Fad diets come and go, but some continue to be popular because they are effective for a short amount of time. If you have tried some diets that have worked for you, you might even be tempted to combine them in hopes of enjoying even greater weight loss in perhaps an even shorter amount of time.
A couple of diets that are quite popular nowadays are the ketogenic (keto) diet and intermittent fasting (IF). Chances are that you have at least heard of these two, if not actually tried one or both of them.
The Ketogenic Diet
With the keto diet, you consume meals that are high in fat, low in carbs, and contain a moderate amount of protein. That is about 70 to 80 percent of your daily calories of fat and around five to seven percent of your daily calories of carbs.
This type of diet makes your body go into ketosis, which means that it is more efficient at burning fat. On top of that, it can help you with weight loss and managing your weight by reducing your blood sugar and insulin levels.
Intermittent Fasting
On the other hand, intermittent fasting means that you eat your meals within a certain window of time during the day, while fasting the rest of the day and night. For example, if you follow the 16/8 intermittent fasting, you have a window of eight hours for consuming foods and beverages that contain calories. You would then need to abstain from consuming calories for the remaining 16 hours.
There are other models of intermittent fasting, but regardless of which one you follow, it is supposed to help you lose weight or keep it off by keeping the number of calories you consume under control. IF has also been found to lower fasting insulin levels by up to 31 percent and blood sugar by three to six percent.
Combining the Keto Diet with Intermittent Fasting
If you have tried either the keto diet or intermittent fasting and think that combining them might be a good idea to lose weight faster, you better think again. Because there has not been any research on combining the two diets, the effects that a combination of these may have on your body are not yet known.
The keto diet alone is restrictive enough, and you may already be not getting enough of the vitamins, minerals and essential nutrients that your body needs. Practicing intermittent fasting alongside the keto diet would just add more restrictions to your eating plan. This could put too much stress on your body and you might even end up with nutrient deficiencies. It may also affect your adrenal system, which produces a variety of hormones including cortisol, a steroid hormone that regulates your metabolism.
For these reasons, it is not advisable to combine the keto diet with intermittent fasting. Pick just one plan to follow, but be advised that you would be better off opting for IF.
Intermittent fasting comes with fewer risks, unlike the keto diet, which can be risky especially for people who are suffering from prediabetes or type 1 or 2 diabetes. Blood sugar and insulin regulation are critical with these conditions. The keto diet may cause electrolyte imbalance, which may cause side effects such as fatigue, headaches, nausea, foggy brain, dry mouth, bad breath and the so-called keto flu, which is a group of flu-like symptoms.
In addition, intermittent fasting can even trigger ketosis without needing to follow a keto based eating plan. This metabolic state can actually be achieved by both intermittent and prolonged periods of fasting.
No matter what you might hear other people say, you should always proceed with caution before trying a new diet fad, especially if you have any existing medical conditions. It would be even better to consult with your doctor first to find out which plan is best — and safest — for you.
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