Weight loss is the latest trend in the fitness-savvy era, especially among women. This was made worse, by the need for perfection displayed and advertised by various social media and fashion companies. There are numerous reasons why people, especially ladies, want to embark on the weight loss or body transformation journey. For some people, it is as little as fitting into that special prom or dinner dress. Medically, maintaining a healthy weight and body mass index (BMI) is vital for living long and having a well-functioning body.
There are different ways to lose weight and maintain that much-craved model physique, everyone dreams of having. Proper diet and adequate training regimen is the best combination to shed those extra pounds and lose those love handles. Calorie restriction technique is the principle applied by various weight loss diets suggested by medical practitioners and fitness trainers. The need for perfection due to societal demands is the etiology of the unending quest for the latest and most effective diet. Various fitness and supplement industries have capitalized on this thirst for perfection by humans by creating different menus based on calorie and fluid restriction. The diet is named after what classes of food is restricted in the diet. Low-carb and low-fat diet means restricted carbohydrate and fat intake respectively. Most people are blinded by the mouth-watering and breath-taking results boosted by this miracle diet, but the side-effects of long-term use of this diets. Most of them prevent the body from getting the adequate recommended daily ratio of essential vitamins and minerals. In the quest to get that perfect figure people desperately want, they don’t pay attention to the negative consequences of the diet and exercise.
The 3 significant Causes of Ketogenic Diet Side Effects
The normal digestion process of the body starts in the mouth, where different classes of foods are digested. The digested foods are converted into simpler forms in the gastrointestinal system. The body uses the optimal nutrients needed for the normal metabolic process of the body, and stores the excess nutrients in the body reserves. The excess glucose after digestion is stored as glycogen in muscles and liver cells. When the body is low in glucose or performing tasks requiring high energy or endurance, the body taps into the glycogen reserves to fuel this processes. The Ketogenic diet is based on switching the source of energy used for day to day metabolic processes by the body. Typically, the body uses energy from glycogen stores (digested and stored carbohydrates) to fuel the physical and mental needs of the body.There are numerous side-effects, signs, and symptoms that come with prolonged Keto-adaptation, but have you ever wondered why there are side effects of prolonging participation in Keto diet. These symptoms and side effects that come with this fabulous diet occur as a result of 3 major factors. These factors include:
- Hypoglycemia: This is a medical condition often used to describe reduced blood glucose. In the body. It often leads to different symptoms such as dizziness, fatigue, and reduced energy. It is one of the significant etiologies of prominent signs and symptoms experienced by people on a prolonged Keto. Keto diet involves placing the body on an unusual task of using fats as its energy stores, instead of carbohydrates. This diet consists of reducing or eliminating carbs from your diet and substituting it with fat. This is a good idea because 1g of fat expels 9 calories, way higher than carbs and protein. This enables the body to burn more fat without sacrificing your energy level. It takes a lot of time for the body to adjust to this new modulus operandi of using fats as energy stores. Due to the sudden switch to fat as energy source, the body doesn’t start producing ketone bodies straight away. It compensates for this phase by being in a state of hypoglycemia for a short period before adjusting to this new metabolic process.
- HPA-Axis Dysfunction: Hypoglycemia disrupts the hypothalamic-pituitary axis by disrupting the normal cortisol function in the body.
- Electrolyte Imbalance: The altered cortisol metabolism affects the nephritic function of the kidney, This modified kidney function leads to electrolyte imbalance and excretion of vital minerals and nutrients from the body.
Top 10 Side Effects of Ketogenic Diets
The 3 fundamental mechanisms above are the causes of the symptoms experienced by people using a ketogenic diet to lose weight to maintain a perfect figure. There are a lot of symptoms and side effects of ketogenic diet, the most common ones include:
- Fatigue and Dizziness: These side effects are present during the adaptation phase of switching from glucose to fat as energy source. The body tries to adapt to this latest development by undergoing compensating hypoglycemia; this hypoglycemia manifests as fatigue, dizziness, depression.
- Keto Flu: This is the manifestation of flu-like symptoms that starts shortly after the initiation of a Ketogenic diet. The symptoms includes fatigue, nausea, and headache.
- Sugar Cravings: This is a neural response to hypoglycemia by the brain to inform you that your body needs an immediate source of glucose. This is why you crave high sugary content. However, these cravings stop after a while of suppressing the urge.
- Drowsiness: This occurs as a result of hypoglycemia, especially when changing body position from sitting or lying to standing.
- Reduced Energy: The sudden change in diet regimen form high carbohydrate to high fat alters your energy. Moreover, your energy level returns to normal after a while.
- Insomnia: Disruption of cortisol level can alter your sleep pattern because it antagonizes the function of melatonin, especially at night. This could lead to altered sleep pattern or insomnia after a prolonged period of the Ketogenic diet.
- Palpitations: Abnormal heart rhythm occurs as a result of adrenaline release or stimulation. Reduced cortisol and mineral deficiency stimulates the body to release adrenaline which causes palpitations.
- Polyuria: There is excessive urine excretion due to increased sodium in urine following a low-carb diet.
- Constipation: Dehydration due to reduced fluid intake and electrolyte imbalance is responsible for constipation experienced by Ketogenic diet lovers.
The Ketogenic diet is good for weight loss and healthy body; however, it comes with some side effects which can be countered with effective diet regimen and lifestyle choices.
References
Kossoff, E. and Cross, J. (2012). Ketogenic diets: Where do we go from here?. Epilepsy Research, 100(3), pp.344-346.
Liu, Y. and Wang, H. (2013). Medium-chain Triglyceride Ketogenic Diet, An Effective Treatment for Drug-resistant Epilepsy and A Comparison with Other Ketogenic Diets. Biomedical Journal, 36(1), p.9.
Payne, N., Cross, J., Sander, J. and Sisodiya, S. (2011). The ketogenic and related diets in adolescents and adults-A review. Epilepsia, 52(11), pp.1941-1948.
