The ketogenic diet: a personal experience | Health



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The ketogenic diet is one of the last follies to hit the world of nutrition and weight loss. As usual, this diet has been popularized by celebrities and influencers.

The diet is simple: cut the carbohydrates in an extremely small portion of your meals, increase the protein level and consume as much fat as you want, and you lose weight at an incredible rate.

Once your body has ketosis, there are also several health benefits: it goes from burning sugar to burning fat as fuel.

As a person who struggles with a tight schedule to eat well and exercise, I decided to give it a go.

And here is my point of view on the keto diet.

I've lost about 10 pounds in six weeks, which is not bad for my setting.

ROUGH TOT DAYS

The first three days were difficult as my body went from burning carbohydrates to burning fats. My energy and weakness was low because the carbohydrate stores in my liver and my muscles were exhausted.

But then I went into ketosis, my energy was normalized and my focus and focus improved.

Your body normally pulls on the digested sugar and then stored for energy. Once this is insufficient to satisfy his energy needs, he begins to burn stored fat. The breakdown of stored fat leads to energy-rich molecules called ketone bodies and their formation process, ketogenesis. It is these ketone bodies on which my body of carbohydrate now depends to feed.

My liver produced ketone bodies from fat as a source of alternative energy to glucose. My brain uses less glucose to burn ketones. So every time my blood sugar dropped, I was not starving or having trouble concentrating.

As I ate less carbohydrates and mainly fat and protein, I felt full for longer periods. Insulin did not precipitate in the blood to lower the high glucose levels after a high carbohydrate meal, which resulted in a too low rate drop, which resulted in a feeling of lack of energy and hunger. Although Keto supporters say you do not limit calories, I ended up eating less anyway.

FAT EXPENSES

In order to follow the high-fat diet, keto practitioners add butter and oil to many meals. Even the coffee. You can eat tons of bacon, fried foods and all the eggs and greasy steaks you want. The fat is supposed to push you and keep you in a state of ketosis.

Cheating on the diet and having more than 25 to 50 g of carbohydrates a day makes you get out of the ketosis and you have to start from scratch. So no bread, rice, pasta, very little fruit and small portions. Even some vegetables such as onions should be limited because of their carbohydrate content. The juices and sugary drinks are clearly out.

The diet is a dream for people who love meat. But you lose what you usually eat with your fats and proteins: carbohydrates. This is replaced by vegetables, breads, cookies and pancakes.

The diet was particularly difficult in Jamaica because our usual "lunch boxes" are high in carbohydrates. A lot of rice, "food" and sauces. The fried chicken is rolled in flour, sauce is poured over everything and the staff of the kitchen shop looks at you in a fun way when you only ask for vegetables. Many times, when you say no carbohydrates, just salad, you end up with a box full of pasta.

My dear assistant, Coleen, took the initiative to go to the store to buy flour when I refused to buy it because "cyaa soup cooked without dumpling".

I had to constantly defend my diet because the Jamaicans were convinced that "he is the only man who is as big as you". And then there was Easter with bread and cheese, followed quickly by the mango season. Bananas were missing, and from time to time I felt hungry for carbohydrates, and I got rid of ketosis if I did too much.

CARB INTOLERANCE

But aside from discipline, the main reason I could stay for a while on the keto diet was because I developed carbohydrate intolerance, bloating, and severe diarrhea every time I ate carbohydrates. It is a side effect of the keto that some people experience when they reintroduce carbohydrates into their diet, due to changes in the gut and its bacteria during the carbohydrate deficiency period.

Eventually, the requirements were too much and I reintroduced carbohydrates but stuck to the low carbohydrate diet.

Despite the benefits of the keto diet on cholesterol levels and seizures for health, I thought I could survive by eating almost like an ordinary person.

The supposed metabolic advantage of the keto diet compared to a low-calorie diet has never been proven, although some people still claim that when you have ketosis you will burn more fat. The truth is that calories matter. Keto does not make you burn more fat than anyone eating the same calories. Do not forget that every time someone tells you to use more butter and eat more fat calories in order to lose more weight during your diet.

The ketogenic diet is effective because you consume fewer calories because you are full longer. The initial weight loss is largely due to the water and carbohydrates stored in the muscles and liver. You will lose fat, but it will still be necessary to eat fewer calories than necessary to perform your daily activities.

Overall, the keto diet is recommended because it is based on sound scientific principles, but pay attention to self-proclaimed gurus regurgitating what other uninformed gurus gush forth without supporting data.

Dr. Alfred Dawes is a general surgeon, laparoscopic and weight loss specialist. Member of the American College of Surgeons; Chief Medical Officer of Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital; former president of the Jamaica Medical Doctors Association. Email your comments to [email protected] and [email protected]

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