Smoothies to lose weight, are they healthy or a dangerous fad? Nutritionists respond
How to get off sugar; Marta García-Orea, the pastry chef who succeeds with her 'without' recipes, gives the keys: "You should not eat sweets on an empty stomach"
Laura Jorge, nutritionist at The Eat Healthy, Live Healthy Method: "In the aperitif, olives are less fattening than nuts"
It's fast, very
fast
; In a rough estimate and although it depends on the person and the approach followed, "
weight loss
can be between three and five kilos in the first two weeks, and if done strictly it is possible to reach up to 10 kilos per day." month," says Dr. Marisa Navarro, author of the book 'Emotional Feeding' (ed. Vivelibro).
Taking it
easy
, you can reach the not inconsiderable three kilos per month. This is what she lost, "little by little and
safely
, strengthening new habits,"
Laura Garat tells us,
an expert on the subject, author of the channel 'Keto con Laura' and the book
'Keto Cooking'
(ed. . Grijalbo), a manual that includes one hundred easy recipes adapted to the Mediterranean tradition to follow this plan effortlessly. The book, which was released a couple of years ago, in February 2022, sold out on Amazon in just a few hours, such is the pull of this type of diet.
Laura wanted to work on her relationship with food and allowed herself to skip the 'diet' (she herself puts the word in quotation marks) from time to time, which is why she was looking for recipes "that she could
enjoy
without feeling like she was on a diet," she explains. Within a year she reached her goal weight - "I lost almost
40 kilos
," she says - and a little later she became pregnant. Now, seven months after giving birth, she is back to her normal weight and, "best of all," she insists, is that she feels great.
With this background, it is not surprising that Keto has long been one of the
fashionable diets
and, in any case, one of the most followed when looking to quickly lose extra kilos. "You lose weight in a very short time and there is nothing that is more fashionable at the current time than maintaining your figure and being
thin
," says Dr.
Navarro
, who, far from Laura Garat's experience, does not recommend this plan. "Everyone can choose to eat as they wish, but my advice is not to start this type of diet in any case, it is not a question of putting our health at
risk
."
They are two totally different positions, and with few avenues for reconciliation. So we start at the beginning. What exactly is the
Keto diet
? we asked Dr. Navarro. "In short, it consists of eliminating carbohydrates from our diet and basing it on fats and proteins. Saying this, it can't be very healthy," she responds. "The defenders of this diet are based on the fact that with this type of plan we can establish ketosis in our body
.
All our cells feed on glucose, including our neurons, which consume more than 50% of the
glucose
we ingest. It is our food par excellence, and it is not only found in sugar or sweets, but in many healthy foods, such as fruits, vegetables or legumes.
Even with the amount of weight lost in a short period of time,
Laura Garat
flatly rejects the idea of a
'miracle diet'.
"It's not even 'loss', it's a style of eating," she clarifies. "The fact that weight loss occurs easily is due to the change in the way we nourish ourselves: we eliminate
inflammatory foods
, such as gluten, and excessive sugar consumption, and we increase good fats such as olive oil. olive, nuts and avocado. And we convert that fat into energy, that is the reason why we lose weight. In addition, we improve our metabolic, hormonal and mental health. So no miracles, it is pure
science
."
When we do not eat
carbohydrates
, our body gets the glucose it needs to create energy from the glycogen in our muscles and liver, then from proteins and, finally, from fats. "But it happens that the effort that our body must make to obtain glucose from
proteins
and fats is so enormous that our neurons become depressed and all
our cells
become depressed with them. One of the causes of sadness, melancholy and even depression is the suppression of carbohydrates in our diet in the long term," says Dr.
Navarro,
who points out that when it is maintained over time and established as a lifestyle, this
diet
has more risks than benefits.
SHUTTERSTOCK
Is the Keto diet dangerous?
Along with sadness, Dr. Navarro points out other problems, such as
bad breath
, constipation, decreased strength
and
the constant craving for sweets. "It is a somewhat old and Americanized vision of the ketogenic diet," says Garat, "Quite the opposite! Eliminating sugar from the diet has gotten me out of the depression
I
had. It is true that it is an addictive substance and it is normal for Going on a diet can be sad, but there are thousands of recipes that help with cravings. Mediterranean keto includes a very high intake of green leafy vegetables, proteins and quality fats. And bad breath doesn't happen to everyone, too. , it is something temporary, as a consequence of the
change in diet
.
Dr. Marisa Navarro.
In any case, there is something on which both experts agree: "If a person is overweight, they need to put themselves in the hands of a
professional
who can advise them on what they should do," says Marisa Navarro. Also Laura Garat, who defends that the
Keto diet
can be maintained over time without danger, but always recommends "the help of medical specialists or nutritionists who are experts in low-carb or
anti-inflammatory
diets . Any drastic change in diet can be dangerous without supervision. The main problem with this plan comes when it is done 'a little crazy', without knowing what it is, how it works and what effects it has on our body. Today we have many studies that demonstrate the benefits of this diet and break with the
myths
that still exist".
Does the Keto diet cause a rebound effect?
"No more than any other. At the end of the day, if you use it as a quick diet and then return to your previous habits, it is normal for there to be an
increase
," says Laura Garat, although
Dr. Navarro
does see a rebound effect as easier. . "The faster the weight loss, the more likely it is to occur and to be greater. Our body needs all the nutritional groups and if you do without any of them so radically, have no doubt that it
will save
everything it can of what you do not provide him as soon as he has the opportunity, it is a matter of
survival
and security.
Cover of 'Keto Cooking' (ed. Grijalbo), by Laura Garat.
An Imperfect and Relaxed Keto Diet
"Consuming mostly
proteins
and fats, to the detriment of
vegetables
, fruits or legumes, is clearly unhealthy and a risk for the development of different diseases, because it can lead to a deficiency of necessary
nutrients
, such as
vitamins
and minerals," says the Dr. Navarro, who points out that this type of diet is "absolutely contraindicated" for people with diabetes.
But Laura Garat's imperfect Keto is far from that panorama, the creator of @Keto_con_laura assures me. "Relaxed and real, without guilt or forbidden ingredients," she says, she adapts the low-carbohydrate diet to the
Mediterranean tradition
and pursues a change in habits, replacing sausages, for example, with
healthy fats
. There is the difference.
She created her social media channel to document that
change
in herself, with her "good and bad days." When she was trying to diet to control her weight, she "felt that many of the profiles she followed didn't tell the whole truth." And she realized that there were many people who, like her in her case, "felt
frustrated
and alone; skipping a diet one day was synonymous with failure and eating delicious food was practically forbidden." By telling my story of
imperfection
, I show the keto diet as a lifestyle in which eating is enjoyed and in which skipping it does not mean undoing everything that has been achieved." His books are full of everyday recipes, "
sweets
included, of course.
In any case, Dr.
Navarro
is not convinced. "Weight is lost quickly, but at the cost of what? We do not know many of the long-term changes that occur in our body with this type of diet. In
nutrition,
all food groups are important, the total elimination of Carbohydrates can cause problems in the
cardiovascular
system , micronutrient deficiency, structural disorders in our cells and alterations in the insulin system and
intestinal flora,
the main bastion of our immune system. And if we compare it with a balanced low-calorie diet with the presence of healthy carbohydrates, there are no differences in terms of
long-term
weight loss ," he concludes.
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