The basics of the keto diet involve focusing on a meal plan high in fats and low in carbohydrates. Carbs are what our bodies typically burn for energy, but without an abundance of carbs, our body instead will burn fat for energy—helping the dieter lose weight.
However, these basics are well known and may be why you’re considering the keto diet in the first place. So to help you really prepare, here are seven things you may not have known about the keto diet that you’ll want to consider.
Keto Only Kickstarts Weight Loss
Many people start the keto diet because it promises to help them lose weight, and this promise gains credence when many people find themselves enjoying rapid results in the beginning. This is because the low-carbohydrate diet makes you feel fuller and decreases your appetite, thereby reducing your caloric intake. When you accompany a keto diet with increased energy expenditure, you can further increase weight loss.
While this all sounds like a positive if your goal is to lose weight, it’s important that you know these results level off. Many people end up getting discouraged and quitting keto because these rapid results don’t last. It makes them feel like the diet has become ineffective or that they’re doing something wrong. Then, if people do quit the keto diet, they usually notice some weight coming right back as the body rebuilds its glycogen stores.
Ultimately, a keto diet will help you lose weight quickly, but persistence will be key in ensuring the weight you’ve lost stays off.
You Will Need To Adapt Your Meal Planning
So what do you need to consider to commit to keto? Sticking to a specialized diet like this can be difficult, so you should try to prepare methods to make the commitment easier. For example, as you get started, you may feel restricted by what you’re “allowed” to eat. This is probably because you don’t have much experience or many examples of what a keto-friendly meal can look like.
To remedy this, you can use services like Eat Clean that provide healthy food delivery to Fort Lauderdale and many other locations. With these meal prep deliveries, you can get a meal that is 100 percent keto friendly and develop your skills cooking keto meals by following the preparation instructions.
Science Hasn’t Proven Keto’s Overall Efficacy
Another thing that draws many people to the keto diet is the promise of it helping with certain health conditions. While a keto diet has helped resolved health concerns for many people, definitive research on its efficacy is lacking. Therefore, you should consider any healing claims about the keto diet as theories rather than scientifically proven facts.
However, this is not to say that science hasn’t proven certain benefits of a keto diet. Research has found that the keto diet can lead to improvements in insulin and blood-glucose markers from the cutting out of carbohydrates. However, the advantages of improving insulin and blood-glucose markers will eventually diminish as your body gets used to the diet. This is important that you know if you’re turning to the keto diet to improve your own health conditions.
Keto Restricts Food Groups
Since you’ll be avoiding foods high in carbohydrates, you will need to cut back on major food groups. For example, grains are out of the question, and you must severely limit fruit, dairy, and many vegetables to maintain ketosis.
While doing so increases the efficacy of the keto diet, it also makes it difficult to consume some key nutrients in those food groups. Therefore, many practitioners of keto will include small amounts of low-carb fruits like berries or non-starchy vegetables like broccoli in their diet. Such exceptions are things you may want to consider incorporating into your own keto diet to ensure you consume sufficient and balanced nutrients.
Keto Isn’t as Simple as It Seems
In a similar vein, the concept of a keto diet can seem deceptively simple; restrict carbs and maintain ketosis, right? This apparent simplicity draws in a lot of potential dieters who end up quitting or feeling worse because they don’t maintain a balanced ketogenic diet.
Before you start your keto journey, you should talk with a dietician or your doctor to ensure you have a well-formulated diet plan as you start the keto process.
You Might Get the Keto Flu
One thing you may not have known about the keto diet is that there is a phenomenon called the “keto flu.” It’s not uncommon for people to report that their first few weeks of keto have affected them poorly. They might have experienced constipation, fatigue, headaches, lightheadedness, and nausea.
These entry-phase symptoms are often a result of your body trying to cope with and adapt to your dietary change and will eventually pass. In the meantime, ensure you stay well-hydrated and add extra salt to your food to soothe the symptoms. The keto flu is very common, and being aware of it may help you persevere rather than quit your diet thinking something has gone terribly wrong.
Keto Might Change How You View Food
Lastly, expect your views on food and your relationship with it to change as you experience life with a keto diet. For instance, you might become more focused on the transactional nature of food—what you can get from it—and view it only as a necessity. However, this might make it harder to enjoy and find satisfaction in the food you eat. Another potential risk is developing anxiety about mealtimes because you’ve gotten used to worrying about what you can and cannot eat.
Keep these potential perspectives in mind as you begin your keto journey. Remember that a keto diet can help you achieve certain goals of yours, but your mental health and overall satisfaction are also very important. Prioritize your body’s needs, adjusting your diet as necessary.
As you start your keto diet, keep these seven aspects and tips in mind. A bit of knowledge beforehand can help you ensure you make the most out of your ups and downs with the diet. Understanding the full picture, such as knowing to expect issues like the keto flu and knowing which kinds of goals you should be setting, will help you find success.
