Monday, September 3, 2018

(News 12 First at 5)

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The Ketogenic Diet is a trending diet that limits carbohydrate intake to about 50 grams each day, while guidelines by the US Department of Agriculture recommend between 225 and 325 grams. The diet has become popular in the past year nationwide.

A local dietitian tells News 12 that your body goes through changes when you start the diet.

“Something called the keto flu is going to happen. That’s whenever your body is adjusting to using ketones instead of glucose review. What happens there is you may experience sweating, irritability, just to name a few issues,” explained Andy Yurechko, with Augusta University.

Those are just a few of the side effects doctors say come along with the ketogenic diet. They say it's just like any fad diet.

“Having a healthy diet is something you work on every single day of your life. The problem with all these diets is they are completely fad based. Technically on the ketogenic diet, you don't have to buy any special type of food, but it's not something you can maintain the rest of your life.”

New studies show the keto diet and other extreme high or low carb diets can actually be deadly to those trying to use them long term.

“Carbohydrates are the main source of energy that our brain uses. It's the most efficient source of energy. If we use a protein or fat for fuel, it puts more stress on the body,” said Yurechko.

Doctors say this diet was intended for children dealing with severe cases of Epilepsy, and even in those cases, there are still risks.

The diet is not recommended for people with uncontrolled Diabetes. Ketosis is a sign of not using enough insulin.