Does the Ketogenic Diet Work?

The ketogenic diet also known as the keto diet will only work if you keep below your daily calorie allowance the same as you need to with any other diet.

In other words the ketogenic diet works providing you stay under your daily calorific allowance so that you’re burning off more than you are ingesting.

For some people it may be a case of just moving the goalposts from one diet to another because you still have to maintain and control your calories limit.

Calorie burn

Many people go onto the keto diet blindly thinking they can eat big chunks of cheese, butter and cream and daily fry ups. You can’t, this is a myth which you may find out the hard way!

You need to burn off more calories each day than you are eating otherwise the diet won’t work and that goes for ALL diets otherwise you are wasting your time.

Let’s say for example your calorie maximum each day is 2100 calories and you eat 2200 calories, your body will then store the excess 100 calories as fat as it has been unable to use up the extra 100 calories through burn off.

The claims and the hype around being able to eat cheese, fried bacon, eggs and sausage in butter and fat are true along with burgers, cream and oils providing you don’t exceed your calorific daily limit.

This diet will work no less and no more than any other diet that works for any individual.

All diets will work to some extent however far-fetched they may be, providing you keep below your maximum allowance per day.

Different diets might work for different people easier so each to their own.

It is simple as that. You can’t eat as much fat and fry up foods in fat along with cheese and cream as you wish otherwise you’ll become overweight.

A lot of people who embark on the ketogenic diet are doing so because their current diet or daily food intake is not working and are eating more than they are burning off which comes down to the age-old saying less in more out.

Why does the keto diet fail?

A fundamental fact as to why so many people fail after trying the ketogenic diet is because people don’t realise they still have to monitor and control their daily calorie allowance and keep below the level of your own bodies fat storing and fat burning limits.

If for example your daily maximum is 1900 calories and you are currently ingesting 2500 calories per day then you’re storing 600 excess calories per day over your limit.

So then if you move to the ketogenic diet there is a good chance you will be eating the same amount of daily calories and therefore not lose any weight or worse start storing up the excess calories unless you control it and count them.

For this person they would have to eat 1900 calories or less a day on the ketogenic diet just the same as any other diet they go on.

If you search for information on this diet will see some amazing claims and statements about how much fat you can eat and burn off an impressive 10Ibs a week BUT not say much about the calorie counting and the controlling of those calories you must follow.

And it’s as simple as that.

Types of ketogenic diet

There are three types of ketogenic diet, commonly known as dirty keto, clean keto and super clean keto.

Dirty keto diet foodstuffs would be processed and low quality products usually in packets or tins off-the-shelf.

Clean keto would be maybe a mixture of normal fats and high-quality fats but no processed food.

Superclean keto would be just pure food items such as high-quality oils like rape seed oil, olive oil, coconut oil, avocados, nut and oily fish and Mediterranean type foods.

There is also a vegan version of the keto diet.

What do you eat on a ketogenic diet?

Low carbohydrate vegetables

Non-processed cheeses

Avocados

Nuts

Seafoods

Plain yoghurt

Olives

Berries

Fish

Meat

Poultry

Eggs

This is just a short list of what you can eat on the keto diet.

The aim of the diet to keep your fat intake high combined with protein with a very small amount of carbohydrate foods. No more than 20g of carbs a day.

There are side-effects such as nutrient deficiencies, constipation and low blood pressure.

Keto diet is not safe for those with serious medical conditions and that you should consult your doctor first.

Does the keto diet really work?

Reports have shown along with experienced feedback you will find online that the keto diet does work providing you keep below your daily maximum calorie intake.

How much can weight can you lose?

This depends on your input.

Some people report a loss of 10 pounds per week whilst realistically you should not have a problem with two pounds loss a week.

What is keto flu?

For many people who have been eating a diet rich in sugar and carbohydrates to suddenly come off that food and moved to a keto diet can cause the body and the mind to react and can enhance cravings for carbohydrates and sugars and can lead some to complete failure.

During the first week or so there is a common side-effect known as keto flu which can include upset stomach, headaches, a bad taste in the mouth including bad breath, exhaustion and fatigue, confusion and lack of concentration and focus.

Exercise

To get the most out of the keto diet some moderate exercise should be carried out each day.

Disclaimer

You must consult your GP or doctor before changing your diet or going on a keto diet.

This article is for information purposes only as a brief introduction to the subject and it is essential that more in-depth research must be undertaken into the full diet and all that is involved before you start on any high-fat low carbohydrate diet.

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