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The Skinny on Keto Diets

1. What is a Ketogenic Diet?

2. Keto Benefits

3. Keto Drawbacks

4. Effect on Muscle Development

5. Can a Keto Diet be Sustained Long Term?

1. What is a Ketogenic Diet?

Historically, low-carb diets were all the rage to lose weight quickly. However, when ketogenic diets gained popularity, more people started doing them without recognizing the costs associated with this type of program. The goal is to eat low-carb and high fat, with the theory being that your body will have to resort to burning excess fat for energy when there is no glycogen available for fuel. The body is put into a state called "ketosis" and turns fat into ketones in the liver to be used for energy by the brain. Ideally, one reduces their carbohydrate intake to 50g or less per day, with some limits on fat and protein. Consume at least 20% of calories from protein and 75% from fats such as meat, fish, eggs, nuts, and healthy oils. Carbs should be vegetables with very little fruit. Starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes are allowed in moderation. Many people sub out cauliflower rice and zucchini pasta to replace regular grains.

Blood sugar is lowered naturally and insulin resistance is increased, which leads to fewer cravings when the body moves away from using carbs for energy. Ketosis can take almost a week or two to achieve for someone starting out, so the diet would have to be done for a while before the fat burning engine reaches peak performance. This is not an overnight fix.

2. Keto Benefits

Many people sing the praises of being able to eat bacon and frying up eggs in bacon grease as part of their diet! However, people on the diet naturally avoid processed foods and fried foods to ensure they get maximum results on the plan. The reduction in sugar cravings is a major benefit of increasing your fat intake to feel more satisfied and full with each meal. Protein is also a satiating part of the diet. 

Losing a few dress sizes is always a great feeling. The keto diet is superior for losing weight in a short amount of time. However, the benefits of long term sustainability are mixed. Therefore, it's a great idea to think of keto as a short-term solution if you have an event coming up in 3-6 months. But as we'll see there are some challenges for maintaining the diet long term.

Many people on the keto diet practice intermittent fasting as an easy way to limit calorie intake. This is great for reducing calories to a specific eating window (ie 16 hours fasting, 8 hours eating). Since we are naturally fasting overnight, it can be easy to skip breakfast and just have a larger lunch and dinner. 

3. Keto Drawbacks

While it's not as difficult to eat out when you are doing a keto diet, the problem comes from other temptations in social settings where processed carbs are readily available. Avoiding junk food forever isn't always realistic. Sometimes, we crave pizza and a burger that's not wrapped in lettuce. The reason why so many people will give up the diet is due to the high level of restriction that is introduced with this diet. That means vitamin and mineral deficiencies when you are avoiding whole grains. Fatigue, dizziness, gastrointestinal discomfort has been noted because you are also limiting your fibre intake on this diet.

Some of the other side effects include irritability, nausea, brain fog, and loss of energy when you limit your carbohydrate intake--dubbed the "keto flu". For many people who are not candidates for keto, women require a higher carb intake during their menstrual cycle due to blood loss and fluctuating hormones. Women also require more carbohydrates compared to men for brain cognition, focus, and mental health. Even muscular development requires both protein and carbs to occur at a steady rate. 

The problem with keto is the same as any diet. As soon as you stop doing it, the weight creeps back on. The restrictive nature of the diet also accompanies muscle wastage from nutritional deficiencies. It's only a modest program to create and maintain muscle mass. 

Another issue is the higher consumption of saturated fat on this diet can affect serum lipid and cholesterol to be higher. This can impact heart health poorly. Kidneys are also more stressed because carbohydrates contain glycogen and water, which leads to dehydration. If you have underlying conditions like gallstones or kidney problems, this diet will exacerbate the issue.

If you have diabetes, a lower blood sugar may not be best for you. Please do not start this diet without checking with your doctor for contraindications with health conditions.

4. Effect on Muscle Development

Compared to a Standard Western Diet (think Canada's Food Guide, abbreviated to SWD), the keto diet is considered inferior for muscular development. In a 2021 study, researchers looked at participants eating a SWD vs. a keto diet over two months. They determined that the keto diet impacted hypertrophic muscular development 4x lower than a SWD. Fat mass decreased significantly on keto. 

In another paper that compared people who were regularly strength trained, the keto diet was also inferior in developing muscle, strength and power. While good for competition readiness in early stages, the keto diet should not be relied on for hypertrophic growth.

A 2020 paper looked at strength trained women over 8 weeks specifically and again noticed no improvement in muscle mass, though significant decreases in fat mass were noted on a keto diet. While power and strength increased, muscle mass was only maintained.

5. Can a Keto Diet be Sustained Long Term?

We don't have a lot of long term studies on ketogenic diets being maintained. If anything studies are showing that people who eat a lot of saturated fat have a higher mortality rate and it can significantly impact longevity. A 2018 paper demonstrated that keto diets can shorten a life span by 4 years due to nutritional deficiencies, lower plant food and increased animal protein intake. When people eat more plant based food, their mortality was noted to be higher.

Many people will give up a keto diet soon after their weight goals are reached. Maintaining the diet long term has negative effects due to the significant food restrictions required to stay on it. It's not fun to hang out with a person on any restrictive diet, let's be real! 

Keto Diets are Superior for Fat Loss, Inferior for Muscular Growth and Longevity

We don't believe that any restrictive diet should be done long term. Even our nutritional approach is based on moderation, flexible dieting, and macros that actually fit your lifestyle. Your food preferences matter when you are trying to figure out how to lose weight or build muscle. Health and longevity are our priority. Fad diets come and go, and all of them leave you feeling bitter in the end because they are unsustainable. 

People who do yo-yo dieting on a regular basis are negatively impacting their metabolism. Each time you need to do a greater restriction to get similar results to the previous time you did a diet. Unfortunately, sticking to a healthy diet long term may mean the results come slower but at least you'll be able to maintain it longer.

Women and men need muscle for longevity. That means you need to eat all foods in moderation. Cutting out carbs makes you less fun to hang out with. Let's not be a party pooper when we are on a quest for better health. 

We offer nutrition coaching, small group training and 1:1 training to help older individuals incorporate sustainable resistance and strength training into their lives.  Please call/text us at 1-825-945-7733, or fill out the online contact form today!