What Is The Keto Diet?
Nowadays, a lot of dieticians and fitness trainers talk about keto. This diet has already become a popular trend among those who want to slim down and keep fit. The crux of keto, which is the short form for ketogenic, is in consuming less than 50 grams of carbs daily. The gist is that if you cut back on carbs, you trigger the ketosis process. As a result, after 3-4 days, your body starts burning fat and protein instead of blood sugar to get energy (4). In terms of weight loss, the keto diet might be really effective. It is a rather fast way to shed pounds. However, you it’s not recommended to continue dieting for an extended period of time. Therefore, keto cannot be your regular meal plan because it is unnatural for your body. Starting off the diet, you put your body in the survival mode, which is extreme and should not last long.
Speed Keto As A Type Of Keto
The Speed Keto diet is a strict meal plan that is a mixture of conventional keto and intermittent fasting. People resort to this diet when they hit a plateau and the scale stalls. The difference between the ordinary keto and Speed Keto diets lies in the strictness. Indeed, Speed Keto is an extreme diet that aims at fast weight loss with some significant sacrifices. The latter include food and meal restrictions, along with the dieter’s lifestyle and eating habits.
On Speed Keto, fasting plays a key role. In fact, there are different fasting patterns for you to follow. For example, you can choose to fast for 12 hours and eat twice a day. Or you can go further and have only one meal per 2 days. Speed Keto also overlaps with the OMAD diet, which stands for “one meal a day.” Truly, if you fast for 24 hours and more, you will have no more than one meal a day. Therefore, on Speed Keto, you have to not only drastically reduce your food intake but also restrict yourself in the choice of foods. You cannot get a sufficient number of nutrients in one meal per day or a couple of days. Overall, Speed Keto meal plans are rather imbalanced, being a great stress for your body.
Read More: 30 Day Keto Challenge: Will Upping Your Fat Intake Help You Lose Weight?
Speed Keto And Weight Loss
Speed Keto is not a miraculous diet that is based on some intricate formulas and strategies. Its main point is that if you eat less, then you naturally burn more calories. Similarly, cutting back on high-carb foods and subsequent ketosis can alter your metabolism and thus help you lose some weight (4). Overall, eating less means burning more. In addition, food restrictions play a crucial role in weight loss. Carbs make you gain pounds if you eat more than you need, which means that reducing them in your meals will be very helpful in weight loss.
Benefits Of Speed Keto
Besides helping you lose weight, Speed Keto can benefit you in other ways. Because the diet reduces the insulin levels in your body, it may (4):
- Prevent cancer. During ketosis, your intake of carbohydrates is minimal, and therefore less insulin is released. This may help prevent certain types of cancer and slow down the growth of cancer cells.
- Prevent heart diseases. Low insulin levels may decrease the amount of bad cholesterol in your body, thus helping prevent heart diseases.
- Stop acne. Insulin makes your body produce a number of hormones that trigger acne. Therefore, with minimum insulin, your skin is likely to be cleaner.
Is Speed Keto Safe?
Considering the fact the Speed Keto involves continuous fasting and limiting the variety of foods you can eat, the diet is not safe for everyone. Starving yourself can be harmful, especially if you have never tried it before. You should start the diet gradually to minimize the risks and harm you can cause to your body. You must be absolutely healthy to start off such a radical meal plan. Therefore, it is better to ask a doctor and dietician for some recommendations in order to avoid severe health problems.
In general, your adaptation to Speed Keto can be rather difficult and painful. Your body needs time to get used to your new eating habits, which might be accompanied by the following (1, 3):
- Fatigue
- Irritability
- Weakness
- Headaches
- Dizziness
- Brain fog
- Nausea
- Cramps
- Constipation
- Stomachache
- Muscle soreness
- Insomnia
- Bad breath
You might not have all these at once, each person goes through the adaptation process in their own way. What you need to do is drink a lot of water and discuss your health with a doctor.
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What To Eat On Speed Keto?
Since Speed Keto is derived from the traditional keto diet, the products you should eat on it are the same. Similar to the keto diet, Speed Keto does not allow you to consume foods high in carbs. In fact, your daily carb intake cannot exceed 50 g (4). So, here is the list of products perfect for the Speed Keto diet (2):
- Dairy (plain Greek yoghurt, high-fat cheese, butter)
- Nuts
- Seeds
- Berries (strawberries, blackberries, and other non-starchy and low in sugar berries)*
- Non-starchy vegetables rich in fiber (zucchini, cauliflower, tomatoes, etc.)
- Eggs
- Seafood
- Meat
- Oils
These items are sufficiently fatty and rich in protein to be considered keto. At the same time, they are very low in carbs. Nevertheless, these foods are rather nutritious and can curb your appetite easily. Concerning beverages, the best option is pure water. However, you are also allowed to drink sugar-free coffee and tea.
* You may eat these in very small amounts because they also contain carbs.
What NOT To Eat On Speed Keto?
Definitely, high-carb products are to avoid on Speed Keto. These include:
- Bread
- Pastry (croissants, buns, pies, etc.)
- Pasta
- Sweets
- Fruit (pears, bananas, peaches, etc.)
- Starchy vegetables (potatoes, beans, pumpkin, etc.)
- Cereals
- Nonfat milk, which is rich in carbs
As for beverages, it is highly recommended that you avoid drinking alcohol. The same goes for sodas, sweetened drinks, and juices.
Conclusion
Speed Keto is a combination of traditional keto and intermittent fasting. In other words, on this diet, you cut down on foods rich in carbs, substituting them with those high in fat and protein. At the same time, you stick to a particular fasting pattern. Combining two strict meal plans, Speed Keto proves to be an extreme method to lose weight. Although the diet might be helpful for some people, it is not safe for everyone and should probably not be followed for an extended period of time. Moreover, the diet has numerous side effects and risks, which can undermine your wellbeing. This is the primary reason you should not change your eating habits without the supervision of an expert in nutrition.
DISCLAIMER:
The article cannot and does not contain medical or health advice. This information is provided for general informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. Accordingly, before taking any actions based upon such information, we encourage you to consult with the appropriate professionals. The use or reliance of any information contained in this article is solely at your own risk!
SOURCES:
- Intermittent Fasting (2018, webmd.com)
- Is the keto diet for you? A Mayo expert weighs in (2020, mayoclinic.org)
- Ketosis and the Keto Diet (webmd.com)
- What’s a Ketogenic Diet? (2019, webmd.com)
