Ketogenic Diet

AnvilHead

...does it really help you burn fat quicker?

Here's what Lyle McDonald (author of the book The Ketogenic Diet and several other books regarding ketogenic dieting) has to say about it:

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/research-review/ketogenic-low-carbohydrate-diets-have-no-metabolic-advantage-over-nonketogenic-low-carbohydrate-diets-research-review.html

MizManda180

OP, may I suggest doing research on your own and not asking for unqualified and way un-informed people to answer a serious question such as which lifestyle change is right for you.

genius...please do not ask people on this forum for medical advice

I'm not asking for medical advice, I was simply interested in the results of this diet from others who have done it. Please don't tell me what I can and can't ask.

MizManda180

I appreciate all the feedback, both good and bad, and I will continue my research :-)

lilRicki

i sliced my carbs because it was the only thing preventing me from losing weight. I have a carb addiction, no matter how active I was, how healthy i ate, i binged on carbs...so i read "carb nite solution" and realized that it wasn't a lifestyle, it's a cycle. i started with 30g of carbs a day, which almost forces you to up your protein and fats just to get your calories in. I am up to 100g of carbs a day and heavy lifting and cardio. It's working, I feel great, I eat properly, i just stopped with the white bread, white rice, white potatoes, white everything. Eating differently is difficult, but do your research and learn what to subsititute carbs with.

vytamindi

Everyone has their own opinions, so just do what works for you. But my experience (Since late May) with eating HFLC boils down to one sentence:

It's the only way of eating I've tried that keeps me full.

Seriously, that's why I'm eating low carb. I now know what real hunger is (which is not munchies, I have learned) and can honestly stop eating when I'm satisfied. Low fat kept me munching all day on junk and constantly falling off the wagon. If I didn't eat regularly, I'd get shaky. Not anymore. I also have lots of energy and have since started being more active. All pros and cons aside, this has sold me on this lifestyle.

I agree how important hitting your macros are. If I find that I don't get enough fat each meal, I do get hungrier quicker. Once you get it down, though, it's easy to keep up.

Say what you want about ketosis (which is NOT ketoacidosis, by the way) but for me and my body, I've never felt better!

ElliieMental

I've been going round the cal counting, gym going merry go round for years and each time binge eating put me back on a downward spiral. Low carb, moderate protein, high fat eating has given me control over my weight and diet for the first time.

As someone said before this diet is used widely for conditions such as epilepsy and diabetes, maybe one of you brainiacs should let these doctors know they are killing their patients?

There is no way this diet poses more risk to my health than being obese....

wizbeth1218

Just wondering - and my apologies if I am hijacking this thread - if the Ketogenic Diet referred to here (for weight loss) is the same as the Ketogenic Diet used for the treatment of uncontrollable epilepsy? Or is Ketogenic Diet (for weight loss) more akin to the Atkins Diet?

The reason I ask: my son was on the Ketogenic Diet for years for the treatment of his epilepsy (well over 100 seizures per day). But starting the diet required a 3-day hospitalization. Then he had monthly visits with a dietician and quarterly visits with a neurologist.

More importantly, we had to accurately weigh his food to the nearest tenth of a gram and everything he ate or drank had to be in perfect balance and at an exact ratio as determined by his neurologist and dietician. And his calories has to be spread evenly throughout his waking hours.

My point is that the Ketogenic Diet (as I am familiar with it) is *extremely* strict and is done under very close medical supervision.

I'm just wondering if maybe it's semantics: I'm thinking of the classic Keto Diet for seizure control, and MFPers are referring to a generalized high fat-low carb diet.

vytamindi

Keto (at least how I'm referring to) is eating enough carbs that will keep you in ketosis. I do weigh everything and strive to hit the 65/30/5 f/p/c macro goal, but I eat differently each day (like today I will eat three times, some days I save all my calories for dinner). It didn't require a hospital stay for me to start, I just began one day on my own.

I have lots of non-epileptic keto friends on MFP who all do it a little differently.

dragonfly120

Check out the keto subforum on reddit. The FAQ there are really informative.

craigineson

Just wondering - and my apologies if I am hijacking this thread - if the Ketogenic Diet referred to here (for weight loss) is the same as the Ketogenic Diet used for the treatment of uncontrollable epilepsy? Or is Ketogenic Diet (for weight loss) more akin to the Atkins Diet?

The reason I ask: my son was on the Ketogenic Diet for years for the treatment of his epilepsy (well over 100 seizures per day). But starting the diet required a 3-day hospitalization. Then he had monthly visits with a dietician and quarterly visits with a neurologist.

More importantly, we had to accurately weigh his food to the nearest tenth of a gram and everything he ate or drank had to be in perfect balance and at an exact ratio as determined by his neurologist and dietician. And his calories has to be spread evenly throughout his waking hours.

My point is that the Ketogenic Diet (as I am familiar with it) is *extremely* strict and is done under very close medical supervision.

I'm just wondering if maybe it's semantics: I'm thinking of the classic Keto Diet for seizure control, and MFPers are referring to a generalized high fat-low carb diet.

It's a ketogenic diet that's adapted for weight loss - but essentially the principle is the same. There's less restriction when it comes to measuring things *so* exactly and visiting doctors.

The main difference (as far as I know) between epilectic treatment keto diets and weight-loss keto diets is the level of protein. I believe that weight-loss keto diets have far more protein - the objective being to preserve lean body mass whilst cutting calories.

Flamenquero

If you are interested in learning about a ketogenic diet, I suggest you read "Body Opus" by Dan Duchaine. I would not recommend the diet unless you are already very lean and are just trying to cut up for a bodybuilding or fitness competition.

While ketosis is a natural state for some people like Eskimos, it is not normal for most anthropological cultures.

chrisdavey

If you are interested in learning about a ketogenic diet, I suggest you read "Body Opus" by Dan Duchaine. I would not recommend the diet unless you are already very lean and are just trying to cut up for a bodybuilding or fitness competition.

While ketosis is a natural state for some people like Eskimos, it is not normal for most anthropological cultures.

Just letting you know that Lyle's RFL is based off that with some adaptations. Also, wouldn't recommend it until your very lean.

tnloser1970

I am just going to put in my thoughts. I am no expert. I will say that a ketogenic diet is not for everyone. And, not all ketogenic diets are good. First, let me share my experience and what I have learned from it.

I did my first ketogenic diet (The Atkins Diet) in 2003. I did very well with it. I lost over 100 pounds. But, in my opinion, the Atkins was the wrong way to go. Atkins (at least at the time) allowed you to eat the higher fat foods. So, I was cutting out the carbs. My protein was up, and my fat intake was up. Carbs has never really been the thing I get addicted to. It is the fat foods that I liked because they tasted so good.

Without going into detail, 2004 was a nightmare for me and put it all back on plus more over the past 8 years.

I have tried to diet regularly for this entire year and I got stuck in a plateau that I have been on since April of this year. I would watch my calories, balance out my macro nutrients, exercise, drink my water, everything I was supposed to. But, I kept gaining and losing the same 5 calories. Nothing was working and I got frustrated. So, in October I started putting back on a little bit of weight. I put on about 10 pounds and I knew I had to stop.

After some trial and error, it seems that the carbs is what was preventing me from losing the weight. So, I went to a local bariatric specialist who runs a medically supervised diet program. There are no chemicals, pills, or shots. It is a program that offers a nutritionist, behavioral psychologist, medical doctor, and nurse practitioner. While I was there, I learned that they offer three diet plans. One is a VLCD which means you only eat high protein/low carb/low fat bars and drink 100% whey protein shakes. They have a modified VLCD which means you have the bars or shakes at all meals except one and then you have one serving of a protein and one serving of a low carb vegetable. Then, they have the low calorie plan which is what I had been doing. It is important to note that they do offer these bars and shakes at their office. But, you are not forced to use them. In fact, I get my from Sam's Club. It just has to be medically approved by them.

I will be on the VLCD plan for the 16 weeks, and then I will graduate up to the modified VLCD until I am within about 20 to 30 pounds of my goal weight. Once I am there, I will enter into the stage where we slowly introduce other foods back into the plan and slowly eliminate the protein bars and shakes. I am able to move to the next level anytime I want. But, to be honest, the protein bars are keeping me full and I do like not having to plan meals.

I am actually transferring my care of this back to my family doctor because my insurance will pay for me to see him. But, the important thing is that it is a medically supervised program. This is a must on a ketogenic diet in my opinion. There are some risks associated with following ketogenic diets. Dehydration and constipation can occur if you are not watching yourself. It can affect your kidneys because of the high protein. You also need to take vitamins because you won't be getting all of them from your food.

The dehydration and the constipation can result from too much protein.

As far as the kidney, there is something you can do to help that and take care of the other two as well. One thing I have learned is to drink plenty of water. There are different scenarios out there. Some say to drink have your body weight in ounces of water (meaning a 300 pound person should drink 150 ounces of water). Another method (and the one I use) is to drink your 8- 8 oz. glasses of water and then add an additional 8 oz. glass of water for every 25 pounds you are overweight.

It is also important that you get enough protein and also that you don't get too many. Too little protein and you start to lose lean muscle mass. Too much protein and you can experience weight gain, intestinal issues (such as constipation), dehydration, seizures, increased liver enzymes, nutritional deficiencies, risk of heart disease, and kidney problems. I personally follow the protein recommendations given to me here on MFP. My protein allowance is 99 and I am doing about 100 a day.

The bottom line is that the ketogenic diets are not for everyone. The one I am on is definitely not for everyone. It is for people who have a lot of weight to lose and has the dedication to stick to something like it. You never want to enter into one without the constant supervision of a physician. I will be starting out seeing him once a month and if things are working out okay, it will be moved out to every two months then every three months. When I did Atkins, I didn't do it with a physician monitoring me.

tnloser1970

I should also add that is is important to take vitamins as well

judychicken

I love this diet plus I get seizures and I think it has help with it plus my meds.I feel great on the low carb too.

TheVimFuego

I should also add that is is important to take vitamins as well

You make good points ... it is very easy to run into issues with dry eyes/mouth, constipation, vitamin deficiency, lack of sleep, muscle cramps, etc when low-carbing.

Even the trendy Paleos (who tend to be carb-averse having read The Primal Blueprint and whatnot) can run into trouble, the above side-effects are not uncommon.

Not to say low carbing can't be a good thing (it certainly reset my system) but long term effects have to be considered and you have to listen to your body if it just isn't for you.

Cyclical low-carbing seems to be the way to go for me (low during the week, high at weekends), and I try to time the carbs along with some exercise, etc. Nothing wrong with insulin if you want to get some nutrients stored away in something that isn't a fat cell

I think there is merit in keeping the body guessing both from a food quantity and variety point of view.

I will say lowering the carbs was the only way I was going to eat less without the nagging hunger and feelings of deprivation. I do think it served a purpose and has allowed me to return to a more balanced plan (with a decent deficit) without the attendant low blood-sugar-induced hunger.

And I tend to pick better quality carbs/protein, generally, as a result.

Right, that's my weekly take/rant on carbs, I'll book another in for next weekend.

In the meantime I have a Fat Head "Wheat Is Murder" t-shirt for sale

SadKitty27

I have been doing a low carb high protein / fat diet since I've started MFP.

Personally, I absolutely loved all things chocolate, and bread. I've tried many other diets and would fall off the wagon in a week, because simply restricting my calories made me feel hungry, cranky, and tired all the time.

I've even tried weight watchers, and I HATED the point system. I am not the type of person who wants to micro manage all that much.

For me, the low carb / high protein / high fat diet works. I'm not tired, or hungry, nor do I have an overwhelming urge to break my diet or to eat pasta, or bread (which was my biggest downfall.)

Also, managing my diet is quite simple. If it's overly processed, starchy (potatoes / carrots/corn, etc...) has sugar added to it, is pasta or bread then I cannot have it.

If it's a leafy green, type of healthy oil, or unprocessed meat then down the hatch it goes lol.


Also, I've seen some studies online about how they that keto diets can help control diabetes, those with epilepsy, and there was one (I think it might have been a German study) that said that there was evidence of the keto diet helping fight cancer. I really wish I could find the link.

omidiano

Keto diet is very healthy and u shouldnt be doing it IMO it all depends on ur calories if u dont take refeeds ur metabolism slow down the best lifestyle is INTERMITTENT FASTING!

shabbychick81

i have to eat a ketogentic diet, i have pcos, and if i don eat low carb, i try to stay in the 50 range, i will gain weight really fast eating the same cals not gauging carbs. i have done every diet out there, clean eating and watching my carbs is what works for me. i also can't have dairy, it makes me very sick and causes my fibro to act up so i hurt all over. so i think people who's bodies do not function properly, may do well on a keto diet. i am under my docs supervision, and he is very happy with my results. no more meds for this girl!

fitnessrayray21

Eating clean has done the same to me. less additives in the body maybe from eating healthier. Also- on keto, I would assume that it's because you absorb nutrients better, so your body soaks up the alcohol like it's nobody's business hahaha. Who knowsss.