There are dozens of popular diets out there, but one that has been especially well-liked recently is the ketogenic, or keto, diet. But, what is keto? The keto diet is a popular option among people looking for a very low carb diet for weight loss. The diet focuses on eating fats over carbs, and it shares similarities with other well-known diets like the Atkins diet.

But is the keto diet right for you? Here’s everything you should know before getting started.

The History of the Keto Diet

The keto diet has been around since the 1920s, but it’s never been more popular than it is right now. The diet was originally established to help people with epilepsy, as high-fat, low-carb diets are proven to help people who are prone to epileptic seizures, and it was especially helpful among children.

In modern times, the keto diet can still be used for epilepsy management, but it’s primarily used as a weight-loss strategy.

How the Keto Diet Works

When you eat, extra carbohydrates are stored as glycogen, a cluster of glucose, in your body. And when the temporary storage is full, the glycogen gets converted into fat. However, when your body’s glucose levels are low because you aren’t eating a lot of carbohydrates, it will use fat for energy instead of glucose.

When your body burns fat instead of glucose, it enters what is known as ketosis. While in ketosis, your body breaks down fat into ketones (also known as ketone bodies), which is an alternative fuel source to the glucose that it normally draws from first. Ketone bodies can either come from fat already stored in your body or directly from the food you consume. This leads to faster weight loss while still allowing you to eat high-fat foods.

Breaking Down the Keto Diet

The ketogenic diet doesn’t follow the food intake pyramid you likely learned in school. This high-fat diet requires you to focus on natural fats while avoiding carbohydrates almost entirely. Here is how your daily food intake should be broken down while on the keto diet.

• 75% dietary fats
• 20% protein
• 5% carbohydrates

If you follow the standard 2,000 calorie diet, that means eating a whopping 167 grams of dietary fat daily, about 100 grams of protein, and 50 grams or less of carbohydrates. There is a little wiggle room when it comes to carb intake, so don’t feel like you can never eat bread again, but it’s important to be strict about limiting carb-rich foods so you remain in ketosis.

Foods to Eat and Avoid While on the Keto Diet

When you start the keto diet, you’ll need to know the sorts of foods to eat so you can achieve ketosis. Here are foods you can incorporate into your eating plan in order to stay on the ketogenic diet.

Foods That Can Help Achieve & Maintain Ketosis

• Red meat
• Pork
• Chicken
• Turkey
• Fatty fish high in omega 3 fatty acids, such as salmon, trout, tuna, or mackerel
• Fatty meat
• Butter
• Cream
• Unprocessed cheese
• Nuts and seeds like almonds, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, or chia seeds
• Avocados (in moderation due to starch levels)
• Low-carb vegetables, such as tomatoes, onions, and peppers
• Extra virgin olive oil and avocado oil

Foods to Avoid While on the Keto Diet

• Sugary drinks like pop, juice, and smoothies
• Grains and starches
• Fruit, especially starchy fruits like bananas and plantains, jackfruit, prunes, and apples
• Beans and legumes
• Root vegetables and tubers
• Low-fat or “diet” products
• High-sugar sauces and condiments like barbecue sauce, ketchup, and honey mustard
• Alcohol
• Sugar-free variations of foods that are normally high in sugar

Substitutes for Carb-Rich Foods

• Pasta: Spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles
• Bread: Lettuce wraps, cloud bread
• Rice: Cauliflower rice
• Potato chips: Baked cheese chips
• Peas: Broccoli
• Bananas: Strawberries or raspberries (in moderation)
• Margarine: Butter, extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil
• Cow’s milk: Almond milk or other low-carb milk substitutes
• Candy: 90% dark chocolate, small amounts of low-starch fruit like berries

Health Benefits of the Keto Diet

A lot of people like the ketosis diet because of the benefits it can bring, including weight loss, reduction of symptoms associated with common diseases, and the ability to keep eating foods you love.

Faster Weight Loss

A lot of people choose to diet in order to lose weight, and the keto diet is popular for this because it helps people feel fuller longer than other restricted diets. It can also lead to faster weight loss than other diets, which is another reason for its popularity. However, it’s important to stay hydrated while on the diet because it’s common for people to mistake water loss for weight loss, and dehydration while on the keto diet can result in health problems.

You Get to Eat Foods You Love

One of the best parts of doing the ketogenic diet is that it encourages you to eat high-fat foods you already love. Foods like steak, guacamole, salmon, butter, and whole milk are all great foods to help you achieve and maintain ketosis. While you aren’t able to eat everything you may want to, keto lets you continue enjoying a lot of the foods you already love.

Reduced Symptoms of Other Diseases

As previously mentioned, keto was originally established to help people with epilepsy and reduce the risk of seizures, but it can also be helpful to people with other diseases. For instance, people with Type 2 diabetes or prediabetes can use the ketogenic diet to help manage their blood sugar levels and lose weight. However, if you have type 1 diabetes, it’s best to consult a physician before starting, as the keto diet can increase risks of things such as dyslipidemia and hypoglycemia.

Keto can also be helpful for people with heart disease, as it can help lower blood pressure, improve HDL cholesterol levels, and lower triglycerides. Similarly, it can also reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome, which is associated with cardiovascular disease.

Potential Risks of the Keto Diet

The keto diet can be a great choice for some people, but it isn’t without its risks. Before starting any diet, you should talk to your doctor or a dietitian to figure out if the diet is a good option for your lifestyle, health goals, and needs.

You Can Get the “Keto Flu”

When first starting the ketogenic diet, some people may feel like they’re coming down with an illness. This is what’s known as the keto flu. It’s important to note that this is not an actual flu, but it does share symptoms, which causes it to lend its name.

Symptoms of the keto flu can include:

• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Constipation
• Headache
• Weakness
• Muscle cramping
• Dizziness
• Stomach pain
• Muscle soreness

Fortunately, keto flu symptoms are temporary. They typically only last a few days, though some people may experience them for longer.

Here are things you can do to help avoid keto flu or relieve symptoms you may be feeling.

• Hydrate: Water is essential for helping your body stay healthy, and staying hydrated during keto is extra important because the glycogen in your blood is being reduced, thus reducing water.
• Light Exercise: Common exercises like biking, weightlifting, and running can cause fatigue, muscle cramps, and discomfort in the stomach, especially during the first week after starting keto. Consider doing gentler exercises during the first week of keto, then come back to the more difficult exercises later.
• Consume Electrolytes: While you’re on the keto diet, insulin levels decrease with the amount of glucose in your blood, and as insulin levels lower, the kidneys expel excess sodium from your body. Because of this, you need to replace these electrolytes, which can be done by adding more salt to your food, drinking sugar-free sports drinks, and eating foods that are high in potassium or magnesium.
• Get Enough Sleep: Fatigue is a common side effect of the keto diet, so if you’re experiencing this, make sure you’re getting enough sleep. Reduce blue light exposure in the evenings, reduce caffeine intake, or try strategies to help encourage sleep, like drinking teas or diffusing relaxing oils.
• Make Sure You’re Eating Enough: Your body needs fuel to keep working, and cutting out carbs means cutting out an easy source of energy. While on the keto diet, make sure you’re getting enough food every day to help ensure you feel your best while in ketosis.

Keto Can Be Difficult For Your Kidneys

The keto diet removes glycogen from the bloodstream, reducing the amount of water in your blood. This can also lead to a loss of electrolytes, which can put additional stress on your kidneys. This is why it’s so important to stay hydrated and consume electrolytes while on the keto diet, as well as why it isn’t recommended for people with kidney disease. People may also be prone to kidney stones while on the ketogenic diet.

Your Blood Pressure and Blood Sugar Can Drop

In relation to being bad for your kidneys, reduced water in your blood can cause a drop in blood pressure, which can lead to dizziness, lightheadedness, or even fainting, especially when standing up too fast.

Similarly, blood sugar drops can also be encountered while on the keto diet, which can be dangerous for people with diabetes. Low blood sugar symptoms include things like weakness, shaking, sweating, elevated heart rate, and dizziness.

Weight Loss Can Be Difficult to Maintain

There have been numerous studies that have found people who start and stop diets end up regaining half or more of the weight they lost while on the diet, and keto is no exception to that. If you’re interested in keto for weight loss, you need to commit to long-term changes because there is no halfway point when it comes to ketosis: you’re either in it or you aren’t. Consulting a dietitian can be a good way to plan meals and discuss future options for long-term keto.

Is the Keto Diet Right For You?

While the keto diet has evolved from a medical treatment for epilepsy into a mainstream weight-loss strategy, it remains a complex and demanding lifestyle change. The promise of rapid weight loss, improved energy, and potential benefits for certain medical conditions makes it appealing to many, but it’s not without its challenges. Whether you’re drawn to keto for health reasons or to shed pounds, it’s crucial to understand what is keto at its core: a high-fat, low-carb diet that shifts your body into a fat-burning state called ketosis. Knowing this can help you make informed decisions about whether keto is the right fit for your goals and lifestyle.

If you’re interested in starting a keto diet for weight loss, our registered dietitians can help you take the first steps, come up with meal plans, and provide support. Book your first appointment today!

What is the Keto Diet? Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How Long Does it Take to Achieve Ketosis?

When first starting the keto diet, it will take most people two to four days for their bodies to get into a ketotic state, however, some people can take a week or more. Reducing your carb intake to less than 50 grams per day can help achieve ketosis faster. Factors like age, physical activity level, metabolism, sleep health, and stress levels can also play a part in how long it takes to achieve ketosis.

Why Do Some People Get Keto Flu?

Because the ketogenic diet requires you to cut out nearly all carbs, people who were previously eating a lot of carbohydrates will have a more drastic shift in their diets. This shift can cause them to experience keto flu.

Why Should You Avoid “Diet” and Sugar-Free Foods While on Keto?

Sugar-free and “diet” foods tend to have refined carbs, unhealthy fats, artificial sweeteners, and other additives that can get in the way of ketosis. When considering eating a “diet” food item, make sure you look at the ingredients to determine if it will hinder ketosis or not.

What’s the Difference Between the Keto Diet and the Atkins Diet

The keto and Atkins diets have similar basis when it comes to reducing carb intake, but they also have key differences. One of the biggest differences between the two is the amount of carbs allowed. The Atkins diet has different phases where you are allowed to have set amounts of total carbs per day, while on the keto diet, your goal is to always stay below 50 grams. The Atkins diet also allows a wider variety of food.

Why is Keto Helpful for Type 2 Diabetes but Not Type 1?

While both diseases are diabetes, type 1 and type 2 diabetes are quite different. The main difference between the two is that people with type 1 diabetes can’t produce their own insulin, and the keto diet naturally reduces insulin levels in the blood. Because of this, it’s essential for people with type 1 diabetes to consult their doctor before seeing a dietitian for managing diabetes.