People tend to be very skeptical when they hear about a diet that changes our metabolism in a way that makes our bodies burn fat instead of sugar for its energy. But the keto diet promises just that. It’s a type of low-carb dieting that has been trending in recent years. It’s trending, but it’s not a fad, it’s been in use for ~100 years. Maybe you’ve heard of it?
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Here’s our list of 10 things about the keto diet you don’t know:
1 – The keto diet was developed in the 1920s as a treatment for epilepsy, not for weight loss. Since its development, it has been used to treat other medical conditions like diabetes.
Related reading: 15 Health Conditions That May Benefit From a Ketogenic Diet
2 – The keto diet is an extremely low-carb diet compared to other low-carb diets. The keto diet works when your body is deprived of carbs to the point it will burn fat for its energy. To do that, the keto restricts your carbohydrate intake to just 50g per day. That’s less than virtually any other diet out there. For example, one cup of cooked brown rice has just under 50g of carbs.
Related reading: Measuring Your Macros: What 50 Grams Of Carbs Looks Like
3 – Most diets limit the amount of rich food you can eat. But the keto diet permits a wide variety of food. It allows you to eat fats, including those from meat and dairy products.
4 – Most fruits are forbidden on the keto diet because they have high amounts of carbohydrates. However, berries are acceptable on the diet because they have low sugar content.
5 – The majority of your calories come from fat while following keto. It’s important to eat only the healthy fats, not all fats.
6 – Keto Flu is a thing. It’s not really the flu but it’s a group of symptoms that may accompany The Flu. Keto flu is the side effect of starting the keto diet. It seldom lasts more than a week or so, and not everyone feels the keto flu.
Related reading: The Keto Flu: Symptoms, Causes, And Remedies
7 – The keto diet quite literally changes your body’s metabolism. It’s called “ketosis”.
Related reading: 10 Ways To Know You Are In Ketosis
8 – Dietary supplements may be needed with keto. Supplements can help your body adjust to the changes in metabolism brought about by ketosis. There’s a wide variety of helpful supplements available.
Related reading: What About Taking Supplements On The Keto Diet
9 – The ketosis can be taken too far. Ketosis can be harmful if you stay in a calorie deficient state and lose too much weight. It’s important to keep your doctor informed of your dietary decisions.
10 – It’s common for a person to lose 2 – 8 pounds when they first start the diet. But, as with any diet, the results vary a lot from person to person. Because it depends on their activity level, metabolism, health issues, and a plethora of other things.
Now that you’ve learned the 10 things about the keto diet you don’t know, you may be asking yourself…..
Will the keto diet work for you?
Even after touching on all of these facts, you may still be skeptical about the effectiveness of the keto diet. Many theories indicate the keto diet will:
- Decrease you cravings
- Increase your metabolism, thereby increasing the number of calories you burn
- Boosts fat loss
Related reading: From Harvard School of Public Health, “Diet Review: Ketogenic Diet for Weight Loss”
Are you ready to start your Keto Diet? One way to get started with a Keto Diet is to have an 8-week “Custom Keto Diet Plan” created for you based on your height, weight, age, level of physical activity, and personal weight goals. Click the banner to learn more about your customized keto diet plan, or click here to go straight to your custom keto diet meal planner. |
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The symptoms and severity vary by person. But most people who are affected will have some combination of general achiness, constipation, headache, or nausea because of the sudden diet change. Be aware that, unlike The Flu, keto flu does not cause fever. If you have a fever you may want to see your doctor.
Meals and snacks are planned around fatty foods like avocados, butter, fatty fish, fatty meat, olive oil, etc. An average person requires around 150g of fat per day to move their body to where they are metabolizing fat for its energy. That’s probably 3 times the fat you’re consuming now. You also have to cut your carb intake to 50g or less per day from a typically more than 300g per day. Fifty grams of carbs is a little more than what you might find in a 
The idea of a lazy keto diet isn’t all that new. Dawn Jackson Blatner, a registered dietitian and certified specialist in sports dietetics, and author of “