Review: Is a 21-day Keto diet effective?
MANILA, Philippines — Since Valentine's Day and summer are just around the corner, it's "new year, new body goals" for many of us.
Among the popular means to lose or maintain weight nowadays is the Ketogenic Diet, or simply the "Keto Diet," which is reportedly followed by celebrities like LeBron James, Tim Tebow and the Kardashians.
According to Dr. Ananya Mandal, Keto first became famous as a therapy for epilepsy in the 1920s and '30s.
"It was developed to provide an alternative to non-mainstream fasting, which had demonstrated success as an epilepsy therapy," Dr. Mandal wrote in the peer-reviewed article, "History of the Ketogenic Diet."
According to Mandal, the role of fasting in disease treatment has been known to mankind for thousands of years and was studied in detail by ancient Greek and Indian physicians.
Here is my honest take on Keto after 21 days of trying it:
Pros
Convenient: Ketos of Manila, owned by James Yulo Chi, provides a variety of nutritious and carefully apportioned meals, including home-made desserts, for breakfast, lunch, supper, and breaktime according to the Keto Diet. These are well-packed and cleanly prepared, plus delivered right to your home, making the orders ideal in this time of pandemic. No need to calculate or weigh whether you are eating right, which will save any busy person time and effort to have those meals made relative to your nutrition needs and body constitution, information that Ketos of Manila will ask from you.
Less food waste: Since the food is well-calculated, you eat just enough, thereby lessening chances for leftovers or food waste.
Delicious and nutritious: The protein ball and other sumptuous unique treats give a guilt-free pleasure for taking sweets.
Variety: The 21-day meal plan comes in a sundry of world cuisine, like Korean and Filipino, and also includes sugar-free treats and drip coffee.
If not weight loss, it would get you into the "veggie" eating habit: If you don’t like to eat vegetables, you will be compelled to try them for a balanced diet. There are instructions on what time to take in and what food are served.
Enables you to build muscle faster: After the 21-day diet, I have observed that it has been easier for me to bulk up than before I was into it. I therefore recommend it to also those into weightlifting exercises.
Helps you monitor your ketones levels: According to Healthline, a Keto Diet helps promote Ketosis, a process wherein when the body doesn't have enough carbohydrates to burn for energy, it burns unwanted fat and enables the liver to naturally create ketones as the body's fuel. With unwanted fat burned, not only is it possible to lose weight, but also avoid diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. Ketos of Manila provides testing kits to monitor one's ketones levels and gives rewards for sending proof of high ketone levels and a limited-edition shirt for completing the 21-day challenge.
Cons
Fats: Fats are incorporated within the 21-day meal plan so that the body can get used to burning unwanted fat. But my reservations are with respect to bite-sized fats and pork included in the menu since I don’t eat pork, not for religious or ethical reasons, but I just don’t think they’re healthy or tasty. Maybe this is something that can be negotiated for alternatives.
You might need to add more: Some selections tend to be bland, maybe for health reasons, so be sure to add up spices or salt if necessary. Sometimes, you also feel hungry still, so I sometimes ate other food as it is hard to stick just to the packed food.
Ketosis has downsides: When you follow a low-carb diet like Keto, there are disadvantages like increased acid levels, which can result in nausea, fatigue and vomiting. I have not, however, experienced any of these while in the 21-day trial diet since the packages come with reminders of the right schedule to follow. It is suggested to consult a physician first before trying this diet plan, especially if you have a health condition like diabetes.
Other than these, Ketos of Manila (KetosofManila.com) packs its food affordably, elegantly and tastefully, especially for a complete 21-days order. — Atty. Nicolo F. Bernardo, MA, JD, LLM (Cand.) with reports from Deni Rose M. Afinidad-Bernardo
Editor's note: The Keto Diet 21-day challenge was hosted by Ketos of Manila to promote Keto Diet. At no stage does the host organization has a say on the stories generated from the coverage, interviews conducted, publication date and story treatment. Content is produced solely by Philstar.com following editorial guidelines.
