Why all the fear?
Before digging in, let’s first discuss what a Keto Diet is and how the meaning of the term has changed of late:
The keto (ketogenic) diet, as a conscious deviation of the “typical” diet, is one that typically holds the daily intake of carbohydrate to 20 grams or less, or 5% of daily calories. Protein is typically set at 20% of calories and fat at 75%. In recent times, the ketogenic diet has been used to treat epilepsy. Before the treatment of diabetes with injected insulin, it was also treated with a ketogenic diet. Some believe, and with good reason, that we evolved eating a diet with macronutrient ratios similar to that of a keto diet.
Recently, the term keto is frequently used to refer to any low or even low-ish carb diet. SO not every source that discusses or recommends a keto diet is discussing or recommending what is now often referred to as a “medical” (or true) keto diet.
That said, I’ll be discussing the safety of a true keto diet — the more extreme version of a low-carb approach to eating.
When you do a Google search on the keto diet, you frequently see links with titles like “The Dangers of the Keto Diet” or “Popular Keto Low-Carb Diet Could Have Long-Term Consequences, New Studies Reveal” or “Ketogenic diet: What are the risks?” Makes you think twice about trying the…
