While the ketogenic diet has been praised by celebrities across the world as being the ultimate weight loss formula, are there any adverse effects that your body experiences whilst on the diet?
Being on the diet entails that you enter a state known as ketosis, which is when the body burns fat in order to generate energy, as opposed to the glucose found in carbohydrates. You create ketosis by eating a lot of healthy fat and you limit your intake of carbohydrates, as well as consuming a moderate amount of protein.
The diet proved to be a good source of treating patients who had epilepsy. While in ketosis, patients had experienced a drastic reduction in seizures. Health experts are studying the diet to determine what other health benefits it has and if it is, indeed, possible that the diet can be used as a treatment for cancer and Parkinson’s disease.
What Are The Benefits?
Weight Loss
Since you drastically reduce the intake of carbs, your body burns fat to produce energy, thereby resulting in massive weight loss. When you reduce your carb intake, you also cut-down on the amount of sugar you consume, which results in a steady supply of energy.
Disease Prevention
Health experts have proven that patients who suffered from epilepsy had reduced the frequency of their seizure when they went on the ketogenic diet. Some patients had reported that their seizures had ceased completely. Individuals who have type 2 diabetes saw an improvement in the HbA1c levels.
What Are The Risks?
Fatigue
Since the body has been deprived of carbohydrates, it needs to adjust and go into a state of ketosis. During the adjustment, individuals who were on the ketogenic diet reported that they felt fatigued and weak. Once the body had adjusted to ketosis, the fatigue had subsided.
Bad Breath
The most common symptom of ketosis is having bad breath. Whilst on the diet, your breath will have a fruity odor, which happens when the levels of ketones have increased. The odor is caused by a ketone called acetone, which is released from the body through urine and your breath.
Digestion
The body gets used to a daily intake of carbohydrates. During ketosis when the intake is drastically reduced, your body needs to make an adjustment. Whilst the body makes the adjustment, it is normal for you to experience side effects such as constipation and diarrhea. After a week or two of consuming low-carb vegetables, your side effects should subside.
People who are on the ketogenic diet have reported that they suffered headaches, muscle cramps, as well as skin rash. All these side effects are completely normal as the body is making an adjustment by burning fat for energy instead of the glucose found in carbohydrates. The side effects should subside, at the very least alleviate, once the body adjusts to the ketosis.
While you will experience weight loss and reduction in the frequency of seizures on the ketogenic diet, you may experience serious side effects such as fatigue, digestion problems, and bad breath.
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