3 reasons to avoid the Keto Diet

In this piece, we’ll discuss why the keto diet is not realistic and practical for someone as a lifestyle. Before we start, let’s just quickly recap what is keto diet is- A keto is basically a high fat, moderate protein, and low carbohydrate diet. A ratio of a typical keto diet is 75% fat, 20% protein, and 5% carbohydrates.

Let’s understand the mechanism of a keto diet :-

Generally, our body uses glucose for energy which comes from carbohydrates. In Keto diet, we shift our metabolism from carbohydrate as source of energy to fat as a source of energy.

When there is an absence of carbohydrate in the body and no glucose is available, then a compound is created from fat called ketones, which used a source of energy. The keto diet has spoiled the image of carbohydrates, as the claim is that carbohydrates stores fat.

Here are 3 reasons as to why one would avoid the Keto diet:

1) Complexity - 75% to 80% of the keto diet comprises of fat. Now, there are four types of fat, the healthy fats are Monounsaturated and Polyunsaturated fats and unhealthy fats are Saturated fats and Trans fats. The first problem one would encounter in a keto diet to properly balance all the four types of fat.

Another thing you must realize is that trans fat is known to cause heart problems, so, it is absolutely non-negotiable to eliminate trans fat from not only keto diet but any diet that you follow.

Another problem is that it is very rare to find a food that only has a single macronutrient. Any food will generally have all three macronutrients like fats, protein and carbohydrates. The biggest challenge is to find foods that will enable you to stay within the required macronutrient ratio.

Green leafy vegetables

is

absolutely a must during a keto diet

2) Anti-Social- Another problem with the Keto diet is that it hampers your social life because carbohydrates are everywhere. Imagine going out with your friends for dinner and/or getting a sudden birthday cake surprise on your birthday, these are few occasions you cannot avoid carbohydrates and a give a lame excuse that eating a small piece of cake will kick you out of ketosis.

3) Sustainability - If the idea is to stick to a keto diet for a short period of time and return to your regular diet, then it is totally pointless to venture into a keto diet. Ask yourself if you can do a keto diet for the next ten to fifteen years? Yes some people can, but not everyone, and it may be impractical to do so

Concluding remarks:-

Carbohydrate is not the culprit but a sedentary lifestyle and spillover of carbohydrates can make you store fat. You can definitely lose weight if you manage and manipulate your carbohydrates and do a fair amount of weight training and cardio and stay in caloric deficit. For e.g, remove simple carbohydrates like sugar, white bread from your diet and include complex carbohydrates like oats and quinoa.

We all have certain commitments and stress in our personal and professional life, and introducing a keto diet will further compound it. And also remember the initial phase of keto diet is very strenuous, you'll have immense cravings for carbohydrates

Fitness is something which you want to be able to make a part of life, and only then you'll be able to sustain it. For sustainable fitness lifestyle, you have to add certain training and diet protocols that adjust and set with your day-to-day life. Keto may not be one of them.