Ketogenic diet

kdawesleclair
kdawesleclair Posts: 1 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Does anyone follow a ketogenic diet here?
Pros/cons??

Thanks everyone!

Replies

  • Yannia2017
    Yannia2017 Posts: 5 Member
    I have been doing keto since jan 1st. love it
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    edited April 2017
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    As already stated, the LCD group linked above is a great resource. You'll get experienced answers there from people who made it work. (I don't know how to turn WOE into plural either LOL)

    I've been keto for a couple of years. Mostly. I came to keto to help treat my insulin resistance and my autoimmune disorders.

    Pros:
    • Lowers cravings and appetite
    • Normalized my BG quickly
    • Prevents spikes or dips in BG, so I no longer have to deal with reactive hypoglycemia - steady energy and no need to eat every 2 hours
    • Better skin and hair
    • Improved cognitive function
    • Lower inflammation
    • I seem to lose weight slightly faster and an equivalent calorie deficit.

    Cons:
    • Less convenient foods when staying at other's homes
    • Eat out less often
    • Don't get to eat sugar and starches as often as some would like, but I have IR so tough luck for me. ;)

    I've had a lot of benefits in this diet. I'll be a low carb lifer. Mostly keto. It might change but at this time my health would take a hit from increased carbs.

    I can't say for pro's (because you can get most of those pro's from an overall solid diet), but for con's... significantly less food volume; this alone prevents me from doing something like keto.

    Also, I should point out, that not all inflammation is bad. Weight training and insoluble fiber both cause an inflammation response forcing your body to rebuild. But it rebuilds to be stronger.


    Also, OP, what are your goals? The diet and exercise regime you follow should align to your fitness and health goals. The diet you follow (low, high or in between carb levels) has little impacts outside of person preference and satiety.
  • nvmomketo
    nvmomketo Posts: 12,019 Member
    psuLemon wrote: »
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    As already stated, the LCD group linked above is a great resource. You'll get experienced answers there from people who made it work. (I don't know how to turn WOE into plural either LOL)

    I've been keto for a couple of years. Mostly. I came to keto to help treat my insulin resistance and my autoimmune disorders.

    Pros:
    • Lowers cravings and appetite
    • Normalized my BG quickly
    • Prevents spikes or dips in BG, so I no longer have to deal with reactive hypoglycemia - steady energy and no need to eat every 2 hours
    • Better skin and hair
    • Improved cognitive function
    • Lower inflammation
    • I seem to lose weight slightly faster and an equivalent calorie deficit.

    Cons:
    • Less convenient foods when staying at other's homes
    • Eat out less often
    • Don't get to eat sugar and starches as often as some would like, but I have IR so tough luck for me. ;)

    I've had a lot of benefits in this diet. I'll be a low carb lifer. Mostly keto. It might change but at this time my health would take a hit from increased carbs.

    I can't say for pro's (because you can get most of those pro's from an overall solid diet), but for con's... significantly less food volume; this alone prevents me from doing something like keto.

    Also, I should point out, that not all inflammation is bad. Weight training and insoluble fiber both cause an inflammation response forcing your body to rebuild. But it rebuilds to be stronger.


    Also, OP, what are your goals? The diet and exercise regime you follow should align to your fitness and health goals. The diet you follow (low, high or in between carb levels) has little impacts outside of person preference and satiety.

    I'm in my 40's. I've tried a lot of ways of eating. Only LCHF does this for me.

    The pros I listed may be attainable for other people by other diets butthey may not. They are still all possible pros.

    I have AI issues. That was the inflammation I am referring to. The type that causes joints to swell and hurt and hair to fall out.... Although I wonder if minimizing inflammation when muscle building could not hurt.

    And thanks. I forgot about fibre. Less fibre is definitely another pro for me. It wreaks havoc on my digestion. The less the better for me.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    nvmomketo wrote: »
    As already stated, the LCD group linked above is a great resource. You'll get experienced answers there from people who made it work. (I don't know how to turn WOE into plural either LOL)

    I've been keto for a couple of years. Mostly. I came to keto to help treat my insulin resistance and my autoimmune disorders.

    Pros:
    • Lowers cravings and appetite
    • Normalized my BG quickly
    • Prevents spikes or dips in BG, so I no longer have to deal with reactive hypoglycemia - steady energy and no need to eat every 2 hours
    • Better skin and hair
    • Improved cognitive function
    • Lower inflammation
    • I seem to lose weight slightly faster and an equivalent calorie deficit.

    Cons:
    • Less convenient foods when staying at other's homes
    • Eat out less often
    • Don't get to eat sugar and starches as often as some would like, but I have IR so tough luck for me. ;)

    I've had a lot of benefits in this diet. I'll be a low carb lifer. Mostly keto. It might change but at this time my health would take a hit from increased carbs.

    I can't say for pro's (because you can get most of those pro's from an overall solid diet), but for con's... significantly less food volume; this alone prevents me from doing something like keto.

    Also, I should point out, that not all inflammation is bad. Weight training and insoluble fiber both cause an inflammation response forcing your body to rebuild. But it rebuilds to be stronger.


    Also, OP, what are your goals? The diet and exercise regime you follow should align to your fitness and health goals. The diet you follow (low, high or in between carb levels) has little impacts outside of person preference and satiety.

    I'm in my 40's. I've tried a lot of ways of eating. Only LCHF does this for me.

    The pros I listed may be attainable for other people by other diets butthey may not. They are still all possible pros.

    I have AI issues. That was the inflammation I am referring to. The type that causes joints to swell and hurt and hair to fall out.... Although I wonder if minimizing inflammation when muscle building could not hurt.

    And thanks. I forgot about fibre. Less fibre is definitely another pro for me. It wreaks havoc on my digestion. The less the better for me.

    Oh I know... I was being a bit pedantic.... But I do laugh at the inflammation thing (one of the buzzwords these days) because people assume it's always bad. Depending on the person, inflammation can occur for a variety of reason; whether it come from refined carbs, SFA or dairy, it will depend one the person. For my wife, she can't eating nuts, seeds, popcorn, etc.. because it effects her diverticulitis.. for those with chrons or celiac, it's a host of other foods. For someone that doesn't have medical conditions, it won't really be a lot of foods that cause inflammation.
  • val_wang
    val_wang Posts: 2 Member
    Been on Keto for over a year. I have to admit - not sure I would recommend it unless you are doing it for neurological health (I do it for epilepsy control) or are desperate to lose a LOT of weight. I still find it very difficult as it can impact eating out and it cuts out fruits, vegetables and condiments in addition to the starches. However, if you want to try it out I suppose it can't hurt!
  • Niczka96
    Niczka96 Posts: 12 Member
    22 days in keto, here is my personal list.

    Cons:
    - no foods high in net carbohydrates (although since starting keto I haven't craved or really cared about having these foods at all so that "con" isn't really a big deal).
    - Logging everything (mainly because I don't know my macros in ingredients very well yet)


    Pros:
    - stable energy all day, every day (unless my allergies are kicking my butt)
    - Getting up in the morning refreshed and ready to go every day - no more morning sluggishness (unless allergies...again lol)
    - No mood swings
    - can workout in the morning, fasted at that, and still lift 100% of my strength (on average diet my strength in the morning dropped to ~70%, and there was absolutely no way I could have done it fasting)
    - Not hungry all the darn time anymore
    - No hunger drive (if I was hungry enough I would not be able to focus on anything at all until I ate - it was ridiculous and made me cranky and very inconvenient)
    - no hypoglycemic shaky hands/dizziness
    - No bloat!!! Yay!
    - No post-meal coma/fuzzy brain (super important due to my job)
    - better sexdrive
    - Better appetite control
    - Better moods
    - lost 10 pounds in 22 days (yes, I know some is water but I still feel really good about it because I have seen my body change for the better too!!)

    My grandmother on my dad's side had Alzheimer's with Parkinson's-like muscle impairments. There have been many connections made between keto (and physical/mental exercise) and reduction of Alzheimer's risk/symptoms. Since it has occurred in my family I'm considered at higher risk (I haven't had genetic testing done). So I'm happy to do something that is proactive.
  • carleen01
    carleen01 Posts: 10 Member
    I'm doing Keto and love it! Do your research and read up on what the Ketogenic diet is. If you believe it may work give it a try, what do you have to lose but fat?
  • Sunna_W
    Sunna_W Posts: 744 Member
    No one mentioned constipation as a BIG issue on keto. It is one of the things that discourages people from sticking with it.

    Also check out Paleo websites. They have a lot of recipes and resources for how to incorporate the low carb version of Paleo into your life.

    I have been on it since January and I have to say that in addition to losing weight and having no cravings (for sweets) that I feel pretty good.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    edited April 2017
    This content has been removed.
  • macchiatto
    macchiatto Posts: 2,890 Member
    Sunna_W wrote: »
    No one mentioned constipation as a BIG issue on keto. It is one of the things that discourages people from sticking with it.

    Also check out Paleo websites. They have a lot of recipes and resources for how to incorporate the low carb version of Paleo into your life.

    I have been on it since January and I have to say that in addition to losing weight and having no cravings (for sweets) that I feel pretty good.

    Keto was actually great for my digestive issues; constipation became quite rare (and I've heard other keto and low carbers say the same). All that lovely fat seems to help compensate for the lower fiber ...
  • kpk54
    kpk54 Posts: 4,474 Member
    I ate keto for a year for a neurological movement disorder, Cervical Dystonia aka Spasmodic Torticollis. I was both shocked and elated that it was effective in minimizing my physical movement and unusual postures that are obvious to both myself and others. Unfortunately the effectiveness began to wane after 6 months so I've now switched gears (after 6 more months of hopin') to more moderate/balanced macros.

    Weight loss was not a goal. I had already shed my excess weight. However I was far less hungry on keto so adherence to maintenance calories was much easier for me. Significantly easier. The biggest negative was eating at the homes of others and not wanting to feel/be "picky" about my food. Something like a Superbowl party with lots of casual choices wasn't too difficult but a sit down dinner of lasagna with Tiramisu for dessert would be problematic. ;)
  • WVWalkerFriend
    WVWalkerFriend Posts: 575 Member
    edited April 2017
    Keto, here. Formerly just LC but keto suits me better. My pros are similar to what has already been posted very eloquently. Standard diets work well for a lot of people, but they don't for me. My cons basically revolve around the inconvenience. We don't eat at other houses often but we do have 2 active teens and we're on the go about 6 months out of the year. I'm learning to work within those confines, though.

    Edited because I seriously need one of my kids to help shut off auto correct.

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