The Ketogenic Diet -- is it safe?
 

A fitness freak friend of mine suggested I try the ketogenic diet. A form of diet used primarily for epileptics, it basically is where one eats lots of fat and fatty foods without any form of carbohydrates and starches. I'm not epileptic but I'm overweight. Though I'm supplementing that diet with visits to the gym, has anyone ever tried the ketogenic diet just to lose weight? Is it safe on the long term? I've been researching on the Net and I'm getting conflicting opinions about it.

get lots of protein. That's all I know about it.

I think Google is your friend on this one.

Yeah but a lot of them are just spam. :-(

just step up the exercise, a bit at a time, and step up the vegetables a bit at a time. No diet is going to work long term and there are no short cuts that don't bounce you back to where you started or worse.

I got in shape pretty quickly without some funky, possibly dangerous diet.

I just made an awesome green drink in a giant blender, that I drank at various times of the day when I got hungry. I still ate regular meals, but they were much smaller and I also cut out sugar as much as possible. I'm telling you, nothing will get you in shape like vegetables. It's really what we're supposed to be eating as humans -- and this is coming from a meat lover. I've just never found it easier to get in shape than when I started drinking that green stuff.

For exercise I did weights 3 times per week, with lots of cardio, some basketball and the most important thing, which I think was key to the weight falling off -- Tabata workouts. The most intense was the sprints. Once I started using those 4 minute, intense workouts about 3 times a week, my midsection got trim.

ive done keto for up to 10 weeks at a time, it is not easy and you dont feel all that great while getting into a state of Ketosis. Basically youre training your body to burn fat for fuel instead of carbs.

so basically a version of the Atkins diet?
I recall Atkins himself dying from a heart attack a few years back. Yes, you'll lose weight, but it's sooooo bad for your heart!

So you've already started going to the gym? Awesome. It's hard to discipline oneself to exercise, I haven't done it in a long time, but that sure seems to be what works. Eat right and exercise.

Our bodies, including our brains, are designed to run on mostly carbs, along with enough protein and a little fat. Look at our teeth. You have sixteen teeth that grind grains and other starches. You have eight slicing teeth (fruits and vegetables) and only four canines for meat, where fat comes from.

If you were supposed to eat mostly animals, which contain fat, you'd have mostly sharp teeth, like this carnivor:

http://image.shutterstock.com/displa...d-19341286.jpg

Besides, you know you don't want to work hard and lose weight only to gain it back. You want permanent change. For permanent gain, you need to change your eating habits in a way that can be permanent. That probably means gradual change, like switching from the double bacon cheeseburger to a regular burger, which has 66% less fat and calories.

Sounds a lot like the Atkins diet, which is certainly not safe as it is particularly hard on the heart and kidneys - digestion of carbohydrates releases water, where digestion of proteins consumes water.

Like PR_Glen said, fad short-cut diets do not create long term results. To take weight off, one needs to burn more calories than they consume. While dieting can reduce the caloric intake, it also lowers the metabolism - thus the dieter will gain even more weight when they resume their normal caloric intake. Exercise, however, increases ones metabolism so can be used alone to lose weight (obviously, this assumes a relatively normal caloric intake) or be used in conjunction with a weight-loss diet plan.

Atkins died from falling on ice and smacking his head.
this is the bible on the subject.
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/the-ketogenic-diet

like czarina and newB say, the focus on fatty foods/away from carbs makes it similar to the atkins diet which if you search, you are likely to find loads of stories about coronary problems.

another recent diet fad is the Dukan diet, but any diet that navigates too far away from anything close to a balanced intake of the major food groups is going to lead to some kind of danger to longer term health.

there are tons of supplements and diet pills that can help you cope better with your intake of major food groups!

PM me your stats and I can help you make a realistic plan around your goals.

Did you ever read his book because its lots of veggies and lean meat. And its really not a fad diet, eating low carb has helped me lose over 180 lbs. When I eat bread, corn ,sugar , etc Im never full and I become a bottomless pit.

Actually you will find it lowers risks. People dont know what low carbing is they assume its eating bacon at and butter at every meal
http://www.drbriffa.com/2006/11/13/l...verse-is-true/

Atkins is a ketogenic diet.

Of course its safe. Been around for a century. Been used in medicine to help epileptic children and curb seizures (i.e. search Johns Hopkins Children Hospital + Ketogenic diet etc). Out side of the spammy/scammy diet arena, its still very well studied. Been common in body building for around 60 years.