Why I Think The Keto Diet Is Not A Good Idea For Beginners

Photo by Agto Nugroho on Unsplash

Ahhh,

The Ketogenic Diet. Or should I call it “The latest ball ache of Fat Loss Personal Trainers for the last 4 years diet”

I much prefer my name.

I hope you do too.

So let’s get straight into it.

1. What is the Ketogenic Diet?
2. How Does the Ketogenic Diet help with fat loss?
3. What Can You Eat On A Keto Diet?
4. Why The Ketogenic Diet is not a good idea for beginners
5. Conclusion

What is the Ketogenic Diet?

The Ketogenic Diet is defined thus:

“The ketogenic diet (or keto diet, for short) is a low-carb, high-fat diet that offers many health benefits.”

And that is misleading for a start.

The Standard Ketogenic Diet dictates you eat 5% Carbohydrates each day, 75% Fat, and 20% Protein each day.

So in truth;

“The ketogenic diet is an ultra-low-carb, extremely high fat diet that might create many health benefits”

It is similar to the Atkins Diet, which became popular in the 90s when people were asked to reduce their Carbohydrate levels very low as well.

In terms of “Health” Benefits:

The studies on this are endless. They really are, and sadly I’m not that clever to know them all.

From what I can see the 20 studies referenced on the Healthline Article, which is the top hit on Google when you search “The Keto Diet” [1] only relate to a “Low-Carb” Diet being compared to a “High-Fat Diet”.

These studies comprehensively come out in favor of a Low Carb Keto-like Diet:

Found On https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/23-studies-on-low-carb-and-low-fat-diets#TOC_TITLE_HDR_3

These 20 Studies that are cited for these “Health” Benefits are skewed as the comparison fails to look into the third option of an overall balanced diet.

There is one Study that takes people onto a Mediterranean Diet as a third option and in that study, the Low Carb Group did lose more weight than the Mediterranean Diet, and although the Low Carbohydrate Group did lose more weight, they also regained weight over 2 years more quickly. All three groups stayed under their starting weight. [2]

Only one of these studies ran for longer than 12 months, with the majority of them falling between 12 weeks and 6 months, that particular study by Gulbrand, et al 2012 concluded the following:

“There was no difference in weight loss or common risk factors between groups. There was a significant improvement in glycemic control at 6 months for the low carb group. However, compliance was poor, and the effects diminished at 24 months as people started to consume more carbs.” [3]

It is also the only study out of the 23 where the Low-Fat group lost more weight than the Low Carb Group.

This is not a coincidence. The longer the study…the less magical the Keto Diet would appear to be.

Weight loss is where we see the “Health” Markers improve particularly when it relates to Blood Pressure, Heart Disease, PCOS, and Acne. Combined with how the Diet helps those with Diabetes and Pre Diabetes in terms of improving Insulin Sensitivity. You can achieve weight loss without a Ketogenic Diet.

There is one area of study and health the Ketogenic Diet can be used effectively and I will not argue a point against that, and that is in its use with people who are Epileptic. I would say this, however, if you want to work on Epilepsy with the Ketogenic Diet then speak to your doctor first about this and do not just take my word on the matter. I’m not a physician.

The Ketogenic Diet is, therefore, a very restrictive diet that has a lot of evidence to support its abilities in improving health and weight loss for many individuals.

Over a short space of time.

It works upon the science whereby taking Carbohydrates out of your Diet you “switch” the energy source of the body from burning Carbohydrates and Glycogen which is stored in your Muscles and Liver to burning Fat via something your body now produces called a Ketone.

When your body has no Glycogen left to fuel your body it starts producing Ketones which are then used as energy as your body must run on something.

It's like a Hybrid Car changing from Electric Power, as there is no charge left, to Petrol as you have a tank in reserve.

Do you remember that scene in Men In Black in the tunnel when the car stops being just a car…

This is what people who are “Keto” will tell you its like.

You hit the red button and become a fat-burning machine.

You have probably read this section and thought;

“Adam, you’re meant to be telling me why I shouldn’t do this diet…right now it sounds almost too good to be true”

When things sound too good to be true…guess what…

How Does The Ketogenic Diet Help With Fat Loss?

In two words: Calorie Deficit.

Now the Keto Bots will be out in their droves telling me it’s so much more than a Calorie Deficit because you are changing the way your body burns energy and you get this, that, and the other.

To be honest…I switch off when I hear Keto Bots bigging up the Diet because it is a Calorie Deficit at work…and if they are willing to deny that then they clearly know nothing about how energy balance works.

It would also be pertinent right now to point out that Carbohydrates store water. For every one gram of Carbohydrate, the body will store 2–3g of water. Therefore it stands to reason that if you reduce your Carbohydrate level you will of course lose scale weight. This is not body fat that you are losing on the scale…it is simply water weight.

It is also a big reason weight loss happens so sharply in the early stages of a Keto Diet. But becomes wholly unsustainable when the scale stops going down and your motivation to keep avoiding the biscuit tin is starting to wain.

What Can You Eat On A Keto Diet?

Here is a list of foods you cannot eat on a Keto Diet:

• Sugary foods: Soda, fruit juice, smoothies, cake, ice cream, candy, etc.
• Grains or starches: Wheat-based products, rice, pasta, cereal, etc.
• Fruit: All fruit, except small portions of berries like strawberries.
• Beans or legumes: Peas, kidney beans, lentils, chickpeas, etc.
• Root vegetables and tubers: Potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips, etc.
• Low-fat or diet products: These are highly processed and often high in carbs.
• Some condiments or sauces: These often contain sugar and unhealthy fat.
• Unhealthy fats: Limit your intake of processed vegetable oils, mayonnaise, etc.
• Alcohol: Due to their carb content, many alcoholic beverages can throw you out of ketosis.
• Sugar-free diet foods: These are often high in sugar alcohols, which can affect ketone levels in some cases. These foods also tend to be highly processed. [1]

Before I continue…can I just refer you to this: “Fruit: All fruit, except small portions of berries like strawberries.”

Keto is very often referred to as a “Healthy Diet”. At what point is removing fruit from your diet going to improve your health? Especially when we call into question how you are going to get enough Fibre into your Diet on this plan.

One article upon researching this piece for you said this:

“A poorly planned keto diet is at risk of being deficient in fiber,” says Dana Elia, RDN, an integrative and functional medicine dietitian in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. [7]

I mean, sure you can supplement it in…spending more money on this “healthy” diet. Or you could just pick up an Apple. I’m not here to tell you what to do…I’m just presenting the facts.

Now I hope you are thinking about the following:

Here's a list of foods you can eat:

• Meat: Red meat, steak, ham, sausage, bacon, chicken and turkey.
• Fatty fish: Such as salmon, trout, tuna and mackerel.
• Eggs: Look for pastured or omega-3 whole eggs.
• Butter and cream: Look for grass-fed when possible.
• Cheese: Unprocessed cheese (cheddar, goat, cream, blue or mozzarella).
• Nuts and seeds: Almonds, walnuts, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, etc.
• Healthy oils: Primarily extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil and avocado oil.
• Avocados: Whole avocados or freshly made guacamole.
• Low-carb veggies: Most green veggies, tomatoes, onions, peppers, etc.
• Condiments: You can use salt, pepper, and various healthy herbs and spices. [1]

When you compare the two lists, it should come as no surprise to you that you will be in a Caloric Deficit.

It’s not rocket science. You are being expected to almost cut out one entire food group: Carbohydrates.

By cutting out a Macronutrient you are going to be reducing your overall caloric intake.

You have literally cut the food you can eat down by a third.

We also need to address the Caloric Content of the food you are eating.

For your information:

Protein = 4kcal per gram, Carbohydrate= 4kcal per gram, Fat = 9kcal per gram

So by cutting your Carbohydrate intake so low over the course of your diet you are eliminating 4kcal for every gram of that food you eat.

And because Keto is a “High” Fat Diet you are replacing that with foods that are 9kcal per gram. Except that you aren’t. You will not be able to eat anywhere as much Dietary Fat as you can Carbohydrates in a balanced diet. It's just not possible. Even with a 5kcal advantage.

So how can I sit here and advocate it actually is a Calorie Deficit at work?

Well for starters you have very definite Bright Lines at work here. The Diet dictates that you can’t eat: Sugary Foods, Fruit, Mayonaise, and Alcohol. As an example.

There are really simple, really straightforward rules at play here.

Let’s say in a week you were to eat: 2 Mars Bars (460kcal), 7 Bananas (735kcal), have 4tbsp of Mayonnaise (360kcal) with your dinners, and 3 glasses of 175ml Red Wine (480kcal), 3 bags of crisps (552kcal), 1 can of Coke(138kcal).

I think that’s a very fair assessment of some of your “extras” you have each week.

You are therefore cutting away 2,725kcal each week.

To make that back up in the food that is Keto Friendly you would need to eat:

100g of Cheddar Cheese (402kcal), 2 Chicken Breasts (568kcal), 4 Large Eggs (312kcal), 200g of Turkey Breast (294kcal), 2 Avocados (320kcal), 4 Red Peppers (148kcal), 300g of Salmon (618kcal)

This is 2,662kcal.

That is EXTRA to what you would “normally” eat. This isn't what you would normally eat. This is on top of your Keto Meal Plan you have been given.

So without even trying. From just “cutting” away Carbohydrate from your Diet you are saving 2,725kcal a week.

That is a Caloric Deficit of 389kcal a day.

You will lose weight if you have a deficit of 389kcal a day. Especially as your Water Weight drops off as well.

And because what you can and cannot eat is so strictly defined, then it seems easier to adhere to in the early phases of starting your diet.

Remember those 23 studies? They all proved that this is a Diet you can adhere to for results for up to 3 months very effectively.

But what about the Ketones burning your fat away?

Look, as much as I would adore having a car that had a red button in it that made it fly, the truth is it doesn’t exist outside of Alien Films starring Will Smith.

I am not denying the scientific proof of Ketosis occurring. Clearly it does exist [4]. And I am not denying that when your body uses Ketones for fuel, it doesn’t burn fat from the body.

What I am denying is that the Ketones are the full picture. They are not the holy grail of Fat Loss that Keto Warriors would have you believe because, in order to get to that point, you will be in a Caloric Deficit first.

A Caloric Deficit will and always is the number one place for Fat Loss to happen in the body.

A huge argument in favor of the Keto Diet is that you are eating more satiating food. A diet higher in protein is always going to make you feel fuller for longer…and therefore you are going to be less hungry throughout the day. [5].

Which therefore means you are going to be consuming fewer calories throughout the day.

The Healthline article I have cited [1] previously states this:

“What’s more, the diet is so filling that you can lose weight without counting calories or tracking your food intake” [16]

Then when you click on the [16] you find a study that concludes the following:

“In the short term, high-protein, low-carbohydrate ketogenic diets reduce hunger and lower food intake significantly more than do high-protein, medium-carbohydrate non-ketogenic diets”

In. The. Short. Term. [6].

Like any diet, in the short term, it will lead to weight loss.

For a number of reasons but mainly due to the fact you are excited, fully motivated and you currently have no cravings for the foods you are not allowed to eat.

Why The Ketogenic Diet is not a good idea for beginners

By now, I am hoping you have a great idea of what the Keto Diet is.

Diet Culture

A restrictive diet that is sold to you on the premise of not telling you the full truth of how fat loss works.

It's like all diets in that sense. Weight Watchers, Slimming World, Atkins, those MLM Diets.

They keep you at arm's length of the truth, and that is what makes you part with your money. You aren’t clear on the process, and someone comes along with a “magic solution” you will happily pay to find out what that is.

Throughout this article, I have referred to the Short Term effect of the diet, and its evident success in that field.

You need to remember that long term, Fat Loss doesn’t happen quickly.

As my friend Jared Hamilton says:

“Fat Loss is like pregnancy, it takes 9 months for anything incredible to happen and you can’t speed it up”

I’m going to take a punt here and say that you are reading this because you are wanting to figure out how to lose weight, and you have heard the Keto Diet might be a good idea for you.

So you are doing some research.

Now if you have never lost weight before, then please understand this.

Weight Loss takes a long time. Much much longer than you ever thought it did.

Instagram and Personal Trainers don’t tell you this, because it's not a sexy sell. If I told you to lose the 2 stones you so desperately want to lose it is going to take you a year…you are going to very quickly reconsider your financial commitment to that project.

And your belief that you can do it over such a long period of time.

So all the “good news” about Keto and most other diets in truth…although Weight Watchers generally comes out on top more often in these circumstances…is focussed around those magic 12 weeks.

The 12 weeks you could sustain it for.

The 12 weeks you could avoid eating a Mars Bar or drinking an Espresso Martini.

The 12 weeks that you might just about be able to avoid a social situation that is going to compromise your adherence to your diet.

You see,

This is the issue.

Abstinence is a wonderful, truly joyous principle.

But it is an incredibly hard thing to adhere too.

Willpower is finite. And life will throw things at you that challenge you willpower for your Diet, every day.

You will be able to find the energy to not eat bread, for about 3 months.

But you won’t be able to do that for a year….especially if you are just starting out.

In my experience, people who are new to fitness and fat loss often have behaviors that need figuring out first. Before being able to enter into a very restrictive diet, they need to work on their behaviors around food so much more.

In my time spent as a trainer, I have dealt with behaviors that have led to weight gain in clients such as, Binge Eating, refusal to eat vegetables, emotional eating, overcoming PTSD, overcoming stress-induced depressions, anxiety, depression, disordered eating and very low self-esteem.

I perfectly understand that not all people have these behaviors in their lives, but if you have just one of them then moving to a very restrictive diet is not going to help you overcome the root causes of why you have come to fitness and dieting in the first place.

We must always address the root cause.

Not the symptom of the root cause.

Sticking a Keto plaster/band-aid on the wound that is left by disordered eating is only going to heal a small part of the issue.

With so many people who follow a diet, they are a cause and product of eternal failure.

Social Situations

Let's use the Keto Diet as our example here:

Step 1: You get invited out for a meal out with friends on a Friday night.

Step 2: You are now faced with two choices:

a) Cheat on your diet at the restaurant

b) Stick to your diet but not enjoy yourself with your friends as they want a bottle of wine to share

It doesn’t matter what choice you make the result is negative:

a) You have now failed at your diet.

b) You didn’t enjoy yourself with your friends socially.

The options you are left with are aways failure and unhappiness.

You might be able to stomach a social situation like this once, twice, possibly three times in a space of two months. But sooner or later it will catch up with you.

My Experience

In my life, there has been three types of people who peddle the Keto Diet.

Type 1 — The Financially Invested.

Most people who I come across who advocate the Keto Diet have a financially invested reason to do so. They have either built their brand on the Keto theme, are part of a pyramid scheme to sell Ketones, or they have some other thing to gain by selling you a quick solution for weight loss without telling you how Fat Loss truly occurs.

Type 2 — The Quick Fix Client

This is the person who has started the Keto Diet. They are fully sold on what it is and are completely unaware of the issues they are about to walk into. They have usually paid a Type 1 person for the Keto Meal Plan that they are on. They have also had bad previous experiences with dieting, have tried a few diets that didn’t work all for the same reasons that the Keto diet won’t work long term for them. They may be week 2 or 3 in, and it’s all going very well for them.

If you talk to them again in 8–9 weeks, it’s soon become another diet that was too unsustainable for them to follow.

Type 3 — The Anomaly

To every diet, there is someone who it has worked for…the issue is when this person sells it as the ultimate truth that will work for everyone. In my experience, The Anomaly has had previously very good results with very restrictive diets, maybe they have an athletic background or no known behavior issues with food previously.

If you look back on your experience with this diet, the sources that you have used to find this article…do any of them fit those three profiles?

If so…then please…just start with a Calorie Deficit as outlined in this video…and when you know you can do that…you can consider moving into something more extreme like a Keto Diet.

The Gym Starter on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LZy-aHPY6o

Conclusion

Aside from telling you to stop eating Fruits, which to me is just crazy talk. How can a diet promote health and tell you to avoid eating “All Fruit except for some berries”?

The biggest reason that I do not think beginners should use a Keto Diet is that you aren’t knowledgeable enough about the topic. You don’t know how hard restriction like this truly is, or how Fat Loss truly works.

All of the studies that advocate a Keto Diet for Fat Loss are all based on very small time frames in terms of lasting, sustainable fat loss.

If you are a beginner in Fitness and Fat Loss it is my duty to give you the best chance of long term success.

I know it might not be what you want to hear, but it is this message that must be shouted the loudest because it is this message that will protect you from the cycle of yo-yo dieting and constant failure around food and your bodyweight.

The Keto Diet locks you into a prison. One that is based on results before sustainability and at some point will compromise whether or not you want to stick to your diet or enjoy yourself.

It is possible to lose weight, stick to a diet, and enjoy yourself.

But in order to do that, you must give yourself more time, and take the pressure off of your shoulders.

Stop thinking 12 weeks.

Start thinking 12 months.

And you will be able to lose weight with a Caloric Deficit, enjoy your favorite foods, and no longer fail at your goals.

And that should be all you want from your diet.

Shouldn’t it?

References:

1. Healthline. 2020. The Ketogenic Diet: A Detailed Beginner’s Guide To Keto. [online] Available at: <https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/ketogenic-diet-101> [Accessed 31 August 2020].
2. New England Journal of Medicine. 2020. Weight Loss With A Low-Carbohydrate, Mediterranean, Or Low-Fat Diet | NEJM. [online] Available at: <https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa0708681> [Accessed 31 August 2020].
3. Guldbrand, H., Dizdar, B., Bunjaku, B. et al. In type 2 diabetes, randomisation to advice to follow a low-carbohydrate diet transiently improves glycaemic control compared with advice to follow a low-fat diet producing a similar weight loss. Diabetologia 55, 2118–2127 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-012-2567-4
4. En.wikipedia.org. 2020. Ketosis. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketosis#:~:text=Trace%20levels%20of%20ketones%20are,carbohydrates%20to%20metabolizing%20fatty%20acids.> [Accessed 31 August 2020].
5. Westerterp-Plantenga MS, Nieuwenhuizen A, Tomé D, Soenen S, Westerterp KR. Dietary protein, weight loss, and weight maintenance. Annu Rev Nutr. 2009;29:21–41. doi:10.1146/annurev-nutr-080508–141056
6. Johnstone AM, Horgan GW, Murison SD, Bremner DM, Lobley GE. Effects of a high-protein ketogenic diet on hunger, appetite, and weight loss in obese men feeding ad libitum. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008;87(1):44–55. doi:10.1093/ajcn/87.1.44
7. Migala, J. and Kelly Kennedy, R., 2020. The 10 Best Sources Of Fiber On The Keto Diet | Everyday Health. [online] EverydayHealth.com. Available at: <https://www.everydayhealth.com/ketogenic-diet/diet/best-sources-fiber-on-keto-diet/> [Accessed 1 September 2020].