The Keto Diet: Pros & Cons

The Keto Diet has been on the diet radar for some time now. Celebrities and social media play a great advantage in promoting this diet, and I wanted to share a few pros and cons.

What is the Keto Diet?

The ketogenic diet is a very low-carb diet that essentially turns your body into a fat burning machine. The goal is to maintain 75% of your daily intake from fats, 20% protein and 5% carbs. This puts your body in to a natural state of ketosis, and your body will produce ketones, which the body uses for energy. Many are recognizing this as a new “fad” diet but in reality, it has been around since the early 1900’s.

Pros:

• Energy – Increase in energy has been a huge factor. Since your body is using fat to produce energy, you realize you are staying full for longer periods of time.
• Weight Loss – Your body is burning fat, so essentially the weight loss kicks in. This seems to be one of the main reasons for starting the keto diet.
• Cooking – It forces you to eat out less, and start cooking at home. You have a chance to really see where your food is coming from and how it is being prepared.
• Fertility – Another amazing benefit is fertility. There is plenty of research showing women who struggle with fertility, change to a low-carb keto diet, and soon become pregnant afterwards. Check out more information here.  If you’re having trouble getting pregnant despite having changed to the keto diet, you might want to consider fertility treatments, including home insemination with donor sperm, IVF, and intrauterine insemination.

Cons:

• Expensive – It is an investment to make towards pantry items and fresh whole foods, but the payoff is much more rewarding.
• Cooking – When you have a family and you seem to be the only individual on board with the keto diet, it is challenging to cook for your entire family. Especially parents with younger children, they need the carbs to grow, whereas in your diet you want to kick the carbs so you end up making separate meals.

What Can you Eat?

So I’m sure you are thinking What can I eat?! Check out a small list of items to make the Keto Diet dummy-proof!

There are plenty of resources available to determine whether the Keto diet works for you. I’ve seen great results and it truly is a lifestyle change.

Have you changed your lifestyle for the better? Have you tried the Ketogenic Diet? Let me know your favorite recipes!