Is keto diet healthy ?

[samfisher514]

compared to other cutting diets

[Kelekin]

....yes?

[msm00b]

Though I'll be the first to tell you it's less than ideal, it's not an 'unhealthy' diet at all.

[dmacdonal9]

It's not unhealthy. Read the stickies in the keto section and make your own decision.

I've done it twice over the years, and lost weight, and have been satisfied with how I felt and progressed on it. But I did eventually come to the conclusion that it is really just an arbitrary way to restrict food choices and therefore calories, which leads to weight loss. If you get yourself under control in terms of food intake and macros, then you will supersede the incidental benefit of keto in this respect.

[MoldyGopher]

You won't win an Ironman eating keto but for weight loss it's a-ok.

[scotchchris]

You won't win an Ironman eating keto but for weight loss it's a-ok.

This

[OpticNerve33]

I guess it depends on what you mean by 'healthy'; it's a diet that consists of protein, fat, and lots of fibrous vegetables, so it's not necessarily 'bad' for you, and you will lose weight, but you will have to restrict your dietary choices considerably to do so (but, because of the restriction on food choices, you're less likely to eat processed food). I tried CKD and TKD at different times over the last two years, and while they both worked for losing weight, I disliked how restricted I felt (especially when it came to eating out with friends and family), and to me the most important part of dieting is being able to enjoy what you eat, so you're less likely to cheat or go back to your old eating habits.

[Electricheadd]

I don't see how a diet that eliminates 1/3 of all macro nutrients can be considered "healthy".

[MoldyGopher]

I don't see how a diet that eliminates 1/3 of all macro nutrients can be considered "healthy".

It was better than being morbidly obese, at least for me.

[Electricheadd]

It was better than being morbidly obese, at least for me.

For sure, I guess it falls into how you define healthy. Keto is certainly better than being overweight and if that is the diet you best stick to then you should use it. When I think of healthy I think of a widely varied and sustainable diet consisting of mostly whole foods. My general issue with keto is that its not all that varied and in most cases not sustainable.

[kullfire]

electricheadd do "essential carbohydrates" exist?

[Electricheadd]

electricheadd do "essential carbohydrates" exist?

No, your body can manufacture enough carbohydrate to run your brain/liver and the rest can run on ketones. My point was more along the lines that every food has a unique micro nutrient profile. Optimally you would want to take advantage of that by eating all foods.

[Serpentarius]

Eat a diet that you can live with without going out of your way to watch out for things (except high calorie junk when you are in a deficit and cannot afford to screw up).

[msm00b]

Eat a diet that you can live with without going out of your way to watch out for things (except high calorie junk when you are in a deficit and cannot afford to screw up).

^ that

And yeah Electric is right. I personally avoid any diet that is excessively restrictive on any broad category of food. The trick to any successful dieting modality is learning how to live and eat like a normal person - and in a way that you'd be happy to eat for the rest of your life. This, imo, is the ultimate failure of any fad and most named diets - they don't translate very well into real life.