Ketogenic diet
The Ketogenic diet comprises of ketosis which is defined as an accumulation of excessive amounts of ketone bodies in body tissues and fluids. The idea behind it is to force the body to lose weight through burning body fat.
The Ketogenic diet is one of the oldest diets in existence. Developed almost 80 years ago, it advocates the consumption of foods with very high fat contents and low carbs resulting in ketosis.
This has the intention of retrieving energy for the body from fat instead of through using glucose. Being a very strict plan, the Ketogenic diet needs to be followed more as a treatment for obesity or weight loss rather than just another slimming plan.
With the Ketogenic diet, you can restrict the intake of fluids too. Generally though, it is not very effective for adults or older children. The effects are more prominent in younger children.
The plan consists of starvation and is also very useful on seizure control. It is also very effective at controlling epilepsy and human problems such as obesity, diabetes, and multiple sclerosis. This programme is usually observed in different timescales ranging between a few days to as long as several months.
Are they healthy diets? Ketosis is a common condition. The human body enters this state regularly. Therefore the question as to whether this diet is healthy or not is not reflective of the condition of ketosis as such. The health issues relating are more concerned with the risks connected with insufficient levels of vitamins and minerals due to low carb intake and lack of protein. Nutrient deficiencies in these low carb diets is a significant reason why this and the Atkins diet, amongst many others advises so many supplements.
Our opinion:
This diet is based on the very low carb process of ketosis. This is not a quick fix and beware of the lack of nutrients.