The Keto Diet has taken America by storm. However, a recent study shows it’s doing more harm than good, especially to your gastrointestinal health.
Like any other fad diet, there are pros and cons. The Keto Diet typically requires consuming less than five percent of your entire energy intake from carbohydrate sources.
Our main sources of carbohydrates are fruits, veggies and grains, which should take up about 65 percent of your energy source.
According to Sanford Health Dietitian Rachel Iverson, people on the Keto Diet are missing out on their Vitamin C, Vitamin A, folate and fiber that our bodies usually depend on. This is especially detrimental to our GI systems that depend on these nutrients.
Even after a day of a low fiber diet, the bacteria in your gut switches its main food source to the mucosal lining of your intestine over plant matter you ingest, which research has shown is not the best thing for you.
Iverson says, “This study is a meta-analysis– meaning it looked at tons of other studies and had specific inclusion criteria. They took those studies from a lot of places and a masked them all to show overall— what is the research saying and in this case the research is saying the KETO Diet is bad for your GI health.”
Long term effects can cause poor digestion, fat malabsorption, chronic diarrhea, higher risk for Crohn’s disease, and IBS. Iverson says she would not recommend the Keto Diet to any of her patients unless they were dealing with epilepsy.
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