Today’s article will be taking a look at the difference between low carb dieting and keto dieting.
With so many different kinds of diets on the market, it can get very confusing trying to find out what works for you and we hope doing a comparison between low carb and keto dieting will help you understand each process and how they work.
Many people are of the understanding that low carb is just that, low carb and diets like Atkins, Keto, and the likes are all pretty much the same but the opposite could not be truer so let’s take a look at the differences between low carb and the keto diet but before we do that let us get a good reliable definition of what a low carb diet is.
Contents
What is a low carb diet?
We researched the mayo clinics information for their definition of a low carb diet and we found a good definition of the low carb diet.
According to Mayo, a low carb diet reduces the intake of carbohydrates and increases the intake of foods that are high in fats and proteins.
Each individual diet has its own guidelines in what carbs and fats are allowed and how much of these you can eat but they all follow the same principals.
These diets are used for weight loss but other health benefits come along with them including lower sugar levels and better heart health.
You can expect to lose weight using these diets and sometimes rather quickly depending on how determined you are in your dieting.
The fewer carbs mean the faster you will lose weight and with less hunger pains as carbs will make you feel hungry all the time and really do the opposite of what you are trying to accomplish as they will always be burned first instead of fat, thus eliminating them starts the fat burning process which is where you want to be.
A very well rounded low barb, high fat and protein program will have a selection of foods that include:
- Meat
- Poultry
- Eggs
- Fish
- Nonstarchy vegetables
- Whole grains (unprocessed)
- Nuts
- Milk
- Seeds
- Poultry
- Fruits
You can expect to lose weight and depending on how many carbs you actually cut out of your daily intake will determine how fast this process will take to reach your target weight.
The fewer carbs you eat the more your body will convert from burning carbs for energy and staring the unused carbs as fat to burning fat directly, which is what you are trying to accomplish with this type of program.
Many people also see health benefits from this type of program including diabetes, lower sugar levels, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, blood cholesterol and improved levels of HDL.
As with any lifestyle change, there are some temporary body reactions that could be uncomfortable including skin rash, bad breath, rashes, muscle cramps, headaches, weakness, diarrhea, and constipation but these symptoms usually clear up in a couple of weeks.
It is also recommended to be on a vitamin program along with this diet to be sure you are replacing the vitamins taken away by reducing carb intake.
Doctors do not recommend this type of program for children or high school students as they need the carbs for growing bodies and minds.
So there you have what a basic low carb high fat and protein diet consists of and what to expect from it so now let’s take a look at how this compares to a true Keto diet.
Keto and Ketosis…
In order for us to understand what a Keto diet is and how it works, we must first understand what the process of Ketosis is and how it affects our bodies.
The simple definition of Ketosis is when the body does not have enough glucose to burn for energy, it will then put the body into a state called Ketosis where the body will start burning stored fat for energy instead of the glucose produced by the carb intake.
This process works and it works well and it can be a fairly quick way fo obtaining weight loss that happens without hunger pains. In order for us to achieve this state in the body, you must eliminate pretty much all carb intake.
Remember what we learned above, carbs make you hungry and dropping carbs will drop your hunger pains, so this makes the Keto diet a very tempting way to achieve your target weight rather quickly.
This process of Ketosis is hard to maintain for many and it does come along with a few risks that need to be mentioned.
Constipation can occur from the lack of fibers allowed and the high-fat aspect of this program does come with elevated saturated fats, which can be a bit hard on your heart.
Another concern is the lack of vitamins normally received from carbohydrates but if a person uses this state to quickly get to their desired weight and then switches over to a more suitable low carb program for maintenance all should be fine.
Our take on The differences between these programs…
We feel that both work well and are great ways to change your lifestyle, become more healthy and reach your targeted weight you are trying to get to.
We give both of these a big thumbs up and recommend either one to anyone needing to improve their health and lose weight.
We feel both of these are great choices and the only real difference is the quickness of the process and the number of carbs each one allows and this leaves it up to the person deciding which way to go.
Giving up large amounts of carbs is always the stumbling block and some people have a much easier time with this process than others so it depends on your commitment level.
We hope this article has helped you understand the similarities and the difference in low carb dieting and Keto dieting and we hope it helps get you where you want to be in both your health and your weight!
Happy dieting!