| dc.description.abstract | The ketogenic diet is a trending diet garnering much attention and interest. But do people know what it is, how it works, and where it came from? The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet that was originally created to treat childhood epilepsy but has been found useful for many other things. Because of its low carbohydrate allowance, the body is deprived of glucose, its main fuel source, and instead burns stored fat into ketone bodies for energy. This process of ketosis promotes weight loss in a highly controversial way and can implicate unhealthy consequences. Ketosis can quickly worsen into ketoacidosis, a life-threatening condition that dangerously lowers the pH of the blood. In addition, the ketogenic diet's recommended high fat intake can increase LDL cholesterol levels, which can quickly become detrimental to health. Not only this, it may promote rapid weight loss in a short period of time, but does not guarantee that weight loss will be sustained. Several articles are under examination to determine the ketogenic diet's efficacy and if it is trending for all the right or wrong reasons. Low-carbohydrate (ketogenic) diets and low-fat diets are compared in numerous studies and ways, including weight loss results, cholesterol and lipid levels, but somehow inconsistent results prevail. Through the use of randomized control trials, case reports, and several systematic reviews with meta-analyses, the ketogenic diet's history, worldwide prevalence, and uses beyond weight loss, including treatment of certain cancers, are brought to light in a way that reveals the truth and significant bodily effects behind its trending name. | |
