Keto or ketogenic diet is one of the popular diet plans originally found for the treatment of epilepsy in children by Doctor Wilder [1]. The diet involves the consumption of high protein, high fat, and very low carb food. This induces a metabolic state in the body called ketosis which enables the body to use the reserved energy stored as fats.
But for how long do you need to follow this diet? Is this diet an effective way to lose weight? Let us explore the efficiency of the diet and what possible effects it has on our bodies.
How Long Does it Take to See Weight Loss on Keto?
In general, to witness some considerable changes in weight with the keto diet (or any other diet for that matter) will take at least two to three weeks. People witnessed around 6 to 12 kg of weight loss within a period of six months into the keto diet when compared to low-fat diets [2].
It is also suggested that you have to be on the diet for at least 2 weeks to 3 weeks to witness changes in the body weight. Also, after a period of 12 months, there isn’t a significant reduction in body weight with the keto diet when compared to others [3].
This means that the body starts to use its residual energy stored in the form of fats initially and after a period of six months, it starts to attain equilibrium to maintain the body mass whatever the diet plan might be.
Therefore, we can conclude that weight loss in keto can be witnessed around two to three weeks into the diet, and for a considerable loss, you have to wait at least six months.
However, if you understand what the keto diet does to your body, you can sustain the diet longer and see furthermore changes in your body weight. Also, you cannot achieve it only through the keto diet alone.
What does the Keto Diet do to the Body?
Our body primarily uses carbs for energy. It is easy to convert carbs into energy. But whenever your body is deprived of carbs, it starts to break down fats to get energy. This process is known as Ketosis.
During ketosis, the ketones are produced from the fats stored in adipose tissues which can be spent by the body to perform its daily activities [4].
In the keto diet, you will be depriving the body of carbs or restricting the intake to less than 50g/day. But the body cannot function without energy and this is where ketogenesis comes into play.
The body initially starts to use reserve energy called glycogen. But it requires insulin to use the glucose obtained from the breakdown of it which is not obtained in the absence of carbs intake. Therefore, the body starts to burn fats and gets a bunch of ketones called ketogenesis. This process happens in the liver and the resulting ketones are used [5].
Since the fats are used up by the body for energy, it results in a reduction in body weight. Your body loses all the residual fat and you can get a significant loss of weight after some time. When compared to a low-fat diet, a low-carb diet has been very effective and trials have shown higher weight loss in a low-carb diet like the keto diet.
Therefore, without much effort and just by cutting carbs out of your dietary routine, you will be able to shed a considerable amount of weight. But there is difficulty in sustaining this diet. Because the body craves carbs after some time and you need to know how to satisfy it without compromising the ketosis.
How to Sustain in Keto Weight Loss Routine?
First of all, it is not recommended to be in ketosis after a period of 12 months. But within this period, you may start to have carb cravings and difficulty remaining in the diet.
The causes may be physical effects from the diet or emotional cravings. As we have established what ketosis does to the body, you don’t have to completely deprive the body of carbs. You just have to keep it below the 50g per day mark.
Here are some of the ways in which you can sustain any diet routine:
- Understand hunger. Try to provide your body with food only when you are hungry. In the case of the keto diet, you will be just providing proteins and fats.
- If you are not hungry, don’t eat anything. Never get into a timely schedule for eating. Because your body will be performing the ketosis and eating might interfere with it. So, you should always eat only when the body screams for food with hunger.
- Try to diversify your eatables. There are a ton of food items that comes under protein and carbs. You don’t have to keep on consuming the same items every day.
- When you start to introduce different foods, you can sustain longer in the diet. Lose the monotony and experiment.
- Try to cook your own food. This is a classic advice from all diet and weight loss experts. When you try to cook your own food, you can understand your body more and give exactly what it needs.
- Give into your appetite every day and focus on what you really need. Prepare that food and serve yourself fresh at all times.
- Try to cook small portions and consume them instantly. Don’t preserve any food or eat any preserved food items from the store.
- Go organic. You have to switch over to organic meat, veggies, and other cereals, nuts, etc. This will help your liver to function more effectively and reduce body fat much easier.
These are the ways in which you can successfully sustain your keto diet and achieve better weight loss than you expect.
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Conclusion
The Keto diet is around for more than 100 years and its efficiency in weight loss is established in numerous literatures. You cannot get a more short-term result in any diet plan like this diet.
Therefore, if you are desperate to lose weight sooner, you may very well check out this diet and follow our recommendations for more effectiveness.
References:
1. History of the ketogenic diet – https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19049574/
2. Ketogenic diets for weight loss: A review of their principles, safety and efficacy – https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1871403X07000816
3. Ketogenic Diet for Obesity: Friend or Foe? – https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/11/2/2092
4. Beyond weight loss: a review of the therapeutic uses of very-low-carbohydrate (ketogenic) diets. – https://europepmc.org/article/MED/23801097
5. Brain metabolism during fasting. – https://europepmc.org/article/MED/6061736
