{"id":3855,"date":"2020-06-13T11:38:50","date_gmt":"2020-06-13T20:38:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/donovancarper.com\/?p=3855"},"modified":"2020-10-24T09:14:47","modified_gmt":"2020-10-24T18:14:47","slug":"keto-just-say-no","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.donovancarper.com\/index.php\/2020\/06\/13\/keto-just-say-no\/","title":{"rendered":"Keto Diet You Say? No Way! Current Research Findings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Think a keto diet is your ticket to long term health and body transformation? What does the research say? (Image credit: Pixabay<\/a> at Pexels<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Friends don\u2019t let friends do keto. At least, that is if the friends are concerned about long term effectiveness and safety when it comes to body composition and health. An exception? Maybe if that friend suffers from epilepsy, migraines, or other neurological disorders (more on that below). <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like a drug, people seize upon the next quick-fix diet craze. Books are sold, talk show interviews occur, magazines run articles and headlines, devoted social media sites pop-up. But through all this fanfare\u2026what does the research actually show concerning these diets? What does the research say about keto diets specifically? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the ketogenic diet?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The ketogenic diet is characterized by severe restriction of carbohydrates, generally to less than 50 grams per day, with calories coming predominantly from fat and protein (Barbanti, Fofi, Aurilia, Egeo, & Caprio, 2017). Lacking glucose for energy, fatty acids are removed from the fatty deposits within the body. These fatty acids are converted in the liver into ketone bodies, which then are utilized as energy as an alternative to glucose (sugar). A similar process in terms of using ketone bodies as a fuel source over glucose occurs during fasting (Barbanti et al., 2017). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The origins of the ketogenic diet: Not about \u2018dem abs!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The ketogenic diet originated approximately a century ago (Kossoff & Cervenka, 2020). A Mayo Clinic researcher was interested in reducing the frequency of seizures in patients with epilepsy. Patients, who at that time, had limited medication options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fasting had gained attention during this time period as having protective effects against seizure activity (Kossoff & Cervenka, 2020). Dr. Russel Wilder believed that by following a high-fat, low-carb diet, the body could be put into a physiological state similar to fasting and thereby, reduce seizure activity without having to regularly undergo the discomforts of fasting. While more recent research has challenged the notion that the body enters into a state similar to fasting while following the keto diet, Dr. Wilder was correct regarding the diet\u2019s ability to reduce seizure activity (Kossoff & Cervenka, 2020).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The diet became a popular treatment modality among those that suffered from seizure disorders until the advent of more recent anti-seizure medications\u2013medications that have proven less sedating and better tolerated than those of the past (Kossoff & Cervenka, 2020). However, keto diets have seen a resurgence in popularity as both research has mounted regarding its efficacy to prevent seizures, and patient advocacy groups lent support for the diet as a non-drug therapy for seizure disorders. Today, keto diets continue to be researched in different variations and are offered to patients around the world as a means of taking control of their lives to prevent seizures (Kossoff & Cervenka, 2020). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ketogenic diets have proven useful for treating seizures, and research is currently exploring efficacy for additional neurological conditions (Image credit: Robina Weermeijer<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Research is exploring the use of the ketogenic diet for other neurological disorders such as migraine headaches, Alzheimer\u2019s disease, brain tumors, autism, among others. The research is still in early stages in these areas (Barbanit et al., 2017). Nonetheless, there does appear to be promise for reduction in symptoms for a variety of neurological disorders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what does this have to do with the other 99.9% of the people who put themselves on the keto diet?<\/strong> Researchers who support the use of the ketogenic diet in their clinics caution that the diet is a medical therapy for specific medical conditions and those following the diet need to be monitored for side effects and various nutrient deficiencies (Kossoff & Cervenka, 2020). So why are so many people adopting the keto diet for weight loss, or for \u201chealth?\u201d What are the downsides? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ketogenic diet, diabetes, and weight loss\u2013a short term \u201cfix,\u201d long term problems<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Keto diets have proven effective in producing SHORT TERM<\/strong> improvements in body composition and promoting weight loss\u2026with an average weight loss of 5% of total body weight within 5-6 months (Fenasse & McEwen, 2019). Along with weight loss, improvements in insulin sensitivity, improved fasting glucose levels, and stability in blood sugars during the short term have also been demonstrated. However, the problem with all of this is that long term success rates with ketogenic diets is poor, with most people resuming their prior lifestyles and diets that led them into their poor states of health in the first place (Brouns, 2018); Fenasse & McEwen, 2019).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keto diet downsides and risks<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The keto diet not only has poor long term success rates as a treatment for obesity along with unproven long term effects on diabetes, there are additional downsides associated with the keto diet. Note, a number of these risks listed are from journal articles that FAVOR the use of keto diets for neurological conditions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n