Keto diet: Myths and realities

The vogue now is keto (Ketogenic) diet, a high-fat, low-carbohydrate eating plan. Experts, in this report by Sade Oguntola, say although this diet helps burn fat instead of carbohydrates for energy, more is still unknown about it.
These days, there is probably no diet more fascinating than the low carbohydrate, high-protein and high-fat ketogenic diet. For its enthusiasts, including popular celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Adriana Lima, it is the most dramatic way to lose weight."I was weighing 123kg when I joined the ketogenic diet in January, 2017. I am currently weighing 89kg and I always tell people that I am still a work in progress since my target is 75kg,"said Omobolanle Oladipo, who runs Gemstone Management Resources, a keto store at Ago Taylor, Apata, in Ibadan.For Bolanle, her involvement with the ketogenic world came through her mother, a school teacher. She was also introduced to it by a friend on the social media.Like every person young at heart, Bolanle decided to give it a trial, and the mother assured her of joining later on if it turned out effective for weight loss.She added: "Now, my mother is fit more than ever, now climbing the stairs easily and her blood pressure is back to normal. It has saved me money buying supplements to take care of her raised blood pressure and aching knee. Now, people have been complementing her new look."Oladipo, a nutritionist, said that ketogenic diet, what many merely refer to as Keto, is about eating healthy.Basically, "you don't need to starve yourself; you just change your meal plan and eat healthy. And automatically you start to burn off the excess fat," she added.The ketogenic diet became popular as a therapy for epilepsy in the 1920s and '30s. It recommends consuming between 70 and 75 per cent fat, 20 per cent protein and five to 10 per cent carbohydrates.A keto diet, which is not about cutting calories, like most other diets, promotes eating fresh, whole foods, like meat, fish, vegetables, and healthy fats and oils such as coconut, avocado and olives. It is designed to help the body reach a state of ketosis, in which it burns fat instead of carbohydrates for energy.

How ketogenic diet worksAccording to Oladipo, "basically, the body's fuel is the glucose in the form of carbohydrate, which is present in many foods such as bread, rice, yam and cassava."However, when carbohydrates are removed from the diet, the body begins to break down fat and turns to a fuel source in the form of ketones, which is more efficient but generally underutilised. This is what this eating plan is all meant to achieve."Remaining in this state of ketosis, Oladipo said, requires a lot of discipline and keeping to the specifications of the diet, so that the body remains in the state that it can easily burn fat.According to her, where individuals after attaining their desired weight switch back to high carbohydrate diets, they could regain the weight.Such, individuals will require the maintenance diet, which essentially requires taking a little more calorie than what is in the ketogenic diet.Interestingly, "even when I cheat on my diet, for instance, at some functions by eating little jollof rice and meat, the next morning, I observe intermittent fasting. I hold on till about 1 pm before taking breakfast."Useful Nigerian dietsFor Mrs Clara Nwosu, a nursing mother, also on keto diet, common foods that she eats include eggplant swallow with different vegetable stew like okra.Other meals include meals made from vegetables like cucumber, cauliflower, cabbage and coconut flour as well as meat, coated with spiced, chilli pepper cooked with coconut oil.Fruits and nuts such as garden eggs, lemon and almonds nuts are also on the keto menu. So is also fish and meat pepper soup made with keto-compliant oil and spices.However, she declared that meals could be planned and varied based on available vegetables and other items such as olive and coconut oil, better rice and coconut flour as well as zyllum husk that are sold in Keto shops."Before now, when watching a movie or playing on the phone, I enjoyed munching maybe biscuit or chin chin. But now, I make a sandwich stuffed with plenty of cucumber, a piece of fried egg, cabbage and mayonnaise. It is very filling," Mrs Nwosu said.Increased intake of vegetable, this way, she said, has the advantage of increasing water intake, while ensuring satiety.Also Read: My problem with hypertension
Portion control also importantEven with ketogenic diet portion control is important."You do not eat anyhow because they said the body will burn it off. In fact, with time, you will know how to observe portion control because as your stomach starts to shrink, you feel full with smaller meals," she said.Also, complying with the diet, she added, would be easier because other members of the family would join in since it is delicious."There is no way you will see the vegetable stew, say made with okra, chilli pepper, olive or palm oil, with either meat, fish or ponmo, that people will not want to eat it, "she added.

Testimonies on keto dietCertainly, keto diet has achieved many successes. "Aside my mother, I have recommended it to women trying to get pregnant, many now have positive testimonies on this," Oladipo declared.Besides its weight loss-related benefits, recent studies have pointed to many other advantages. For instance, researchers recently suggested that the diet may increase longevity and improve memory in old age.Surprisingly, the researchers at the University of California found a 13 per cent increase in median life span for the mice on a keto diet. In humans, that would be seven to 10 years. But equally important, those mice retained quality of health in later life.What is more, another study in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that a low carbohydrate diet was more effective for weight loss and lowers cardiovascular risk factors when compared to a traditional low fat diet in healthy adults (without evidence of heart disease or diabetes).Research has suggested it is also able to slow the rate of inflammation and oxidative damage that are the essence of the (accelerated) ageing process.

Need for cautionHowever, based on this concept that the body runs on energy from fat, a former, President of Nigerian Society of Nutrition, Professor Ignatius Onimawo suggested that practitioners of keto diets, after attaining the weight they desire, switch back to other forms of diet for its maintenanceDr Oyediran Oyewole, a nutritionist at the Faculty of Public Health, University of Ibadan, also said given that ketogenic diet is used in the hospital setting for treatment of diseases like problematic diabetes, rather than for prevention purposes, it could create a problem if not well handled.Aside the possibility of vitamin and mineral deficiency happening if the meals are not well planned, he cautioned against people starting the diet just for the sake of it being in vogue."The waste products from a diet such as this has the possibility of causing kidney and heart damage since it can travel all over the body; of course, there is the possibility of other damages that we do not know yet."So, it is really not an ideal way to lose weight. The ideal way of shedding weight is to ensure energy intake is lower than energy expenditure. The way we are created is to burn off excess energy; the one that I do not burn off can then be stored as fat. So, if you will not use the energy that the food will give, then do not take it in."Damilade Lewis, also a nutrition enthusiast, said, maintaining a healthy weight requires a habit formation of eating in moderation, rather than being restrictive.Lewis of the Talking Bodies Blog, said: "Eating anything in excess is detrimental. Keto diet is good, but I will never advise it unless it is prescribed. For me, dieting is a quick fix. In the long run, it is not usually sustained because in a way it is restrictive on what and how you eat."


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