 40+ g fiber), although in the summer I might end up a bit higher because I do love local summer fruit.

I don't know if this controls my appetite vs. other things like eating regular meals and not snacking or generally eating a healthy diet with little added sugar/refined carbs and sufficient protein, but I feel generally more satisfied doing it, and trying to add in more carbs is always frustrating for me (I think my issue is I like the balance of foods better, as I'm not really into a lot of common sources of carbs, so it's the opposite of them being trigger foods).

Anyway, I did try keto for a bit, and not only was I cutting out foods I didn't want to, but I didn't notice any benefits for me from the diet vs. how I normally eat. But of course that's me. But in my case, I do think there are benefits to moderate carbs and lower when cutting calories (although there also are benefits to cutting added fats/cheese which are typically my biggest problem when cals creep up), that don't seem to intensify when cutting carbs further.

zeejane4

lemurcat2 wrote: »

I often find lower carb more satisfying just because I prefer eating that way, but for me that's more like 100-150, depending. When I was on my lowest cals (I did 1200 for a bit) it would be around 100 g (total, I didn't bother with net carbs), and then when I raised them it was more like 120 g, and at maintenance I tend to naturally be around 150 g (but with around 40+ g fiber), although in the summer I might end up a bit higher because I do love local summer fruit.

I don't know if this controls my appetite vs. other things like eating regular meals and not snacking or generally eating a healthy diet with little added sugar/refined carbs and sufficient protein, but I feel generally more satisfied doing it, and trying to add in more carbs is always frustrating for me (I think my issue is I like the balance of foods better, as I'm not really into a lot of common sources of carbs, so it's the opposite of them being trigger foods).

Anyway, I did try keto for a bit, and not only was I cutting out foods I didn't want to, but I didn't notice any benefits for me from the diet vs. how I normally eat. But of course that's me. But in my case, I do think there are benefits to moderate carbs and lower when cutting calories (although there also are benefits to cutting added fats/cheese which are typically my biggest problem when cals creep up), that don't seem to intensify when cutting carbs further.

Going into my experiment I set a target of 100g a day of carbs, but I'm just not hungry so that number has been creeping down (today I'll be at 52g of net carbs). I'm still eating a lot of veggies, but I have reduced whole grains and eliminated the daily serving of beans I was eating (my stomach is much calmer now!). Fruit has been reduced as well, to 1/2c a berries a day and then half an avacado, but I've never been big on fruit so that's actually been a nice change from before, when I was trying to get in 3-4 servings a day of fruit and not really enjoying it.

I've also increased my protein and I do think that's having a positive impact, I realized I was pretty low before.

OP, have you thought about just trying a lower carb way of eating for a while and seeing if that helps? There's a pretty wide carb range from keto, to what most people are eating (50%-60% carbs).