We all think that combining two diet charts will give you better results. But is that even true? Combining two diets may or may not promise you good results as expected. Combining the keto diet and intermittent fasting is the new health trend these days. Experts believe that the keto diet and intermittent fasting have their own set of benefits individually, but many of us wonder if they give outstanding results when combined. This article will help you understand the significant differences between the terms and their pros and cons.
What is Keto Diet?
The Keto diet, also known as the ketogenic diet, is majorly high fat and low carb diet. Now you must be wondering what this exactly means. In a keto diet, the primary intake of calories comes from fat. The rest comes from some amount of protein and a low quantity of carbs, which means that you bid goodbye to the fruits, pizza & pasta and welcome steak and eggs to your daily routine. Many studies support that the keto diet has many health benefits. Many of the keto diet popular recipes include bacon and other animal products keeping the real focus on fat. If you follow the process of ketosis correctly, you tend to burn ketones from fat, which speeds up your metabolism and increases the potential for weight loss.
What is Intermittent Fasting?
The significant difference between a keto diet and intermittent fasting is that keto is a diet, and intermittent fasting is considered an eating pattern. Intermittent fasting (IF) is an eating pattern where you restrict yourself from eating at intervals every day. You majorly limit the intake of calories over a specific period. Experts recommend drinking water, black coffee, or tea and avoid anything that provides calories or requires digestion. The concept behind intermittent fasting is that it deprives the body of calories for a certain period resulting in temporary starvation and slows down the metabolism process, leading to the burning of fat cells and leading to weight loss. Experts recommend avoiding intermittent fasting to people having a history of disordered eating.
What happens if we combine them both?
Combining and adapting two different patterns might lead you to a healthy life, while on the other hand, it might lead to some dangerous side effects. The same is the case when you combine the keto diet and intermittent fasting. Many experts favor the tremendous influence of the combination, while some don’t. But that also depends on your way of living and health. Let’s dig deep down and focus on the pros and cons of combining the two.
Pros of combining keto diet and Intermittent Fasting:
- Might accelerate weight loss: The idea behind combining them both is that it fastens the weight loss process. It happens because you control the intake of calories over a long period and eat only in your feeding interval. Your body also uses fat produced from glucose for energy, which probably tends to lose weight during a shorter period.
- Might fasten the ketosis process: While the ketogenic diet restricts the intake of carbohydrates and switches over to fat, at the same time during intermittent fasting, the glycogen levels that are present in your body tends to deplete. Hence, the combination of the two together helps in fastening the ketosis process.
- A decrease in appetite: When you start fasting over a certain period, your need decreases for apparent reasons. Not just this, there is another reason that you observe a decrease in your appetite. When you start practicing keto diet, you replace carbs with fat, which eventually leads your need to decrease because of the shift in appetite-regulating hormones, which means lesser hunger pangs and more energy with faster weight loss.
Cons of combining keto diet and Intermittent Fasting:
- Might not give you long-term results: It might take you along to adapt the process while also failing to provide you the long-term effects. As soon as you decide to give up on any one of them, you will lose pace. Even once you choose to go off the combination and go back to your regular eating habits, you will notice the benefits disappearing.
- It’s not easy: For the people out there who think the combination is easy and might go as planned, you should research well before you decide to start on trying the variety. It consists of a lot of restrictions, which makes it very difficult. It is not just about the difficulty in restricting carbs but also about having control over party nights with friends or family get-togethers because you can’t give it a miss. Both are individually difficult and, once combined, gives you another layer of challenge to cross.
- Keto might hamper your health: Keto does not always promise good health, and intermittent fasting has nothing to do with it. At times, people also complain about keto flu while they are in their transition phase. It majorly includes diseases like a bad headache, stomach ache, dizziness, and nausea.
Conclusion
Combining the keto diet and intermittent fasting might sound fascinating as it gives you results faster and be careful and alert during the entire process. Do not try if you are suffering from some severe health issues as it might drain your body instead of helping you out. Both the patterns have their structures, and one should follow them right because if gone wrong at any step, it might leave your health at high risk. Experts do not recommend the keto, and intermittent fasting to pregnant women as producing milk requires a lot of energy. Always go for some alternate methods if you feel you aren’t fit to practice it. Also, consult an expert and stay in regular touch with them if you observe some unusual changes in your body. You can always try something similar to these diets, which might have somewhat the same results. Do not push your limits beyond your needs and put your health in danger. Consult before trying.