What are the long-term effects of a ketogenic diet?

As Erin Magner says, from Well and Good, "Is it just me, or was it impossible to swing a bottle of MCT oil in 2018 without hitting someone who is filling up on keto?"

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She and other health advocates refer to 2018 for "the year of the keto". As for next year, diets high in fats, carbohydrates and bacon show no sign of abandonment. INSIDER ranked third among the plans that millennia plan to try in 2019, for example.

And while most people who follow this traditional ketogenic diet are overjoyed at the weight loss and extra energy to worry about the future, the long-term effects of the keto are important. And according to several experts, the keto may not be beneficial in the long term, at least not compared to other options to maintain health in the long term.

A brief history of the recent popularity of keto

According to Kristen Mancinelli, dietitian and certified nutritionist, the idea of ​​the keto really made its way in 2014 or 2015, when the link between saturated fat and heart disease was the subject of a thorough review. The entire meta-badysis "has basically resulted in no link," said Manicelli, author of The Cetogenic Diet: A scientifically proven approach to losing weight quickly and in good health. "In the scientific community of nutrition science and medicine, it has slowly begun to say," OK, in fact, fat laziness has this unexpected result that people are consuming too much carbohydrate. "It was really the base."

According to Dr. Josh Ax, clinical nutritionist and author of the upcoming Keto diet: Your plan for weight loss, hormonal balance and reverse disease over 30 days, people who adhere to the diet to lose weight usually get results in a week or two. . (His book, scheduled for February 19, also highlights the importance of five "protocols" sometimes misunderstood of the keto diet and indicates that there is a critical link between choosing the right and winning the keto.)

Well and Good also discussed the benefits of the keto, ranging from increased energy to improved symptoms of type 2 diabetes.

According to experts at the University of California at San Francisco, ketogenic diets are recognized as beneficial for people with epilepsy or other neurological conditions and can even reduce brain inflammation .

But do the benefits persist when people follow long-term ketogenic guidelines? It's where the experts are separating.

Is Keto more a hype than a help?

The Mayo Clinic is the most aggressive in its anti-keto positions, calling it "more hype than help".

Mayo quotes his own expert, Dr. Donald Hensrud, author of The Mayo Clinic Diet Book. He described people who go to keto or any other restrictive diet. "They want an easy way," said Hensrud. "They want the magic panacea."

And while the drastic reduction in carbohydrate intake will force the body to burn fat and lose weight, problems arise after the initial weight loss, Hensrud said. "In the long run, it's difficult, people are missing fruits, vegetables, cereals, it's difficult, it's becoming a very restrictive diet, so although people lose weight at first, to maintain and maintain it in the long run is a real challenge for a keto diet. "

Hensrud recommended exercise, portion control and the increase of fruits, vegetables and whole grains in the diet for long-term health.

Bonnie Taub-Dix, registered dietitian and dietitian-certified nutritionist, also told Well and Good that she was against the long-term keto or even for a short time. "This is only another fad diet," she said. "Carbohydrates are not bad for you," she says of the food group demonized by keto enthusiasts. "They have really had a bad reputation over the years, but it's more about choosing the right carbs."

Dr. Ethan Weiss is an badociate professor at the Institute of Cardiovascular Research. He is studying the impact of diet on weight and heart health at the University of California at San Francisco. In a university blog, he said that the keto diet was "incredibly powerful, reducing carbohydrates, it has many metabolic benefits, the body more efficiently transforms the remaining carbohydrates and therefore requires much less insulin."

But despite this strong demand, he is still urging consumers and the medical community to take a wait-and-see attitude to the long-term effects of the keto diet.

Statements such as kidney function improvement or even cognitive improvement are not yet ready for prime time. "We just do not have the data on that," Weiss said.

Dr. Raymond Swanson, professor of neurology, and his fellow researchers in ketogenic research at UCSF, agree that the diet does not involve inherent danger. But, he warned, "there are a lot of things that change the way drugs work in our bodies, and nutrition is certainly one of them, if you make a real change in your nutrition, you really should talk to your doctor. doctor."

© 2019 Cox Media Group.