It had been a long time since I tried a diet for the sake of my blog: the last time was last year, when I gave both Hailey Pomroy’s Supermetabolism Diet and the Fast Diet or Intermittent Fasting a chance. This time I took six weeks to try the ketogenic diet. It’s the second time.
Here is everything that has happened to me, both in terms of weight loss and health. Yes, you got it right.

But let’s go from the beginning.

WHAT IS THE KETOGEN DIET?
The ketogenic diet is a diet that dramatically reduces carbohydrates to induce the body into a state of ketosis. That is, the body uses ketones for energy. There is no specific protocol: ketosis can be achieved with fasting or semi-fasting, with low fat and moderate protein but zero carbohydrates, and with high fat and moderate protein.
In general, the latter dietary protocol is the most sustainable.

So you eat almost eighty percent fat (65 to 80%), fifteen / seventeen percent protein and the rest of carbohydrates. The percentages may change slightly, for example 75 percent fat, but basically we eat fat instead of carbohydrates: since our body needs glucose to survive, sugars are taken by breaking down fats, which release ketone bodies. .

It is true that we do not need carbohydrates to survive : we can also support ourselves with proteins and fats (apart from fiber), forcing the body to use the fats we give it to obtain glucose.
The question is: why do we have to do such a thing to our body?

According to proponents of the ketogenic diet, all carbohydrates are bad . Dropping below twenty grams of carbohydrates per day allows you to lose weight quickly, without counting calories. But what exactly are we losing?
We no longer lose body fat : body fat losses are in fact the same as those of any low-calorie diet.
However, it is necessary to be in a calorie deficit:if we eat too much, even without carbohydrates, we gain weight.
It does not speed up the metabolism. The metabolic advantage of ketogenic diets is still unproven.

The ketogenic diet works like a quick diet for many: it makes you lose weight quickly the first few times and you can eat as much fatty foods as you like without feeling guilty. This is because in the absence of carbohydrates, the body releases more water.

To be clear, green light for oil, butter, eggs, fatty cheeses, cream, avocado, bacon, meat and fish in moderation ; yes, but only green leafy vegetables. No fruit.
There are people who have been on this diet for years, heeding advice from bloggers like Mark’s Daily Apple .

THE PROS OF THE KETOGEN DIET

1. All the pros of the ketogenic diet are true as long as the diet is carried out under strict medical supervision: it is true that the diet can be indicated against epilepsy and type 2 diabetes. But under strict medical supervision and with an alternation of carbohydrates (sometimes 20 grams, sometimes 50 grams, sometimes 100 grams per day). That is, it is the doctor who decides when to get the patient out of the state of ketosis.
2.  The ketogenic diet does not create imbalances for health if it is not done for more than two / three weeks.
3. The ketogenic diet makes you go hungry – this is something I particularly appreciate.
4. The ketogenic diet fights fluid retention: this is also an appreciable thing. But it makes you understand that the weight lost is mostly water.

THE CONS OF THE KETOGEN DIET

1. Many people follow the ketogenic diet by counting calories and macronutrients . Understand that since fats are very caloric and you cannot overdo it with protein foods (which would then be used by the body to produce glucose), you eat little in the end. Then you go from a free diet in the first few days to a time when you realize that either you eat less bacon or you don’t lose weight.
2. The ketogenic diet causes you to lose muscle volume , especially until the body fully adapts to ketosis. It takes more than two weeks for this to happen. Muscle volume is given in part by glycogen, in part by water. Muscles hold more water than fat. The water is released… the muscles are deflated a little.
3. The ketogenic diet does not solve insulin resistance: it simply keeps it at bay by eliminating carbohydrates and keeping proteins under control during normal consumption. In some cases it has been seen to increase insulin resistance, reducing the body’s affinity for glucose.
4. The ketogenic diet is not sustainable in the long term: I have read blogs of people enthusiastic about eating pork cracklings and tuna in oil as a snack. But can you really give up on carbs forever?
5. The ketogenic diet is necessarily or almost omnivorous: almost impossible to do a vegan keto diet, or at least not with the same effects.
6. The ketogenic diet does not fight cancer: this thing has been proven wrong. It would only be effective for glioblastoma, a brain tumor.
7. The ketogenic diet can slow down the metabolism: and this is also the reason why at some point those who do it feel the need to reduce calories to lose weight. In addition to the loss of muscle mass, the ketogenic diet caused me: hypothermia, lower metabolism (and in just two weeks), a progressive fatigue after the first few days when I felt full of energy, probably due to stress. Lack of carbohydrates makes it difficult for the thyroid to work and raises TSH values. Levels of T3, the active thyroid hormone, are lowered.
   And consequently the metabolism suffers.
8. In women, it has been seen that in parallel with the decrease in T3, there are also problems with ovulation , with the risk of anovulatory cycle or amenorrhea.
9. The ketogenic diet raises the stress hormones: this necessarily happens, because it is the stress hormones that activate lipolysis. So high cortisol.As you can see, the pros list is lower than the cons.
   In short, anyone who wants to lose two or three kilos with the ketogenic diet can do it, as long as they do it for four weeks and no more . With the disadvantage that if you don’t know how to replenish carbohydrates (and lower fats at the same time) you will gradually regain the lost weight.