Can I Do Keto Diet Forever? Is It Good Or Not?

Can I Do Keto Diet Forever? Is It Good Or Not?

Keto

Keto Diet 101

Ketogenic diets are low-carb, high-fat diets that are devised to minimize carbohydrate intake. A keto diet initiates the process of ketosis, a state in which our body burns fat instead of carbohydrates for producing energy. It is called ketosis because ketones (by-products of fatty acid breakdown) are produced and used as a fuel as a result of this process.

There is not an iota of doubt as far as the effectiveness of keto diets goes. More often than not, the main reason behind switching to keto is to lose the undesirable pounds that you might have gained because of a sedentary lifestyle.

Those who have practiced keto for considerable periods have experienced the amazing weight loss effects that are associated with the ketogenic diet. Apart from weight loss, there are plenty of other health benefits associated with the keto diet as well. Does that mean staying on keto is the way forward in life! We mean to say, why give up on something so beneficial for your body? 

We know that some of you have been wondering about this side of things for some time now. There is a chance that some of you might even be fearing the post-keto life. Will I lose all the gains I made? 

The purpose of this discussion is to answer these and many other unasked questions swirling in your mind. In this brief, we discuss the nitty-gritties of switching off keto and share some tips that would help you immensely in post-keto life! 

Without further ado, let us begin!   

Time Needed To Get Your Body in Ketosis

 Before we start discussing the get-out, we need to understand the get-in aspect of ketogenic diets. How much time does your body need to enter ketosis is the first question that needs to be answered in this debate.

It is believed that limiting your carb intake to 30-50 grams per day has the effect of pushing your body into ketosis. The moment your liver starts producing ketone bodies, you are in ketosis! Normally, this takes 2-4 days at most. However, the goal can be achieved even more quickly by practicing intermittent fasting or engaging in intense exercise. 

What’s The Ideal Time to Stay in Ketosis?

Congratulations, your body is in ketosis! However, it is only the beginning of something great, paying attention to trivial details is imperative for a successful outcome. Before we answer the question asked in the subheading, let us tell you how you can ascertain that your body is in ketosis.

Well, some of the indications of ketosis include brighter moods, decreased appetite, and mental clarity. Now to how long should you let your body stay in the state of ketosis is something that is pre-determined by your goals. How many pounds were you planning to shed at the kick-off time?

Or was it better management of the diabetes type-2 that you were after? Once you feel that your milestones are within sight, you need to start thinking about the future. For some, their progress vanishes the moment they ditch the high-fat low-carb scheme. For others, the exact opposite of that happens. 

Do I Have To Stay On A Keto Diet Forever?

So which road should you take? Some of us think that we can keep everything in check once they are off keto. All they have to do is keep a count of calories they are consuming! Well, in theory, this sounds quite feasible.

However, we are afraid that the practical calorie calculations will make you bang your head in the wall! And let us not forget that not everything goes by the book when it comes to calorie counting. Your body may crave more or less than what you might have anticipated or calculated.

So if one was to adopt this point of view, then definitely, staying on keto is more beneficial than ditching it completely. Trying a variant of the keto diet that allows you to increase the carb intake but still helps you keep all the gains that you have made is one option that you can consider. 

Long Term Benefits of Keto Diet

Maintenance is not the only benefit associated with following a ketogenic diet for a long time. Rather, there are plenty of benefits that can keep you on keto. This is not random ranting though, there is enough credible scientific evidence to back this claim as well.

A study established that staying on keto for six months can significantly help with keeping blood glucose and LDL, HDL levels in check. Further, minimizing carb intake leads to a reduced body mass index as well. Hence, staying on keto for a long time is certainly rewarding, as suggested by the findings of the aforementioned study.

Are There Any Risks Involved?  

Some of you must be thinking: will not having carbs for a year be harmful to my body? Well, the first thing that you need to know, or rather recall, is that keto diets are not about eliminating the carbohydrate content from your diet completely.

Rather, the emphasis is on minimizing the intake percentage. Secondly, there is not enough credible evidence from scientific research to establish that going on keto for say a year can be harmful to your body.

On the contrary, there have been studies that concluded with the finding that keto diets are as safe as non-keto diets, even in the longer scheme of action. It is pertinent to mention here that these findings do not deny or defy the side effects that are normally associated with the ketogenic diet.

The group of side effects dubbed keto flu cannot be and must not be taken lightly.

Going Off Keto

Despite its all effectiveness, having thoughts of ditching keto is quite natural. Carb cravings work curiously! They can wake you up in the dead of the night and make you have that doughnut you have been craving for so long.

So, if you feel that at some point, you just cannot do keto anymore, well properly ending things is extremely important. You just cannot run to the nearest bakery and start shopping mad for the forbidden foods. No, you have to take care of the following points: 

1- Please prefer organic foods, even when you are not following the ketogenic diet.

2- Documenting your reversion to carbs is extremely important. This will help you devise a routine, a schedule that will allow your body to readjust to the sudden increase in carb intake. 

3- Ensuring that you still are limiting your carb intake to 50-70 grams is extremely important for preserving the gains you made while you were on keto. 

4- Keep weighing regularly. 

5- If you feel that this getting off keto thing is not working for you, well switching back to it is an option that you shouldn’t close doors on. 

Keto Tips & Tricks That Can Come In Handy! 

These tips might sound a little out of scope, but trust us, they can help your keto cause tremendously in the longer run. Trying is a must, here are the golden keto tips and tricks everyone has been hiding from you. Oh, it is not an exhaustive list by any means! 

1-Make a habit of reading the labels. This will help you keep updated with what you are consuming in terms of carbs, fats, and fiber. 

2-Ensure that you have a little keto diet diary or journal which can help you keep a tab on your progress. 

3-If you don’t have enough time for shopping around, you can opt for healthy frozen keto meals as well. But it is just a short-term solution and not something that you can rely on in the longer run.

4- Thinking about alternatives in advance always pays in the longer run. Please make a list of food items that you can use in your daily keto meals.

5- Staying hydrated all the time can help you achieve much faster than what you might have in mind! 

Conclusion 

Folks that would be all from this discussion. The final takeaway from this discussion is that there is absolutely nothing wrong with following a keto diet for an extended period. True, there might come a point where your body will beg you for carbs.

 But a few cheat meals ought to do the trick in our opinion! We wish we could talk a bit more about the subtopics associated with the topic but unfortunately, we have run out of the time and space we had for this discussion. Nevertheless, we are sure that you learned something if not everything new from this discussion. On that optimistic note, we bid you farewell from this discussion! 

Reffrence:

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17228046/

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5639963/

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