JULY 2019/MUSCLE & FITNESS 87REFERENCES:
(1) Aragon, Et al. (2017) International society of sports nutrition
position stand: diets and body composition
(2) Youm YH, Et. al The ketone metabolite ß-hydroxybutyrate
blocks NLRP3 inflammasome-mediated inflammatory disease.
(2015) doi: 10.1038/nm.3804.
(3) Salvador Vargas, Et al. (2018) Efficacy of ketogenic diet on
body composition during resistance training in trained men:
a randomized controlled trial. doi.org/10.1186/s12970-018-0236-9
(4) Caryn Zinn, (2017) Ketogenic diet benefits body
composition and well-being but not performance in a pilot case
study of New Zealand endurance athletes. doi: 10.1186/
s12970-017-0180-0
(5) The Effects of a Ketogenic Diet on Exercise Metabolism and
Physical Performance in Off-Road Cyclists, Adam Zajac, Et al.
(2014) doi: 10.3390/nu6072493
http://www.velocity-pt.co.ukCONS OF THE KETOGENIC DIET
Body Composition
If you’re looking to build muscle whilst
running the keto diet, it looks like you’re
not going to be in for much luck. At face
value at least, obviously the law of
individuality plays into this. With the
macro balance of the ketogenic diet
being high in protein and fat, this causes
a satiating effect where you may struggle
to get into a hypercaloric state (positive
energy balance). To back this theory up, a
recent study was conducted that looked
at resistance trained men wanting to
change their body composition. The men
were put in an energy surplus using a
ketogenic diet, comparing it to a non-
keto diet. It was shown that the keto
group lost body fat but gained zero lean
body mass (3). Whereas the diets that
consisted of carbohydrates did help case
studies gain some lean body mass.Performance
When the ketogenic diet is looked at
under the sports performance
magnifying glass, it has a flaw. One of
the main flaws being that when an
athlete is in the process of transitioning
to a ketogenic diet, it has been shown
that their power output is lower
compared to those athletes eating a
glucose rich diet (4, 5). However, once the
athlete has become fat adaptive and fullytransitioned to using fat as their main fuel
source, their performance has been
shown to return to the baseline level.
Again, the law of individuality plays a role
in this and many individuals may contest
the study above. However, my theory on
that would be that maybe the reduction
in body fat that usually comes along with
following a ketogenic diet may help
athletic performance.Sustainability
It is very common for nutritional diets to
become a religion for many people, so
this may be the part keto-lovers could
disagree with. The truth is, the majority of
foods we eat on a day-to-day basis when
following a Western diet consist of readily
available carbohydrates. This can make it
very difficult, without some cunning food
manipulation techniques, for an
individual to truly stick to a ketogenic
diet. For those of us that have a good
understanding of nutrition and macros
it’s a lot easier to transition and stick to a
ketogenic diet. However, for those of us
who are not so well read on nutrition, it
could prove very difficult. A diet that
more or less completely discards of one
macronutrient is going to be a tough one
to stick to.To Conclude
The ketogenic diet is far from a fad interms of its timeline and presence that it
has had over the years. A fad diet would
be defined as a diet that holds no
scientific backing. As far as going
to say it’s fantastic? Well... again that
would be very individual. People tend
to go wrong with a ketogenic diet
because they try and stick to it too
formally, as if not urinating ketones
means they have failed the diet. Based
on evidence, I wouldn’t be too worried
about that unless I was suffering from a
metabolic disease. If you’re happy to
follow a ketogenic diet for a prolonged
period of time, then this diet is a
perfectly viable option for you. One
thing to be certain about is, no matter
whether it is the ketogenic diet, IIFYM,
carb cycling or low carb diet that you’re
following it boils down to a consistent
energy deficit if weight loss is your
main goal.PHOTO CREDITS: ISTOCK