KETO: Next best thing or trendy nonsense?

By now you have probably heard, or know of someone who is doing, 'the keto thing'. I feel like the National Keto Association (not a thing) should be sending me monthly checks for my husbands exuberant endorsement. So what is it and should you care about it?

Keto diets aren't this cure-all, magic new way of eating. Eating this way has been around for years, and is actually one of the most prescribed diets by doctors for patients who are developing, or have type two diabetes (also prescribed for infertility issues, research how sugar affects hormone production). The goal of this diet is to not have your blood sugar spike or dip. In other words, to keep your blood sugar level by eating consistent meals that don't include carbohydrates or sugar. This brings the body into ketosis, where it is burning fat, instead of storing it. When you eat low-fat diets the body takes the sugar/carbs it gets and it burns them (yay, energy), it takes the fat it gets and stores it. This is a hard way to loose weight and maintain weight-loss (slow). That's all good and well, but the reality of a keto diet is no carbs and no sugar, and NO CHEATING! That's right, one bite of something loaded with sugar or laced with carbs and your body is no longer in ketosis, your blood sugar spikes, and it will take 24-48 hours to get back into ketosis. Good news, if you say, go on a 7 day cruise tasting every European baked good you can find, you aren't going to see the huge weight gain you would see if you went off of a low-fat diet. Most of the weight gain will be water weight and you'll easily shed it once you start ketoing again. Is keto a way of life or should it be used as just a diet?

All this being said, I'm no doctor, just a fat lady who has read a lot and tried a bunch of diets. If your still interested in my opinion on keto as a diet or keto as a lifestyle read on.

Keto diets are very restrictive and hard to adhere to if you've been a life-long food abuser (right here, guilty). I would only recommend keto as a lifestyle to someone who has health struggles with blood sugar control and weight control. So if you don't have diabetes, but need to loose extra weight what do you do? I'd say, use keto as a tool to get to your healthy weight. It is going to teach you how to make good food choices, eliminate processed food from your diet, and curve addictive food cravings. Once you've reached a healthy weight and are able to maintain it through EXERCISE and your eating habits, I would start moving toward a Paleo diet or a Mediterranean diet. These diets, are at their core ketonic diets, but they allow for natural sugars, such as beets, fruits, and starchy vegetables. They also let you have grains, and sparingly, pasta. These diets are lifestyle diets, meaning you can live the rest of your life on these diets without restricting yourself to the level of a low-fat or keto diet. The goal is to be healthy and maintain that health. So use a keto diet as the tool to get to health, then alter that diet to make it a lifestyle of healthy (satisfying) living.

What to expect while ketoing:

• Invest in some sugar-free gum. While your body is in ketosis it can give you some gnarly breath. Plus, the sugar free gum seems like a treat now that you don't actually get treats! 
• Fiber is your friend! I think the biggest complaint for me on this diet is the number two situation. I had a hard time balancing my diet with fiber and I would yo-yo between not enough fiber and too much (you know what I mean). Once you get in your groove that mellows out.
• Keto Flu: yeah, it's a thing. The first week (or two) you may experience headaches. Your body is not used to having stable blood sugar and their is a detox phase. It's really not that bad (especially when you are loosing 3-4 pounds a week). 
• Eating is very counter-intuitive. We've been programmed fat is bad. During the 1980's the government ran a campaign against fat. They flooded the food market with low-fat versions of everything and scaring every one with promises of heart failure if they don't comply. The only kicker is they took out the fat and added sugar. Fast forward 20+ years and you have sugar addicts, obesity epidemic, infertility increase...and the list goes on. Real fat (avocados, nuts, eggs ect) are good for your body. Sugar is the enemy. That is your new mantra. 
• Sugar substitutes: so if your like me this diet will be torture for your sweet tooth. I tried to get behind sugar substitutes and I just can't. I can always taste them in whatever I put them in (they taste bitter to me) and they have a negative impact on your number two situation if you eat a lot. 

So there ya go, my unlicensed, unsupported, non-credentialed opinion on keto dieting. You're welcome!