Is Keto Just Another Dieting Fad?
In this video, produced by Vox in early 2018, the writer gives you reasons why all diets fail, evidence that most diets are fads, and some of their ideas about a Ketogenic diet. It is doubtful that the author ever did try the keto diet but likely did some investigation or research into the topic. The video does serve as a good introduction to what the keto diet is, even though some of the historical contexts of the diet is lost. In any case, it’s worth watching and part of your continued learning about the Keto diet.
Video Transcript
This is a transcript of the video, for those that learn better by reading than by watching the video:
It’s official. The low-carb diet craze is over.
Hello New Year. Okay omniscient voice on TV, calm down. It seems every couple of years or so, there’s a new diet to try. South Beach was popular during the early 2000s, then paleo took over towards the late 2000s. But around April 2017 you can see in this Google Trend graph, a new diet surpassed it.
Celebrities like Halle Berry and Kourtney Kardashian are going nuts for this diet. Keto devotees claim that if you banish carbs and eat lots of fat, your body will start to actually burn fat and you’ll lose weight and even reduce your hunger in the process.
But what’s lost in this keto chaos: there’s no evidence that keto diets work better than any other diets for most people hoping to slim down.
Although keto may be the latest in fad diets, it’s had promising results elsewhere. It was used since the 1920s to treat epilepsy. Outcomes from this 2018 study showed its potential in treating subjects with type-2 diabetes. As a diet for weight loss, it’s been around for a while. Keto’s most recognizable form is from the ’60s: the Atkins Nutritional Approach, pushed by the late doctor Robert Atkins. RIP homie.
The theory behind this diet, the insulin carbohydrate hypothesis, suggests that people start to burn more calories more quickly and burn off more fat. And several high-quality studies have debunked these extra fat and calorie burning claims.
So exactly what foods can people eat on keto? People are supposed to get 5% of their calories from carbs, about 15% from protein, and 80% from fat. That means staying away from things like bread, grains, rice, you know, cereals, chips. You’re definitely not going to be eating chips. And eating lots of fish, meat, eggs, don’t throw the bacon at me! Bacon, things like this.
The goal is to get your body into a state of ketosis. So basically our bodies are fueled primarily by glucose, which we get from carbohydrates. But when you eliminate carbs and you start to eat lots of fat, instead of burning glucose for fuel, your body starts to burn fat.
To get into ketosis you need to eat less than 50 grams of carbs, or two slices of bread, per day. And of course, eat a lot of fat.
Sounds simple, right? Basically eat no carbs and the weight will come right off. And low carb diets like keto can sometimes give people the impression in the short term, they’ve lost fat. When in reality it’s rapid water weight loss. Plus the more extreme a diet, the less likely a person is to stay on track. The average person can’t stick with the keto diet for even six months. It’s especially challenging in a world with temptations of easy, over-processed, and high-calorie foods at every corner.
When you stack very low-carb diets like Atkins or keto against other types of diets, in the long run, people lose about the same amount of weight as they would on any diet. There are always outliers, there are always people who do really really well and it’s possible you may be one of those people, who really benefit from a ketogenic diet.
But on average, they don’t work for most people. There are some hard truths about losing weight and keeping it off. It’s really difficult. It takes a long time. And while keto may work wonders for some, like people with diabetes, the best diet overall is probably one you can stick with.
Reference Notes and Links From VOX for the Video
Read about the science behind ketogenic diets on vox.com: http://bit.ly/2FKztUu
Subscribe to the Vox channel! http://goo.gl/0bsAjO
New year, new dieting craze. The ketogenic diet is the latest in popular diets in the US. It shares many similarities with the Atkins diet; it’s low-to-no carbs, some protein, and a lot of delicious fat.
The keto diet isn’t exactly new. It’s been used to treat epilepsy since the 1920s, and it’s had promising outcomes in treating Type 2 Diabetes. However, epilepsy and diabetes aren’t the only reason people give the ketogenic diet a try. It’s also used as a diet for weight loss. The diet banishes most carbs, including fruit, and opts in for fatty foods like avocados, salmon, eggs, cheese, butter, oil, and the holy grail of fatty meats — bacon.
Unfortunately, science has not yet proven the keto diet to be the miraculous cure to losing weight, that some kept devotees claim it to be. The more extreme a diet, the harder it is to adhere to, and though the diet may be beneficial to some, that does not mean it will work for all who give it a try.
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