I've been thinking about starting a keto diet, but I'm not sure if it's worth the potential risks. None of them are severe, per se, but they can be uncomfortable - like constipation.
What are some of the benefits of a keto diet?
Well, it's proven to help with epilepsy in children, but a lot of people use it for general weight loss, too.
Why else do people use a keto diet?
People use it to burn fat stored in the body. Because keto diets avoid carbs, the body goes straight to fat to burn.
Oh wow. That sounds like it would be useful to a lot of people. Any other drawbacks?
Ketogenic diet
The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, adequate-protein, low-carbohydrate diet that in medicine is used primarily to treat difficult-to-control (refractory) epilepsy in children. The diet forces the body to burn fats rather than carbohydrates. Normally, the carbohydrates contained in food are converted into glucose, which is then transported around the body and is particularly important in fueling brain function. However, if little carbohydrate remains in the diet, the liver converts fat into fatty acids and ketone bodies
stimulator or with the drug zonisamide, and that the diet may be less successful in children receiving phenobarbital.
Adverse effects.
The ketogenic diet is not a benign, holistic, or natural treatment for epilepsy; as with any serious medical therapy, complications may result. These are generally less severe and less frequent than with anticonvulsant medication or surgery. Common but easily treatable short-term side effects include constipation, low-grade acidosis, and hypoglycaemia if an initial fast is undertaken. Raised levels of lipids in the blood