The ketogenic diet, the most well-known diet in the era of weight loss, may not be the perfect solution for all your health problems. This low carb eating trend that promises speedy weight loss may have a few disadvantages as well. Let us look at some of the ways in which the diet may backfire.
1. Sleeping trouble:
With the low consumption of carbs promotes ketosis in your body. This breaks down fat in your body to produce energy leading to weight loss. But, this can cause some people to feel tired, dizzy and irritable. It can also give rise to sleeping issues. This happens when your body is still adjusting to the major changes in your diet.
2. Muscle shrinking:
Keto diets focus on high fats and low carbs. It doesn’t contain a lot of protein and can affect your muscles adversely. When you limit your carb intake, it is possible that instead of burning fats, your body may borrow protein from your muscle tissues. The weight loss you experience in keto may not be just the fat being burnt but also your reduction in muscle. This is not just bad for physique, it also very harmful for your health.
3. Brain Fog:
Usually, the body uses proteins for fueling our muscles. When on ketosis, the body switches to burning fats. This is however not so convenient for our brain. Our brain needs 100 grams of carbs a day according to some studies. When this necessity is not met on a keto diet, the brain may be affected. This can cause brain fogging. A more balanced diet is a much better alternative for the brain.
4. Dehydration:
The keto diet causes weight loss also by water loss from the body. Ketosis causes free nitrogen which is harmful to the body. This is flushed out by frequent urination thus leading to water loss. This causes not just dehydration but also an imbalance of electrolytes in the body. This can lead to severe leg cramps due to loss of minerals and salts that are necessary for the muscles.
5. Stress:
Keto diets are very restrictive in nature. Planning and following this diet can cause a lot of stress. When the body is not given the nutrition it is accustomed to, it generally responds negatively. This increases the stress hormone cortisol in the body and decreases serotonin which is a hormone that makes us feel good. As we know this chronic stress can affect many of our internal organs adversely.
6. Constipation:
This is one of the most common side effects of keto diets. Many fruits, vegetables, and grains are cut out from our diets by the keto diet because they contain too many carbs. This leads to inadequate fiber intake. This leads to constipation. This is not only unpleasant but also very unhealthy for the digestive tract.
7. Regaining weight:
Keto does give a speedy reduction in body weight. But it is observed in many studies that after a period of time, the rate of weight loss reduces. It becomes very difficult to follow the keto diet perfectly and often leads to regaining the weight we worked so hard to lose. Therefore keto diet should be followed only temporarily and then switched over to a better-balanced diet combined with exercises to keep the body fit.