Keto Is Not For Weight Loss

In this article I want to briefly discuss the keto diet and why it might not be the best weight loss solution. Let’s start by defining what the keto diet is because this can even be tricky. Saying you are doing keto is kind of like saying you have a pet, without saying what animal it is. There are many different varieties of pets and there are as many varieties of the keto diet (clean keto, dirty keto, keto carnivore, etc.). In general terms I think that the best way to define “keto” is that it is a way of eating that focuses more on proteins and fats and that this process gets the body to process body fats and produce ketones.

So now that we have defined “keto” let’s talk about why it might not be best for weight loss. The truth is that ketogenic diets were not intended to help people lose weight when they were first being developed. Ketogenic diets were originally intended for seizure prevention. It turns out (science still doesn’t understand exactly why) that eating in this way can help treat epilepsy. Weight loss just happened to be a side effect of the diet.

Due to books/programs like The Adkins Diet and celebrities starting to do similar diets in the late 90’s and early 2000’s a shift occurred to use this way of eating with the intention of losing weight. The popularity of keto then exploded because eating in this way does help with weight loss. The question it “Is it the best thing you can do to lose weight?” Even more appropriately put “Is it the best thing you can do to burn fat?” Here I am going to reference two research studies that compared keto dieting to low calorie dieting (which was the standard before the keto craze). Both studies showed that the results were indistinguishable from one another. This means that low calorie dieting is just as effective as keto.

Based on this information a new way of eating to lose body fat has started to gain traction. This is referred to as low calorie/low carb dieting. In our Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky weight loss offices we often refer to this as Low Cal Dirty Keto. Basically what this means is that you do low carb but also control fat intake. At the same time in our programs we will allow certain artificial products that may be frowned upon in traditional keto programs as a way to make the eating change more enjoyable. Using this method of eating we have observed some incredible results in our offices. You can learn more about our methods at LearnOurSecret.com.