[ad_1]
WASHINGTON – Ketogenic diets may be all the rage right now, but a new study warns that they can be detrimental to your health in the long run. Researchers say that what makes these high fat diets different from other weight loss strategies also increases the risk of developing a host of different diseases. These include heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and even Alzheimer’s disease.
“The typical keto diet is a disease-promoting disaster,” says senior journal author Lee Crosby, RD, head of the nutrition education program at the Physicians’ Committee for Responsible Medicine, in a press release. “Eating red meat, processed meat and saturated fat and restricting vegetables, fruits, legumes and whole grains high in carbohydrates is a recipe for poor health. “
Crosby and a team from NYU’s Grossman School of Medicine, New York City Health and Hospital in Bellevue, University of Pennsylvania, Loma Linda University, and George Washington University School of Medicine conducted what Scientists call the most comprehensive review of the keto diet for Date. Their findings appear in the journal The frontiers of nutrition.
What makes the keto diet so different?
A “ketogenic” diet generally refers to any weight loss plan that is very low in carbohydrates, increasing protein intake, and high in fat. You might ask, why would anyone think this is a healthy diet? Well, there is actually a scientific reason for this.
Keto diets are popular because this food fuel blend tries to trigger ketosis in the body. This process activates the production of ketones, which are an alternative source of energy for the body. What makes ketones so appealing is the fact that neurons and other cells can metabolize this energy better than fatty acids. However, the new review reveals that the foods keto diets use to achieve this can harm the body in the long run.
Among their findings, the study’s authors claim that the keto diet appears to be particularly dangerous for pregnant women and those hoping to have children. The study finds that low-carbohydrate diets are linked to an increased risk of neural tube defects in babies. This increased risk persists even if the mother takes folic acid during her pregnancy.
High protein keto diets may also speed up the rate of kidney failure in patients with kidney disease. The researchers add that the diet also increases the levels of “bad cholesterol” for many dieters.
Keto cure-all may have the opposite effect
The team notes that keto diets are often seen as a potential cure for heart disease and even cancer. However, while some studies show that ketogenic diets can starve cancer cells, the new report finds that carbohydrate restriction actually tilts a person’s diet toward more carcinogenic foods.
“In addition to the significant risks for kidney disease patients and pregnant women, keto diets are also risky for others, as these diets can increase LDL cholesterol levels and may increase the overall risk of chronic disease,” explains Crosby. “Although keto can reduce body weight in the short term, this approach is no more effective than other weight loss diets.”
Interestingly, the study authors found that a keto diet may reduce the frequency of seizures in some patients with drug-resistant epilepsy.
[ad_2]
Source link