There have been hundreds of books written about the Keto diet over the past couple of years. While there are some incredible benefits that one can obtain through the Keto diet, there can also be many risks. A Keto diet should ultimately be used as a therapeutic tool, not a forever way of eating.
Let’s talk about one of the #1 benefits of Keto. It can create metabolic flexibility. Once your body is burning off ketones, you’ll ultimately see fat loss. Great! BUT- you need to be doing clean carb cycling, as well. The goal is to always keep your body guessing (and flexible). Not to mention, there are times your body NEEDS more clean carbohydrates: Heavy training, different times during a women’s cycle, etc.
You might also wonder why so many people have great results on Keto, while others don’t. This is because our bodies all metabolize things differently. They also can respond to saturated fats differently. Some bodies don’t do well with high fat, some don’t do well with high protein. This is why it is crucial to check for markers, to check your glucose and insulin levels, if you are doing the Keto diet. You want to check how your body is responding to different macro nutrients, because it will be different for everyone.
The other consideration should be the quality of foods you are consuming. If you are finding that you are doing well on Keto, please remember that your meats should not be processed (deli meats, sausage, etc). You need to be looking for grass-fed meats, wild-caught fish, and pasture raised eggs. Dairy should be organic. Otherwise, you are consuming a lot of hormones, additives, and other chemicals you do not want to be consuming!
While Keto can be also help us get our health under control (and reduce inflammation!), it is VITAL that we continue to eat the rainbow. The BEST thing we can do for our health, and to create a strong immune system, is to eat the rainbow. We have to be getting a diverse amount of phytonutrients, which comes from our plant-based foods, to ensure a healthy gut microbiome. This is why you have to have clean carb days- to ensure you are getting the health benefits of all plants- even the ones that are considered high in carbohydrates.
There are numerous “diets” people try. I would recommend seeing what is right for you, and know that what is good for you now, might not be good for you in 3 years. The most important thing we can do is to eat whole foods, not processed, and to eat a variety of them!
Again, Keto can be a great tool when used correctly. Obviously, this is a huge topic, with a ton of research out there. Here are a couple of quick resources for you:
INTUITIVE FASTING: I love this book by Dr. Will Cole, an expert in the Functional Medicine world. He talks about cycling your body through a state of ketosis in a healthy and easy way.
PODCAST: Dhru Purohit interviews a couple of amazing doctors with some thoughtful insight regarding the Keto diet, and metabolic flexibility.