Did you know that ketogenic diet could give you keto flu?

Your diet should not make you sick, weak, lethargic or unwell. If it does, you're going terribly wrong. Halt and take note of what's not right with keto diet.

Aishwarya Iyer | Updated: August 8, 2018 3:36 pm

Keto diet prevents cognitive decline. © Shutterstock

Everybody wants to lose weight in a healthy way. One of the super hit diets today is the ketogenic diet. A diet that was prescribed for epileptic patients in the 1920’s has now become a rage. While it is true that weight loss programmes seem to be a rage, it is always advisable to know about something completely before signing up for it. Did you know that this diet could give you keto flu?

What is the ‘keto flu’?
Keto flu is a collective term that is used to describe the illnesses that could be caused by this diet. They include:

-Insomnia
-Poor exercise tolerance
-Constipation
-Dizziness
-Nausea

What causes keto flu?
Like you already know, most of the energy your body needs, is acquired from carbohydrates. According to the National Diet and Nutrition Survey in the UK, on an average, people get half their energy from carbs. But following keto diet in the long run leads to nutritional deficiencies as it makes you cut down on carbs completely. This leads to various health issues including keto flu. Well, while it looks like a magic wand for all the weight issues that you have been complaining of so far, remember, keto diet isn’t designed to be followed on a long-term basis.

How does ketogenic diet work?
To put it simply, this is a high-fat, low-carb diet which existed even a century ago (the name didn’t, of course!). Originally created for people with diabetes and epilepsy back then, ketogenic diet re-emerged as a weapon against weight loss in the 21st century when researchers found that it had a similar effect on the body as fasting.

As you fast, your body resorts to the fat reserves in your liver for energy. When your body is without food it breaks down your stored liver fat into something called ketone bodies and burns them for energy. This process is known as ketosis. A Ketogenic Diet takes your body into this state of ketosis by curbing your carbohydrate intake. Sounds vague? Here is how it works: When you load up on carbs, the glucose in your blood increases, and as a result, your insulin levels also soar up. Insulin, in turn, prevents the fat that you eat, from entering your bloodstream. So, when you starve your body of carbohydrates, your insulin levels drop, and the fats that you consume get into the bloodstream, heading straight to the liver. Depleted of glucose, the easiest source of energy, your body breaks down the fat stored in your liver in order to keep going. A standard Keto Diet is composed of 75-80 per cent fat, 15-20 per cent protein and 5 per cent carbohydrate. To put things in perspective, most of our diets consist of 55 per cent carbohydrates, 30 per cent fat, and 15 per cent protein.

Image Source: Shutterstock

Published: August 8, 2018 12:49 pm | Updated:August 8, 2018 3:36 pm

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