Should You Follow the Ketogenic Diet?

The ketogenic diet may be on the rise as far as diet trends go, but the concept isn't new. First identified as a beneficial treatment for epilepsy, the high-fat, very-low-carbohydrate approach has been around for close to 100 years. Recently, the diet has become popular among athletes (LeBron James tried it) and those looking for the next weight-loss cure-all. Followers eat foods like butter, oils, fatty meats and cheese. Proponents claim it can lower cholesterol and improve athletic performance, but before you go "keto," here's a look at the science behind the popular diet.

Ketogenic Diet Basics

The keto diet requires the body to rely mostly on fat for energy, rather than the usual carbohydrates (see Carbohydrates vs. Fat for Fuel below). When carb intake is very low, ketones—products of fat breakdown in the liver—must fuel the body. According to John Hawley, Ph.D., director of the Centre for Exercise and Nutrition at Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research in Melbourne, Australia, there is no global definition of the ketogenic diet. In other words, no standard exists for how many grams of carbohydrate, fat, or protein should be consumed when following the diet.

Most research around the diet has identified a carbohydrate intake between 25 and 50 grams per day, which is equivalent to two medium apples or one cup of cooked brown rice. This extreme reduction in carbohydrate is very difficult to maintain long-term and makes it impossible to meet the recommended amount of fruit, vegetable and whole-grain servings recommended for a healthy diet. According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, carbohydrates should make up 45 to 60 percent of daily calories, or 130 grams/day, for most people to eat a balanced diet and get necessary nutrients.

For epilepsy patients, ketogenic diets are administered in a clinical setting and require a team of dietitians and doctors to ensure that patients receive the correct daily levels of nutrients—and they're still extremely hard to follow.

Don't Miss: 30 Healthy Low-Carb Foods to Eat

Ketogenic Diet & Weight Loss

Beyond the low intake of carbohydrates, another key element of the diet is the extremely high intake of dietary fat. By consuming the majority of calories from fat, and severely limiting carbohydrate, the body remains in a state of ketosis (relying mostly on ketones for energy).

Short-term weight loss will occur naturally, mostly because of water weight you lose. Your body will deplete its glycogen stores (regular energy reserves from carbohydrate breakdown) and the water that is stored with them. While many people lose weight quickly, it's water weight, not true weight loss. In most cases, the weight will return when the dietary pattern again includes a larger percentage of carbohydrates. For that reason, the ketogenic diet probably won't help with long-term weight loss.

Athletes and a High-Fat Diet

The ketogenic diet is often promoted among athletes as a way to increase fat metabolism, and it does. "If you eat a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet then your muscles will oxidize more fat during exercise," says Hawley. But, he points out, that argument misses an important point: "Carbohydrates set the limit to how fast or far you can go as an athlete, not fat." In other words, your body's ability to use fat as an energy source is not important when it comes to athletic performance lasting up to three hours. Some studies have even shown a detrimental effect on performance in those following a ketogenic diet, likely due to the increased oxygen needed when your body has to rely on fat for energy.

Some argue that since athletes can eat whatever they want, the high-fat intake won't have negative consequences, but, according to Hawley, that just isn't the case. "You're an athlete for one or at most two hours a day, not for the remaining 22 hours per day," he explains. Research has shown that diets high in dietary fat, especially saturated fat, can have negative, long-term health implications such as increasing the risk for cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. It's important to include some fats in the diet, though (the Dietary Guidelines recommend 20 to 35 percent of daily calories from fats, particularly poly- and monounsaturated), to aid in the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins and other crucial body processes.

Carbohydrates vs. Fat for Fuel

If you want to talk about the best way to eat to fuel your body, we need to go back to biology class. Carbohydrates are our body's primary energy source. When we eat carbs, they are digested into individual molecules called glucose, which our cells use as energy. Glucose that isn't used for energy is then stored in the form of glycogen in the muscles and liver—and any excess is stored as fat. Meaning if you eat a bowl of spaghetti, you'll use a certain amount as energy (even when you're resting, your body needs energy to breathe, pump blood, etc.), you'll store some as glycogen and then if there's any left over it will be stored as fat.

Basal metabolism (the energy needed to sustain your body at rest) requires a mixture of carbohydrates and fats for use as energy. During periods of prolonged aerobic activity, like running or swimming, the body shifts its fuel source and pulls mostly from glycogen stores to sustain activity. However, the amount of glycogen you can store in your muscles is limited and once depleted, carbohydrates must be consumed to replace what has been used. It's why marathon runners take in food and calories over the course of the marathon.

When your body doesn't have access to carbohydrates, it will turn to alternate sources—fat or protein. Fat stores provide significantly more calories, or energy, than glycogen stores and at lower intensities of activity the body mostly relies on its fat for energy (think walking on the treadmill rather than running). However, the process of turning fat into energy requires additional metabolic steps which, in turn, use more oxygen. When fat is broken down, ketones are formed and used as an alternate fuel source. In a continued absence of carbohydrate, ketones become abundant in the bloodstream and the body enters a state of ketosis. The same process is seen during fasting or starvation, but neither is very pleasant nor sustainable long-term. If you have diabetes, you should talk to your healthcare provider about ketoacidosis, a serious condition when blood ketones get too high.

Environmental Impact

Personal, physical health is the focus of most popular diets and many don't draw connections between the diet and potential environmental impacts. Sustainability is important to consider, though. Nicole Tichenor, Ph.D., a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of New Hampshire's Sustainability Institute, researches the environmental impact of diets. She explains that healthy diets that are lower in animal-based foods and higher in plant-based foods have lower environmental impacts, including carbon footprint, land use and water use. The ketogenic diet, by principle, doesn't follow this pattern. Tichenor's take: "the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee's working definition of a sustainable diet is one that promotes health and well-being, provides food security for the current population, and sustains human and natural resources for future generations. It would be very difficult, if not impossible, to eat a sustainable diet without beans/legumes, whole grains or root vegetables."

Bottom Line

The ketogenic diet is extremely difficult to follow and very restrictive. You need to severely limit healthy whole grains, fruits and vegetables, which means you would miss out on a lot of important nutrients. While the ketogenic diet has its place in clinical settings, the diet doesn't translate to the general population and, in fact, may have long-term negative impact on people choosing to follow such an extreme way of eating.

How Many Eggs Are Safe To Eat Per Day?

eggs

Natural eggs from chickens for sale at a farmers' market in Annandale, Virginia, August 8, 2013.Photo: PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images

How many eggs are safe to incorporate into a diet has been a point of contention among medical experts for years, but research showed the benefits of eating eggs may outweigh the possible risks.

Some medical professionals claimed eating eggs will shorten one's lifespan because of their cholesterol content, while others hailed the health benefits of eating eggs because of the variety of nutrients they provide.

“For the average person, two eggs daily is totally fine,” Keri Gans, R.D., author of "The Small Change Diet," said.

Research showed people who ate three eggs per day while on a weight loss diet achieved significant results.

Egg yolks have been proven to contain 90 percent of calcium, iron, phosphorus, zinc, thiamin, B6, folate, pantothenic acid and B12 of the egg. The yolk holds fat-soluble ingredients like vitamins A, D and E. For most people, eggs will not increase cholesterol or risk of heart disease.

While eggs are high in dietary cholesterol, they are low in saturated fat, which is actually a bigger factor in raising blood cholesterol levels, according to the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. A medium egg contains around 100 mg of cholesterol, which is one-third of the 300 mg recommended daily limit.

breakfast

Eggs, cheeses, salad, orange juice, coffee and fresh baked bread at Aroma espresso bar on March 11, 2008 in the central Israeli town of Hod Hasharon.Photo: David Silverman/Getty Images

Another benefit provided by eggs is their major protein content — one large whole egg contains 6.3 grams of protein. Eating eggs has been proven to give humans complete protein, which provides all the amino acids needed for survival. One whole egg provides 20 percent of the recommended daily protein intake for women and 17 percent for men.

People who have diabetes, high cholesterol or heart disease should limit their consumption of eggs as they should limit their cholesterol intake to 200 mg per day.

To include eggs in the average diet, they must be balanced with other nutrient-rich foods, such as fruits and vegetables. The way eggs are prepared is a huge part of how they affect the body — limiting use of oil when making eggs and including egg whites in preparations are some ways to ensure their health benefits outweigh their possible risks

Lose Your Weight Quickly With These Two Effective Ingredients

This recipe that we are talking about here is known to melt away that stubborn fat! Just two of the ingredients can work wonders on your body like never before.

Most of the people want to get slimmer without any special effort or diet, and what if we tell you that there is a method to actually lose weight without putting any special effort as such?

You just need to prepare this miraculous recipe for this purpose.

You need to have a simple understanding of the process that our body goes through, when dropping the pounds. Fat is just stored energy and calories are the unit that is used to measure the potential energy in fats, carbs and proteins.

The body will convert the fat to usable energy through a series of chemical processes and the excess energy, which is the calories, will be stored away.

To lose weight, you need to expend more energy or calories than you take in. When you're using more than you take in, your body draws on stored fat to convert it to energy.

It does not disappear, but simply changes its form. Read on to find out about the best natural remedy to lose weight using only 2 ingredients.

Ingredients Required:
1 spoon of cinnamon
2 spoons of honey

Preparation:
Add a spoon of cinnamon in about 250 ml of hot water. Let it cool down a bit and then add two spoons of honey to it.

Wait for the drink to cool down completely, before you add honey to it. This helps in keeping its health benefits intact. You can have this every morning and aim for light exercises. Over a period of time, you would certainly notice a good change in your body.

So, what are you waiting for? Try it today!

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Here’s what happens when you stop using marijuana

Clinicians have documented some 40 symptoms associated with quitting marijuana use.

Back in 1994, there were lots of things we were undecided about: Raves, were they the pied-piper of the techno-tribal revolution, or unrelenting embarrassment? Bill Clinton—corrupt, lying philanderer, or charming, lying philanderer? Brenda or Kelly? Zima or death?

For its part, the DSM-IV, the standard psychiatric diagnosis manual, was undecided whether the marijuana habit could be kicked cleanly or whether there would be consequences. In the run-up to the next revision, there was a flurry of studies on marijuana withdrawal, including ones that looked at the general population of users, adolescents, and even “non-treatment-seeking adult cannabis smokers.”

By the time the DMS-5 was released in 2013, the jury was in and there was a new entry: Cannabis withdrawal syndrome.

Evoking images of innocent teen-aged lives ruined by the allure of “jazz cigarettes” and dangerous “race music,” the idea of marijuana withdrawal has often been dismissed as a legacy anti-drug hysteria, from Reefer Madness to Just Say No. Nevertheless, clinicians have documented some 40 symptoms associated with quitting marijuana use—which range from the troubling (aggression and other mood disorders) to the trivial (excessive yawning) to the downright scatological (runny nose and diarrhea). The DSM-5 recognizes just seven symptoms: irritability, weight loss, insomnia, restlessness, anxiety, depression, and physical symptoms (including fever, chills, stomach- and headache). You’ll be happy to know that diarrhea did not make the cut.

Compared with the torment of opioid withdrawal and the potentially deadly alcoholic DTs, cannabis withdrawal is relatively mild. Only about half of heavy users who go cold turkey will even experience withdrawal symptoms of any kind. If you’re one of the unlucky fifty percent, expect your symptoms to peak anywhere between a week to 10 days. They might even linger for a month.

“Mild” withdrawal symptoms does not mean “pleasant,” however, and marijuana detox can be a trial, for both the former user and those around them.

5 Ways Restricting Calories Can Be Harmful

People trying to lose weight often restrict the number of calories they eat.

However, restricting calories too severely can lead to a variety of health problems, including reduced fertility and weaker bones.

This article describes 5 potentially harmful effects of calorie restriction and helps you determine the calorie deficit that’s right for you.

Worried Blonde with Measuring Tape Over Her Mouth

Your Calorie Needs, Explained

A calorie is defined as the amount of heat energy needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water by 1°C (1.8°F).

However, you’re more likely to think of calories as the unit of measurement for the amount of energy your body gets from the foods and beverages you consume.

Your body requires calories to function and uses them to sustain three main processes (1):

Basal metabolic rate (BMR): This refers to the number of calories needed to cover your basic functions, including the proper functioning of your brain, kidneys, heart, lungs and nervous system.Digestion: Your body uses a certain number of calories to digest and metabolize the foods you eat. This is also known as the thermic effect of food (TEF).Physical activity: This refers to the number of calories needed to fuel your everyday tasks and workouts.

Generally speaking, eating more calories than your body needs will cause you to gain weight, mostly in the form of body fat. Eating fewer calories than your body requires leads to weight loss (2, 3, 4).

This calorie balance concept, which is supported by strong scientific research, is why people wanting to lose weight often try to restrict their calorie intake (5, 6, 7).

However, restricting calories too much may harm your health in the following 5 ways.

1. It Can Lower Your Metabolism

Green Apple and Measuring Tape

Regularly eating fewer calories than your body needs can cause your metabolism to slow down.

Several studies show that low-calorie diets can decrease the number of calories the body burns by as much as 23% (8, 9, 10).

What’s more, this lower metabolism can persist long after the calorie-restricted diet is stopped (10).

In fact, researchers believe that this lower metabolism may partly explain why more than 80% of people regain weight once they go off their calorie-restricted diets (10).

One of the ways that calorie-restricted diets slow your metabolism is by causing muscle loss (11, 12, 13).

This loss of muscle mass is especially likely to occur if the calorie-restricted diet is low in protein and not combined with exercise (14, 15).

To prevent your weight loss diet from affecting your metabolism, make sure that you never eat fewer calories than are required to sustain your BMR.

Slightly increasing your protein intake and adding resistance exercises to your workout routine may also help (14, 15).

Summary: Severely restricting your calories can decrease your metabolism and cause you to lose muscle mass. This makes it more difficult to maintain your weight loss in the long term.

2. It Can Cause Fatigue and Nutrient Deficiencies

Regularly eating fewer calories than your body requires can cause fatigue and make it more challenging for you to meet your daily nutrient needs.

For instance, calorie-restricted diets may not provide sufficient amounts of iron, folate or vitamin B12. This can lead to anemia and extreme fatigue (16, 17, 18).

In addition, the number of carbs you eat may play a role in fatigue.

Some studies suggest that calorie-restricted diets with low amounts of carbs may cause feelings of fatigue in some individuals (19, 20, 21, 22).

However, other studies find that low-carb diets reduce fatigue. Therefore, this effect may depend on the individual (23, 24).

Calorie-restricted diets may limit other nutrients too, including:

Protein: Not eating enough protein-rich foods like meat, fish, dairy, beans, peas, lentils, nuts and seeds may cause muscle loss, hair thinning and brittle nails (25).Calcium: Not eating enough calcium-rich foods like dairy, leafy greens, calcium-set tofu and fortified milks may reduce bone strength and increase the risk of fractures (26).Biotin and thiamine: A low intake of whole grains, legumes, eggs, dairy, nuts and seeds may limit your intake of these two B vitamins, potentially resulting in muscle weakness, hair loss and scaly skin (27, 28).Vitamin A: Not eating enough vitamin A-rich foods like organ meat, fish, dairy, leafy greens or orange-colored fruits and vegetables may weaken your immune system and lead to permanent eye damage (29).Magnesium: An insufficient intake of magnesium-rich whole grains, nuts and leafy greens may cause fatigue, migraines, muscle cramps and abnormal heart rhythms (30).

To prevent fatigue and nutrient deficiencies, avoid overly restricting your calories and ensure you eat a variety of whole, minimally processed foods.

Summary: Restricting calories too severely can lead to fatigue. Maintaining this calorie restriction for too long can also lead to nutrient deficiencies.

3. It May Reduce Fertility

Brunette Upset About Eating Only Lettuce

Restricting calories too dramatically can negatively affect fertility. This is especially true for women, as the ability to ovulate depends on hormone levels.

More specifically, an increase in estrogen and luteinizing hormone (LH) levels is needed in order for ovulation to occur (31, 32).

Interestingly, research has shown that LH levels partly depend on the number of calories available in a woman’s diet (31, 32).

Accordingly, studies show that reproductive function is suppressed in women who eat 22–42% fewer calories than are needed to maintain their weight (33).

An insufficient calorie intake may also reduce estrogen levels, which is thought to have lasting negative effects on bone and heart health (34, 35, 36).

Signs of reduced fertility may include irregular menstrual cycles or a lack of them. However, subtle menstrual disturbances may not have any symptoms, so they may require a more thorough medical examination to be diagnosed (37, 38).

Researchers believe that severe calorie restriction may also affect men’s reproductive function, but few studies exist on the topic (39).

Summary: Overly restricting calories may potentially reduce fertility, especially in women. More studies are needed to determine the effects of calorie restriction in men.

4. It Can Weaken Your Bones

Consuming too few calories can weaken your bones.

That’s because calorie restriction can reduce estrogen and testosterone levels. Low levels of these two reproductive hormones are thought to reduce bone formation and increase bone breakdown, resulting in weaker bones (40, 41, 42, 43).

In addition, calorie restriction — especially when combined with physical exercise — can increase stress hormone levels. This may also lead to bone loss (44).

Bone loss is especially troublesome because it is often irreversible and increases the risk of fractures (45, 46).

Summary: Restricting calories may disturb hormone levels, which may result in weaker bones and an increased risk of fractures.

5. It May Lower Your Immunity

Fork and Spoon Tied With a Measuring Tape

Restricting calories may increase your risk of infections and illness.

This applies to viruses like the common cold and appears to be especially true when it’s combined with a high level of physical activity (47, 48).

For instance, one study compared athletes in disciplines that put a strong emphasis on body leanness, such as boxing, gymnastics or diving, to those in disciplines less focused on body weight.

The researchers reported that athletes in disciplines that required leanness made more frequent attempts to lose weight and were almost twice as likely to have been sick in the previous three months (47).

In another study, taekwondo athletes who were dieting to reduce their body weight in the week before a competition experienced reduced immunity and an increased risk of infection (48).

The effects of calorie restriction in non-exercising individuals are less clear, and more research is needed before strong conclusions can be made (49).

Summary: Calorie restriction, especially when combined with strenuous physical activity, may lower your immune defenses.

How to Eat the Right Number of Calories

Calorie needs vary from person to person because they depend on factors such as age, sex, height, current weight and physical activity level.

Determining the number of calories that’s right for you will reduce your likelihood of developing the negative health consequences outlined above.

There are various ways to estimate your own calorie needs. The easiest method consists of three simple steps:

Determine your BMR: Use this online calculator to estimate the minimum number of calories your body requires per day. Aim to never consume fewer calories than this.Estimate your daily requirement: Use this online calculator to estimate the number of calories you need to maintain your current body weight.Determine your calorie needs for weight loss: If weight loss is your goal, aim for a daily calorie intake falling between the amount required to sustain your BMR and the amount needed to maintain your current body weight.

In addition, make sure you record what you eat in an online food journal like Cronometer, at least in the beginning of your weight loss process.

Tracking your diet will help you ensure that you continue to reach your daily recommended nutrient intakes.

Summary: Use the method above to estimate the daily calorie intake that’s right for you, in addition to an online diet journal to ensure your diet covers your nutrient needs.

The Bottom Line

When it comes to long-term weight loss, patience is key. It’s best to steer clear of diets that require you to severely restrict your calories.

Instead, opt for diets that are focused on diet quality and encourage you to make sustainable lifestyle changes.

By Alina Petre, MS, RD

Gross! A Woman Drinks Sperms Every Single Day For This Reason

There is anything a woman can do to look beautiful and this woman just proves us right!
Meet Tracy Kiss who is a beauty blogger and she apparently drinks sperms every single day!

If this may freak you out, then you need to check on the semen facial that she tries on and swears by it, as she claims that it adds on to her youthful skin and beauty!

She adds this so-called 'magical ingredient' to her morning smoothies every day, claiming that it has plenty of health benefits as well!

Read on to know more.

Who Is She?

She is Tracy Kiss - a beauty blogger from Wendover. She gives herself a daily 'semen facial'. She gets her daily dose of sperms delivered from a male friend who gives it in a plastic takeaway pot! She claims to not only try the facial, but also claims to drink some of it every single day!

What Made Her Try This?

This woman, who is also a mother of two, believes that using sperms in her everyday life has helped her to get cured of her skin condition - rosacea. She makes videos for her followers on how to apply it in a video tutorial on YouTube.

She Drinks A Glass Of Semen Every Day!

Tracy drinks a glass full of semen every morning. She swears by its benefits so much that she suggests it to other people as well, if they are in the pursuit of better health. She ingests this semen in order to boost her immunity.

She Claims She Is ‘Full Of Beans’

After consuming the glass full of semen, she claims that she is full of energy and she even added in an interview saying, 'I'd been feeling run down and had no energy, but now I am full of beans and my mood has improved.'

All About Her Semen Donor!

She is really keen and serious about this business of consuming semen every day, as she says that she has chosen a non-smoking friend who cleared an STI test to be on the safer side.

To gross you out even more, she added on to say, 'It can taste really good - depending on what my friend has been eating. My other mates think I am strange, but I don't give a toss!'

She Even Flavours It!

She also says that she is quite prepared to drink the semen neat but adds extra ingredients if her donor friend has enjoyed a couple of pints. She adds, 'If he's been drinking alcohol or eaten something particularly pungent, then I ask him to give me a heads up so I know not to drink it neat.' We're still wondering how she manages to swallow it down her throat!!

All About The Facial Bit...

She described the details of her semen facial and revealed, 'I think people are concerned with the thoughts of putting semen on their face but actually it's a very natural and healthy thing to do.'

Since she has a skin problem called rosacea, which causes redness and flushing, her daily facial of rubbing the sperms on her skin has done wonders on improving her complexion.
'I know there are no added chemicals. It's as natural and active and live as you could possibly get,' she said.

Her Video Describes It All...

In the video, she is seen describing her skin condition to the viewers and then holds up a small pot containing the sperm that is donated by her friend. She slowly starts rubbing it on her face and adds, 'It just sucks into the skin. It's absolutely beautiful.'

She says that she doesn't mind the smell and if the donor eats fresh and healthy, the sperms will have a fresher odour as well.

She Lets It Stay On Her Skin For A While!

Tracy leaves the sperms on her face and lets it stay between 5 and 20 minutes, before wiping it off and washing her face with warm water. She states, 'It feels so glossy to wipe it off. It feels like having a kind of an oil on the face. It just glides beautifully.'

If you are still not done reading this, then go ahead and check on the video that can seriously gross anyone out!