Having first discovered this, I have to admit I was shocked to learn that Keto diet doesn’t work for women. But before I fill you in as to why, let me first explain what a Keto Diet is.
What is a Keto Diet?
A Keto Diet is a diet that nearly eliminates all carbohydrates. Dramatically reducing or eliminating all carbohydrates which forces your body to begin using fats and ketones for fuel instead of your body’s normal fuel source, which is glucose.
And when your body is forced to switch Its fuel source over to ketones from glucose. Your body then enters a state known as Ketosis; Thus, the name Keto Diet.
So, who came up with this unusual diet and why?
The Keto diet was not originally created or intended to be used for weight loss purposes, nor to be used without medical supervision.
Apparently, the original ketogenic diet was developed for the treatment of epilepsy in 1921, by Dr. Wilder, and has since also been used as a potential treatment for conditions including respiratory failure and certain types of pediatric cancer.
Recently, Keto diets are being studied as a potential therapeutic diet for a range of other diseases, including: type II diabetes, polycystic ovary syndrome, and neurodegenerative disease.
However, you’re here to understand better what the Keto diet does to the female metabolism so that you can better understand what to expect from Keto.
Does the Keto Diet Really Work?
The simply answer is yes, Keto diets can work, and they can work fast.
By eliminating carbohydrates from your diet, you can almost shut off the fat storing hormone insulin, which can be very helpful for weight loss, and there are many studies to support this. Some of which are shown below…
1.) https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/ketogenic-diet-is-the-ultimate-low-carb-diet-good-for-you-2017072712089
2.) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2716748/
3.) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3945587/
What are the Biggest Risks for Women Doing the Keto Diet?
There are 3 Big Risks for woman following a Keto diet. It is said that these can have an enormous impact on your health, metabolism, and long-term weight loss results.
It is now coming to light that many of the risks are not being talked about due to those marketing this diet. Apparently, these may even purposely being hidden from you.
Risk #1 – Side Effects
It is said that the most common side effect is known as the Keto flu. This is said to hit you during the first one to four weeks after beginning the Keto diet, as your body is trying to adjust to having almost nothing in the way of carbs.
This Keto flu is said to manifest itself with symptoms such as:
- Headache
- Dizziness
- Fatigue
- Cramping
- Stomach pains
- Constipation
- Confusion
- Irritability
- Concentration problems
- Bad breath, and
- Difficulty sleeping
They claim that all of these side effects can usually be manageable, and subside within a few days to a week. However, it is important to note that these symptoms often reappear after STOPPING a Keto diet, as the body must re-adapt to its fuel sources.
Risk #2 – Nutrient Deficiency
When going Keto, apparently there is a real risk of nutrient deficiency, as well as dehydration and electrolyte imbalance; all of which are documented.
Typically, Keto diets tend to be very low in:
- Fibre
- Thiamin
- Folate
- Potassium
- Calcium
- Magnesium
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin E, and
- Vitamin B6
…and therefore, appropriate water intake, along with the appropriate supplements (when necessary), is recommended in order to help you avoid a long list of serious health conditions that can accompany nutrient deficiencies.
Now, the MOST IMPORTANT RISK…
Risk #3 – Sustainability
Unfortunately, when it comes to Keto induced weight loss results, statistically speaking, there is a VERY big problem that you need to be aware of. Apparently, due to record high dropout rates from Keto studies, along with their subject’s non-compliance, adverse events, and side effects, there are NO VALID LONG-TERM studies.
Apparently, this is the main reason experts, nutritionists, and doctors are reluctant with recommending the Keto diet for healthy and sustainable weight loss.
The US National Weight Control Registry that compiles details on individuals who have successfully lost more than 28 pounds, and kept if off for a year or more, found that less than 1% had followed a Keto style diet.
WoW! RIGHT?
Obviously, that is NOT a good sign for the Keto Diet.
Why the Keto Diet Has Such Low Sustainability?
Well, apparently research points to two reasons, both of which do not look good for marketers of the Keto diet, which very well could be why you’ve never heard of these… especially the second reason.
FIRST: is how Keto diet can be so difficult to follow. With extreme diets like Keto, can make extreme lack of food choices, which is never easy, desirable, realistic or maintainable.
When it comes to Keto, you either have to be all the way in or you are all the way out. I have heard that studies show that you cannot float in and out of Ketosis and expect to achieve or maintain results, which does make sense.
This means that if you get into Ketosis and you have to come out of it again (like everyone does eventually), the rebound weight gain can be dramatic when forcing your body to re-adapt and deal with insulin again.
Incredibly, studies (1, 2) show that the initial physiological response to adding carbs back into your diet after being into Ketosis looks similar to that of type II diabetic, including severe blood sugar swings, insulin resistance, water retention, and as already mentioned, rebound weight gain.
This is the reason why you must comply 100% to the Keto diet if you intend on going through with it. And, you need to be monitoring yourself consistently that you are staying in Ketosis by doing either blood testing, urine testing or breath testing. Then perhaps you could count on this diet to actually work for you.
How realistic is it for you to say NO to all forms of:
- Bread
- Rice
- Fruits
- Potatoes
- Pizza
- Pasta
- Pancakes
- Chocolate
- Desserts
…and, all of your favourite carbohydrates?
Then ask yourself, how many people have you met in your entire life that have successfully been able to give up carbs and are living on a strict Keto diet.
The fact is that any Keto diet can be considered a very abnormal and unrealistic way of eating for most people; Which in my experience, can make it extremely difficult to follow, adhere to, maintain, and make it almost impossible to turn into a lifestyle.
SECOND: In addition to a Keto diet, there is a second and more important reason that the latest research is pointing to the lack of sustainable weight loss success with Keto, for women in particular, and it has EVERYTHING to do with the female metabolism.
If you recall, by almost eliminating carbs, you can basically shut off your fat storing hormone insulin, which is key to the initial success experienced with Keto.
However, the latest research shows that insulin is not the ONLY hormone that Keto diets end up shutting off in women. Unfortunately, over a number of weeks, Keto diets not only shut off your fat storing hormone insulin, but this also eventually shuts off your number one female fat burning hormone leptin.
What is leptin, you ask?
Leptin is widely becoming known as the true key to fast, reliable, yet sustainable female fat loss.
Leading weight loss researchers have discovered that high levels of leptin speed up the female metabolism (1,2), signalling your body to burn fat; while low levels of leptin slow down female metabolism, signaling your body to store fat.
It is said that when women start a Keto diet, their fat burning hormone leptin can drop twice as much and twice as fast compared to when men follow a Keto diet.
So, as a woman following a Keto diet, your metabolism slows down, which significantly decreases your rate of weight loss, leading to those frustrating weight loss plateaus, so much faster then men on Keto diets.
When your metabolism hits the brakes, of course this might also explain why sustaining Keto induced weight loss can be so much more difficult for women, even when adhering to the demands of a Keto diet.
Yet, worst of all for women, because leptin can eventually be shut off on a Keto diet, the extra rebound weight gain that can occur after stopping a Keto diet can be even more severe then what men experience.
So, the key to consistent healthy and sustainable female fat loss is NOT a Keto diet.
The REAL key to the true sustainable fat loss you desire has EVERYTHING to do with your ability to control your female fat burning hormone leptin. Because science has recently discovered that this one single hormone is nearly in complete control of the speed of your metabolism.
Having said this, you can now imagine how fast fat loss becomes when you keep your master fat burning hormone sky high, and working for you on overdrive, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, instead of being completely shut off on a Keto diet.
There is now a natural, step-by-step solution designed to deliver women the very best of BOTH worlds when it comes to female fat loss. It’s the same natural solution that has apparently helped thousands of women around the world experience life changing fat loss results faster and easier then they ever may have thought possible.
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