The Keto, or Ketogenetic diet is a well-known fad diet that is followed by many and is a huge controversy in the world of fitness and nutrition. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the diet, Keto is about cutting out all carbs from one’s diet and adding more foods high in fat. This means unhealthy carbs like refined white bread and sugary desserts; However, it also means cutting out healthy carbs such as beans, grains like oats and wheat, starchy vegetables like peas, and high card fruits like bananas. This is often used as a weight loss tactic.
Why it Works
Keto “works” because by cutting carbs out of your diet and consuming more fats, the body is essentially burning fat calories instead of calories from carbohydrates. People who participate in this diet often do lose weight. However, this does not make it a healthy means of weight loss.
Why I’m Against Keto
For starters, participating in the Keto diet means restricting oneself. Restriction is never a healthy tactic when it comes to a healthy lifestyle. Our bodies need carbs! There is a stigma around carbs that they are so bad for you and have no benefits which is simply false. Carbs are what give our bodies energy and stripping them from your diet can be dangerous. Consuming high amounts of fats is also unhealthy. You cannot substitute carbs with more fat. To put things in prospective and to kind of shed light on how ridiculous I find the Keto diet, it is “okay” to eat a pound of bacon but eating a banana or a handful of almonds is “not okay.” What is wrong with this picture? In my opinion, so much.
Moderation
Eating carbs is okay. In fact, it is encouraged and essential for a healthy diet. Everything is okay in moderation. As I mentioned before, the Keto diet’s main function is restriction. Not only is this unhealthy for the body but this is unhealthy for mental health. Restriction gives people a bad relationship with food which isn’t okay. You should never have to feel like you can’t have something or feel bad about having it.
Now, I’m no nutritionist so all of my information comes from things I’ve learned from bloggers I follow or things I’ve learned online. However, I’ve attached a link below to a website that offers some information on carbohydrates that is explained much better than I am able to.
Oh also, eat the pasta. I promise you won’t regret it. 🙂
Gym and Tonic 
I’m glad you pointed out why the keto diet is bad for people. I’ve had a few friends try it and to me the restrictions sounded more negative than positive. Depriving ourselves of certain foods because of made up stigmas is crazy and shows the toxic impact diet culture has on society. Social media needs to stop normalizing fasting and starving ourselves to get weight loss results and focus more on promoting a healthy, balanced lifestyle.
LikeLike