HOW DO YOU KNOW WHICH IS RIGHT FOR YOU?

If you’re looking to lose weight and are researching your options online, it’s likely you’ve heard of Keto, a trending, do-it-yourself weight loss diet. ⁠

For some, the keto diet is successful, while others struggle to see results or maintain their goal weight. ⁠

MD Frank Douglas released a white paper that addresses what “ketogenic” actually means and highlights key differences between the “keto diet” and the Ideal Protein ketogenic weight loss protocol followed here at Vital Body.⁠

If you or a friend is experimenting with the Keto Diet, but struggling with sweet and fatty food cravings, or remaining consistent, read the full white paper “Understanding Ketogenic Diets” by Frank Douglas, MD, below to see if the Ideal Protein protocol might be a better fit for you.⁠

 

 

UNDERSTANDING KETOGENIC DIETS

By Frank Douglis, MD

July 9, 2020 

There can be a lot of confusion about the term “Keto Diet”. This is not surprising given the sheer volume of brands and companies claiming to offer keto diets and products, as well as the multiple published articles offering various points of view. This leads to conflicting views on the safety and efficacy of this type of diet. 

Since the word “ketogenic” actually means “making ketones”, any diet which results in the burning of fat can be called a ketogenic diet. It is very important to make a distinction between the “keto diet” as described on the internet and a healthy low-fat, low-carb ketogenic protocol with appropriate vitamin and mineral supplementation. 

The Ketogenic Diet was originally developed to treat epilepsy because ketones suppress seizures. Since it was not a weight loss diet, it supplied a large amount of fat to maintain caloric intake and included minimal amounts of carbohydrate and protein; metabolizing the fat produces ketones, suppresses seizures. 

When this diet used to treat epilepsy is adapted for weight loss, several things must be considered: caloric content and carbohydrates, protein intake, fat content and micronutrition (vitamins and minerals). 

For weight loss, the total caloric content must be reduced. According to a recent article, these keto diets recommend that “only 5% of calories come from carbohydrates, along with 75% from fat and 20% from protein.” For an 800-1000 calorie-a-day diet, this translates to 40 – 50 grams of carbohydrates. This is the correct amount of carbohydrates to stay in ketosis. 

This is also a good calorie level for weight loss, but it results in a protein intake (at 20% of an 800 to 1000 calorie diet) of 160 to 200 calories which is only 40 to 50 grams daily. This is below the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA), the minimum you need to stay healthy. The RDA for protein is .8 grams per kilogram of body weight or 56 grams on average. Most physicians who specialize in obesity recommend a higher protein intake for their patients while losing weight. When a person is protein-deficient they will lose lean body mass. The loss of lean body mass is associated with both increased morbidity and mortality. 

This adapted anti-seizure diet also contains a high level of dietary fat, often saturated. Saturated fats are known to increase both cardiovascular risk as well as metabolic problems including insulin resistance. Saturated fats have also been shown to cause inflammation of the hypothalamus which primarily affects and damages the neurons responsible for satiety.  

This results in cravings for sweet fatty foods. Further, the HHS and USDA nutrition and health experts who have published “Dietary Guidelines 2015 – 2020” recommend that fewer than 10% of calories should come from saturated fats. 

And, lastly, the adapted keto diet has limited fruits and vegetables (and no additional nutritional supplementation). Fruits and vegetables provide important nutrients including vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and polyphenols. The lack of consumption can result in a deficiency of these important nutrients. 

For all these reasons, this type of a high-fat, low-protein ketogenic diet should not be used for weight loss. 

Consider, instead, a ketogenic diet that limits fat as well as carbohydrates and meets the RDA for protein. This diet, the Ideal Protein weight-loss protocol, is low in calories, and when administered via partial meal replacements, results in robust weight loss as well as improved blood sugar and insulin resistance. The restriction of saturated fats improves cardiovascular risk and results in faster weight loss because the patient burns their own fat for energy instead of dietary fat. And as adequate protein is supplied, lean body mass can be preserved. 

In this medically designed protocol, low-carbohydrate vegetables are encouraged both for fiber and micronutrients. Vitamin and mineral supplementations are also used to ensure an adequate supply of micronutrients until more fruits and vegetables are introduced back into the diet after weight loss. This constitutes a protocol for healthy weight loss. 

The Ideal Protein Protocol uses applied physiology combined with patient education and a one- on-one coaching program including behavior modification to produce a medically and metabolically significant weight loss in a patient with normal liver and kidney function. In addition, it includes a long-term plan for the maintenance of healthy weight. Studies show the metabolic and cardiovascular benefits of this low-fat, low-carbohydrate diet with adequate protein and supplemented vitamins and minerals, and thousands of patients (working with thousands of clinics across the US and Canada) have benefited from significant weight loss after following the protocol.