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Gulf Today Report

A true keto diet is basically based on consumption of high amount of fat at the cost of carbohydrate and protein. The aim is to drive as much as 90 per cent of calories from fat. "It is actually a medical diet which has been used for a long time to treat epilepsy in children," informs Dr Pramod Kumar, Director and HOD, Interventional Cardiology, Fortis Hospital, Shalimar Bagh.

"Keto diet is a special diet which is supposed to change the metabolism in our body. It focusses our body to utilise a derivative of fat called ketones in place of carbohydrates. As body fuel," says the expert. This ketone is derived from burning of fat in liver. This in return helps in losing weight.

"Ingestion of body saturated and unsaturated fat is very high in keto diets. In a typical diet of 2,000 calorie, almost 165 gm of fat is indigested. A ketogenic diet is free from risks. Only short-term studies have been published and results have been mixed. No long-term follow-up is available," Dr Kumar says.

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The expert underlines the negative effects of the diet on our body.

It increases bad cholesterol (LDR). The normal recommendation for a healthy diet is to have 7 per cent of total calories derived from saturated fat. But all kinds of saturated fats, butter coconut oil etc are used in large amount in keto diets for exceeding the 7 per cent limit of saturated fat. This obviously leads to high cholesterol.

It causes nutritional deficiency. A diet lack of vegetables, fruits and grains leads to vitamins and micronutrients like magnesium deficiency, selenium deficiency.

Liver and kidneys are affected because of high metabolism in them.

This diet causes constipation.

Keto diets lead to fussy thinking and mood swings due to lack of carbohydrates. The only two recommended diets by most of the scientific bodies all around the world are the mediterranean diet and dash diet.