Not easy to follow, the ketogenic diet has nevertheless more and more followers. If weight loss is achieved, critics point out harmful side effects, especially for the cardiovascular system.
What is the ketogenic diet?
This diet is based on a daily intake of about 90% fat, 8% protein and 2% carbohydrates. It's hard to know how many people are following it, but Google searches for the word "ketogenic" have increased in recent years, the MD website reports.
Hollywood stars like Halle Berry and Vanessa Hudgens have helped democratize the ketogenic diet. And the video-on-demand platform Netflix has released a movie, The Magic Pill, to document people using the diet to treat conditions like asthma, autism, diabetes, and cancer. Not surprisingly, the diet has also come under fire, with some calling it "ridiculous" and potentially harmful. In fact, even some of its followers feel that it is not easy to follow, and not suitable for everyone.
Almost no carbohydrates to break down fat
Because limiting the number of carbohydrates on your plate and adding a little fat is not enough. This diet is extremely strict. To reach the ketogenic state, it is therefore necessary to follow it to the letter, and to eat very few carbohydrates, a lot of fat, and a lot of protein. This means keeping your carbohydrate intake to around 20 grams per day, the equivalent of a small apple. Within a week, blood sugar levels stabilize and insulin levels drop. Without carbohydrates, the liver breaks down fats and converts them into energy. It produces compounds called ketone bodies that have several effects, including reducing hunger.
Effective in reducing alcohol withdrawal symptoms?
What if this diet helped alcoholics to withdraw? This is in any case the track explored by a team of researchers. They found that people suffering from alcohol withdrawal had less severe symptoms if they also followed a ketogenic diet. These findings were published in April 2021 in the journal Science Advances.
The researchers noted that when people become dependent on alcohol for a long enough period of time, their bodies begin to use less glucose for energy: instead, they use acetate, which the body makes when metabolizing alcohol. The researchers also found that those on a ketogenic diet have more "ketone bodies" to metabolize that can be used for energy.
The researchers asked 23 newly hospitalized alcoholics to follow a ketogenic diet and used 23 other patients as a control group. To assess the impact of the diet, the researchers measured ketone and acetate levels in the volunteers once a week. They also looked for markers of inflammation common in people undergoing detoxification and assessed the amount of medication needed to help the volunteers overcome their symptoms. All of the data suggest that the keto diet does a good job of reducing withdrawal symptoms in the volunteers.
Side effects and contraindications of the ketogenic diet
But the ketogenic diet has some significant side effects. The high fat intake can aggravate cardiovascular health problems and burden the liver. People with liver problems should avoid this diet.
Nutritional ketosis may be accompanied by headaches, nausea, fatigue and headaches for four to five days. Lack of fiber can cause constipation, and lack of vitamins, minerals and electrolytes can cause kidney stones. So weigh the pros and cons on the scale, and consult your doctor, before you start.
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