The ketogenic diet (keto diet) contains approximately 90-99% of calories from fat and protein and only 1-10% from carbohydrates.Eating this way may provide some benefits for weight loss or reducing the number of seizures.
However, as a new study has found, following the keto diet provides health benefits for only a short period of time - 1-2 weeks - after which its negative effects begin to appear.
What is the keto diet?
The ketogenic diet (or keto diet for short) is a low-carb, high-fat diet that may have some health benefits.
More than 20 studies have shown that this type of diet can help you lose weight and improve your health.Ketogenic diets may also have some benefit against diabetes, brain cancer, epilepsy and Alzheimer's disease.
The ketogenic diet is a very low carbohydrate (no more than 1-10%) and high fat diet that has many similarities to the Atkins diet and the low carbohydrate diet.Following this diet leads to a strong reduction in carbohydrates and their replacement with fats and proteins.This greatly reduces the body's use of carbohydrates and causes the body to use fat as its main source of energy.If there is little glucose in the body, the liver turns fat into fatty acids and ketone bodies.
When the amount of ketone bodies in the body increases, ketosis occurs and the brain begins to use these ketone bodies instead of carbohydrates.When this happens, the body becomes incredibly efficient at burning fat for energy.
The ketogenic diet can significantly reduce blood glucose and insulin levels.This, combined with the higher amount of ketones, shows some beneficial benefits for the body.
However, the keto diet can be potentially dangerous for people with type 1 diabetes.
Benefits of the keto diet
A study of 63 people created two groups: a low-fat diet group or a low-carb diet group.The group of people following a low-fat diet had a limited calorie intake.This study continued for 12 months.
The low-carb group lost more weight, 7.3 percent of total body weight, than the low-fat group, which lost 4.5 percent.The difference was statistically significant at 3 and 6 months, but not at 12 months.At the end of the experiment no difference in weight was found between the groups of people.
It is worth noting that the low-carb group (keto diet) had elevated blood levels of triglycerides and HDL, but other biomarkers were similar between the groups.
If we analyze the 23 known human clinical studies evaluating the effect of low-carbohydrate diets (keto diets), we can formulate the general conclusions of these studies.Most studies obtained statistically significant differences in weight loss (always in favor of low-carb diets).
There are a few other factors worth noting:
- Low-carb diets often result in 2-3 times more weight loss than low-fat diets.In some cases there was no significant difference.
- In most cases, calories were limited in the low-fat groups, while the low-carb groups could eat as much as they wanted.
- When all groups of subjects reduced calories, low-carb diets still showed greater reductions in body weight, although this was not always significant.
- There was only one study in which the low-fat diet group lost more weight, although the difference was small (0.5 kg) and not statistically significant.
- In some studies, weight loss was greater in the initial phase.People then begin to regain weight over time and after stopping the keto diet.
- When scientists looked at the amount of abdominal fat (bad visceral fat), low-carb diets had a clear advantage in reducing this type of fat.
Two of the main reasons why low-carb diets (keto diets) are so effective for weight loss are the high protein content of the food and the appetite-suppressing effects of this eating style.This results in a drastic reduction in calorie intake.
Harmful effects of the keto diet
Clinical studies indicate that the keto diet can improve a person's health in a short period of time (up to 12 months) by reducing the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and, consequently, reducing inflammation caused by fat cells.
A study conducted at Yale University found that the positive and negative effects of diet are linked to the behavior of immune cells called gamma delta T cells (γδ T cells), tissue-specific cells that reduce the risk of diabetes and inflammation.
Gamma delta T cells are immune T cells that have the characteristic T cell receptor (TCR) on their surface.Most T cells are αβ (alpha beta) T cells with a TCR made up of two glycoprotein chains called α (alpha) and β (beta) TCR chains.In contrast, gamma delta (γδ) T cells have a TCR consisting of a γ (gamma) chain and a δ (delta) chain.This group of T cells tends to be less abundant – approximately 4-10% of all T cells – than αβ T cells, but has the greatest abundance in the intestinal mucosa, within a population of lymphocytes known as intraepithelial lymphocytes (IELs).
Gamma-delta immune T cells are characterized by a number of features that place them within the boundaries of the more evolutionarily primitive innate immune system, which provides a rapid response to a variety of pathogens, and the adaptive immune system, where lymphocytes coordinate their actions much more slowly.At the same time, T (γδ) cells have the ability to have long-term memory to respond even more quickly to pathogens when encountered again in the future.
The keto diet leads to an increased presence of immune T cells (γδ) and their depletion in adipose tissue
The keto diet causes the body to burn fat, said study author Dr. Vishwa Deep Dixit of the Yale School of Medicine.When glucose levels in the body decrease due to low carbohydrate content in food, the body behaves as if it is fasting, even if it is not, and begins burning fat instead of carbohydrates.
This causes the body to use β-hydroxybutyrate (beta-hydroxybutyric acid) to produce ATP and reduces inflammation mediated by NLRP3, a cytosolic protein involved in the activation of the inflammatory interleukins IL-1b and IL-18.
The process of reducing carbohydrates in foods, in turn, begins to produce ketone bodies (ketones) as an alternative source of fuel.When the body burns ketone bodies, protective gamma delta T cells spread throughout the body.And the number of these protective immune cells in adipose tissue decreases dramatically.As γδ T cells in adipose tissue decline, the level of inflammation previously contained in these cells begins to increase.Inflammation is known to stimulate the accumulation of fat cells.
Furthermore, mice lacking γδ immune T cells showed impaired glucose homeostasis, leading to increased blood glucose levels.
The keto diet reduces the risk of diabetes and inflammation and also improves the body's metabolism, scientists noted.After a week on the keto diet, the mice showed reduced blood sugar and inflammation.
But when the body is in this “starve-not-starve” mode for a long enough time (more than 1-2 weeks), fat accumulation occurs at the same time as its breakdown, the scientists found.When the mice continued to eat a high-fat, low-carb diet, they consumed more fat than their bodies could burn.And then the signs of diabetes and obesity began to increase.
Side effects of the keto diet
Although the ketogenic diet is safe for healthy people, you may experience some initial side effects as your body adjusts to the new diet.
This presentation is often called the keto flu and usually ends within a few days.The keto flu includes low body energy and impaired mental function, increased hunger, sleep problems, nausea, digestive upset, and decreased exercise performance.
To minimize this problem, you can start with a low-carb diet for the first few weeks.This can train your body to burn more fat before completely eliminating carbohydrates from your diet.
The keto diet can also change the body's water and mineral balance, so adding extra salt to meals or taking a mineral supplement can help.Try taking 3,000-4,000 mg of sodium (salt), 1,000 mg of potassium, and 300 mg of magnesium daily to reduce side effects.