Curious about Keto...

binknbaby
binknbaby Posts: 207 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I'm not looking for a debate (although, who am I kidding? This is the MFP forums...). I'm genuinely curious about the Keto diet. Not the "how" or the "what", but the "why"...

From what I've read in quick google searches (admission of no deep/thorough research), the Keto diet was originally developed to help people suffering from epilepsy.

And from my training in midwifery, I naturally associate ketonuria/ketosis with pre-eclampsia (aka Toxemia), which is bad... very, very bad...

Now, I do get that by taking in mostly fats and protein and very little (if any) carbs will lead to fat-burning, so I can see how it would assist with weight loss. But I'm truly at a loss as to why this would be beneficial as a life-long nutritional choice. Why are you trying to achieve ketosis, which can lead to kidney problems and produce high levels of uric acid, essentially creating ammonia in your blood.

So what am I missing here? I'm not trying to argue, just stating what I already know, and trying to balance that with this type of eating (which I had never heard of before coming to MFP).

Would anyone like to explain this to me?

Nicely? :wink:

Replies

  • binknbaby
    binknbaby Posts: 207 Member
    Wow, no one? Really??
  • parkygirl
    parkygirl Posts: 37 Member
    Here you go...

    In a nutshell: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aiHSPoto_YqsNTDvL-g60nytMnyH-CJcCbiAx1IEUYM/edit

    And the community: http://www.reddit.com/r/keto

    I just started today!
  • BarackMeLikeAHurricane
    BarackMeLikeAHurricane Posts: 3,400 Member
    As long as your saturated fat intake isn't too high, you drink enough water, and eat enough fiber it's not bad for your health. Remember, it's ketosis, not ketoacidosis. It's a very efficient way to lose weight but it can be hard to maintain for some.
  • TrainSweatEatSleep
    TrainSweatEatSleep Posts: 56 Member
    Eat carbs plz.

    Sweet potatoes, Rolled Oats, Whole wheat bread, & whole wheat Pasta.

    Scale out your food with a digital scale.
  • dangerxbadger
    dangerxbadger Posts: 396 Member
    There are a myriad of diseases that benefit from low carb/ketosis diets. So. There's a why.
  • ruthiejewell
    ruthiejewell Posts: 134 Member
    Hi there. No cravings, no hunger, many health benefits, some of which are hotly contested by the grains/processed/fast foods promoters and a feeling of wellbeing.
  • virtualjunkyard
    virtualjunkyard Posts: 17 Member
    Best thing that ever happened to me.
  • taylorwaylor
    taylorwaylor Posts: 417 Member
    I have tried it.. lasted about a day haahh. But I have depression/anxiety and a ketogenic diet somehow elses these conditions! It is also supposed to keep your energy more leveled throughout the day... And theres just a ton of stuff it does health wise.... I wish i could stick to it long enough to reap the benefits, but ohhh welll.
  • dstromley1
    dstromley1 Posts: 165
    I have tried it.. lasted about a day haahh. But I have depression/anxiety and a ketogenic diet somehow elses these conditions! It is also supposed to keep your energy more leveled throughout the day... And theres just a ton of stuff it does health wise.... I wish i could stick to it long enough to reap the benefits, but ohhh welll.

    THis^ it makes me feel like complete crap,can barley get thru my workouts without taking 3 scoops preworkout, no energy whatso ever and always feel slightly dizzy, KEto diets suck. they sure do burn a lot of fat tho,
  • kirlia
    kirlia Posts: 81 Member
    I understand how and why people lose weight doing it, but I don't see how it's possible to eat a healthy, balanced diet doing keto. And imo, health > weight.
  • 366to266
    366to266 Posts: 473 Member
    Eat carbs plz.

    Sweet potatoes, Rolled Oats, Whole wheat bread, & whole wheat Pasta.

    Ugh, ugh, ugh and UGH.

    Some people (including me) become bloated and get chronic indigestion and inflammation from eating your "recommended" foods.

    When I ate WW bread and pasta the inflammation from gluten was so bad I was walking with a stick AND I had carpal tunnel syndrome. Stopped eating wheat = all symptoms gone.

    So much for "healthy" whole grains!
  • desiv2
    desiv2 Posts: 651 Member
    I decided to give keto a try, I was fully intending to just do a test run for a few weeks/months to see what happened. Why would I do that? Well I have friends on here who talk about it, love it, and one in particular talked about her acne and complexion improving. I'm still testing it out, but so far I love it! I'm not sure if I'll do it forever, but the fear of gaining weight when you go back to carbs is easily squashed when you realize that weight gain is water-weight. As long as you still control what you eat to maintain, you wont gain fat.

    As for the acne, it worked. I noticed what I had was healing faster the first week, I got a few more pimples the next week, but a lot less than normal. This is common with any acne 'treatment' anyway, it usually gets a bit worse before it gets better. Every day I notice improvements!

    I also enjoy the added benefits of feeling FULL, before I was always hungry withing 1-2 hours which led to me eating over my calories and feeling guilty. The carb cravings go away after a couple weeks, and honestly I like my burgers wrapped in lettuce better..


    OH and the first week of keto SUCKS, it's called keto flu, but to me it was similar to caffeine withdrawls, but with carbs. I upped my sodium and drank plenty of water, and exercised, it went away within the first week.

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