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There are many different dieting approaches to losing weight and one that seems to be taking social media by storm is the keto diet. I have been asked by several people my thoughts on the ketogenic diet that I thought warranted a blog post, as I am sure many others have the same questions or are wondering if the keto diet is an effective approach to long-term weight loss.
What is the Keto Diet?
The keto diet is a high fat, low carbohydrate diet similar to other diets such as the Atkins diet. The goal of the ketogenic diet is to put your body in a state of ketosis where it burns fat as your energy source over glucose which is derived from carbs. The standard macro ratio of the ketogenic diet is 75% of calories coming from fat, 20% calories coming from protein, and only 5% calories coming from carbohydrates. As you can see, it is highly restrictive of carbohydrates.
Weight-loss – Keto vs. Non-Keto
Many people who implement a high-fat, low-carbohydrate keto diet do see a substantial amount of weight-loss when implementing this new dietary lifestyle, this I cannot deny. In fact, studies show that when compared to a diet with a moderate carbohydrate to fat ratio (a “mixed” diet), weight-loss is more substantial for those following a keto diet. This is especially notable in the first six months. However, over the long-term, studies show that at the twelve-month marker and beyond, weight-loss is equivalent between both diets. This means that while initially, participants on the keto diet will lose substantially more weight compared to those on a mixed diet, over the long-term those who followed the keto diet lost the same amount of weight as participants on the mixed diet.
Weight-Loss Doesn’t Equal Fat Loss
While there is no doubt about it, there are definite health benefits correlated to weight-loss, specifically, if you are classified as overweight or obese, have coronary heart disease, metabolic syndrome, or other lifestyle-related diseases. There is no argument on this one. But if your goal is to reduce your overall body-fat percentage (an indicator of lifestyle diseases) and increase lean body mass, you may see better results on a mixed diet over the keto diet.
I say this because it is important to know that weight loss doesn’t equal fat loss. Our bodies not only hold onto fat, but they also retain water, as is the case with the storage of glucose which is derived from carbohydrates (carbo-hydrate). Therefore, the reduction in your body weight is due to both fat and fluid loss and dependent on your diet, you may see a greater reduction in one over the other.
As mentioned previously, the goal of the ketogenic diet is to transition your body into ketosis where it burns fat as its main energy source, rather than glucose. Consequently, you would think that by following a ketogenic diet that you would primarily lose body fat. Conversely, the opposite is true. Studies that evaluated the composition of weight-loss in participants – that is % of fat loss versus % of water loss –noted that the primary weight reduction for those following the keto diet was water-loss, rather than fat-loss, whereas those who followed a mixed diet lost more body fat than water weight. This is due to the fact that the keto diet heavily restricts carbohydrates which significantly depletes glycogen stores and associated bound water, resulting in a higher fluid loss over fat loss.
Weight Regain is Inevitable
This isn’t to scare you away from the keto diet, however, it is true. Weight regain is dependent on the duration of time you have adhered to the keto diet and how you transition from the keto diet. So this is highly individual. However, as you increase your consumption of carbohydrates coming off the keto diet, your body will replenish its’ depleted glycogen stores resulting in water retention (again carbo-hydrate). Dependent on the way you transition from the keto diet and how quickly, there is the potential of a generation of new adipose tissue (fat cells) and gaining more weight than you initially lost. With that being said, before you reach your goal or transition your diet, you may want to look into reverse dieting techniques to properly transition away from the keto diet if that is your goal, especially if you want to set yourself up for success.
Sustainability
Any diet will work for as long as it adhered to, but what is more important is the sustainability of said diet. I have said this countless times before: what really matters is adopting a lifestyle (one of abundance and not of restriction) that is maintainable for you; as over the long-term, a healthy lifestyle works and diets don’t. This is particularly important if you want to maintain your weight-loss over the long-term. I say this because studies have demonstrated that the successful weight-loss of the ketogenic diet is only attributable to the duration of the diet and restriction of energy intake (calorie restriction), not to the reduction of carbohydrates. So if you are a lover of carbs, then maybe the keto diet won’t be sustainable for you over the long-term. Alternatively, if you are someone who enjoys more savory-rich foods, then you may not have a problem adopting and adhering to a keto diet.
Considerations
The primary focus of this post was to assess the effectiveness of the keto diet in terms of weight-loss. If you are considering adopting this approach, it may be beneficial to speak with your doctor or a dietician, as this diet is highly restrictive and supplementation of particular vitamins and minerals may be needed to maintain optimal health and avoid any serious health complications.
Lastly, the success of weight-loss on a keto diet is ultimately a result of being in a caloric deficit. Note that if you find being on a keto diet is not maintainable for you, you can speak with a health professional about a plan that is right for you and your specific goals to get you well on your way to seeing long-term sustainable results.