What They Don't Tell You About Keto

The ketogenic diet is all the rage within the American society currently. The ketogenic diet is an extremely low carb diet that puts your body in a state called ketosis. “Ketosis is a natural state for the body, when it is almost completely fueled by fat. This is normal during fasting, or when on a strict low-carb diet.”

Most of America is obese to begin with and the country's health is ranked 37 out 0f 191 so it’s no wonder why more and more people are looking for solutions to the affliction. While the keto diet seems to have the solution in many aspects claiming to be able to solve problems such as obesity, diabetes(with restriction), mental health, focus, endurance, and epilepsy there are other aspects that aren’t mentioned.

The keto diet is a little expensive. It consists of buying primarily fresh vegetables and protein, being mindful of added sugars and carbs, and having to go shopping each week to ensure the produce doesn’t begin to rot in the crisper. There are some things that you could buy frozen such as broccoli and cauliflower. Then there are things such as safflower oil, olive oil, and coconut oil that all cost much more than average vegetable oil and for a less amount of product. There’s also baking products such as almond flour, psyllium husk powder, xanthan gum, and flavored stevia that are also ridiculously priced.

Sugar withdrawal is not mentioned because it is temporary. In my opinion it should be well known. Sugar withdrawal is extremely hard for a lot of people. It is everywhere, cereal, candy, bread, cake, coffee, creamers, fruit, and oatmeal. According to The American Heart Association in 2005, the average American consumed about 20 teaspoons of sugar per day. BrainMD states that sugar has a similar effect on the brain to powerful illegal drugs. It activates part of the brain that is associated with motivation and pleasure, the same part of the brain that is activated with other drugs such as cocaine and methamphetamines. And just like other drugs, you do get withdrawals but the good news is it’s only for a few days then the cravings should subside.

You have to change your entire diet around because the keto diet is an extreme low carb diet. You have to watch and limit everything you eat. There are certain things you wouldn’t think about whether you could have or not because they're not typically mentioned, like milk. The goal of the keto diet is to keep your total carb intake of the day below 20 grams of carbohydrates. There is a system used to take the carbs and subtract the grams of fiber to equal how many total carbs you intake. However, with some foods there are high amount of carbs with no fiber, such as milk. An eight-ounce glass of two percent milk has 13g of carbohydrates with no fiber. With one glass of milk you’ve spent most of your day's carbohydrates. It’s the same with other foods as well such as yogurt, ice cream, potatoes, corn, fruits, fruit juices, grains, oats, legumes, and beans. All these things you would have to avoid.

This next part you probably have heard of, the keto flu. On your journey to ketosis, you go through what is called the keto flu. Despite the name it’s not contagious, and there isn’t really much you can do except tough it out. Again this is another thing that is temporary and is a milestone in the diet. The keto flu will normally hit within days three to five of the diet. Symptoms normally include tired, headache, easily annoyed, and hard time concentrating. There are a few more symptoms. According to the Diet Doctor, you may also get dizzy, nauseous, muscle cramps, and sugar cravings. This happens during the transition into ketosis where your body starts burning the fat for energy instead of glucose. Like any sickness it is different for everyone, but there is a way to get past it. The Diet Doctor states to increase your water and salt level since that is primarily hindering you.

Other parts of the diet are frequently mentioned. Weight loss is primary but there are also comments from people getting their Type Two diabetes under control and using less insulin, higher energy, and more focus. All very good things to take note of. All these were known for long-term dieters but it came as a shock to me that there is so much that isn’t mentioned. When initially starting the keto diet people typically think they only have to give up bread, cakes, and sugars, things like milk and beans don’t necessarily come to mind. While the keto diet does allow you to make and try new things, there’s a lot to it that you should be made aware of.

I do want to make a note: This was not written to through you off track of the diet you are looking into starting it. I was just surprised when I found out a few of these things on my own. Another thing is the Diet Doctor does offer many recipes that are low-carb and even has a two-week keto challenge if you are interested. #notsponsored