In recent years, two major diet trends have been surging upwards, i.e., the keto diet and intermittent fasting. From fitness influencers to celebrities, everyone seems to be talking about how these approaches help burn fat, boost energy, and improve health. But the effectiveness of these diets, whose aim is weight loss, is still unclear. Here is some information about these two kinds of diets.

Understanding the Keto diet:

The ketogenic diet is a low-carbohydrate, high-fat eating plan designed to shift your body’s metabolism from burning carbohydrates to burning fat for energy. Normally, our body relies on carbs for quick energy. But when you drastically reduce carb intake, your body enters a state called ketosis, a metabolic process where fat is broken down into ketones, which serve as the primary fuel source.

A typical keto diet consists of:

• 70-80% fats 
• 10-20% proteins 
• 5-10% carbohydrates 

How the keto diet aids in weight loss:

According to weight loss, the ketogenic diet is one that, if you deprive the body of glucose, the main source of energy for all the cells in the body, which is obtained by eating carbohydrate foods. An alternative fuel called ketones is produced from stored fat. The brain demands the most glucose in a steady supply, about 120g daily, because it cannot store glucose. During fasting, or when very few carbohydrates are taken, the body first pulls stored fat as an energy source to maintain and compensate for the energy levels from the liver and temporarily breaks down muscle to release glucose. If this continues for 3-4 days and stored glucose is fully depleted, blood levels of a hormone called insulin decrease, and the body begins to use fat as its primary source. The liver produces ketone bodies from fat, which can be used in the absence of glucose.

The diet:

There is no one standard diet for this method. The ketogenic diet typically reduces total carbohydrate intake to less than 50g a day, less than the amount found in a medium plain bagel and can be as low as 20g a day. Generally, popular ketogenic resources suggest an average of 70-80% fats from total daily calories, 10-20% portion of proteins and carbohydrates of 5-10%. For instance, a 2000-calorie diet translates to about 165g of fat, 75g of protein and 40 g of carbohydrates. The protein concentration in this diet is kept moderate in comparison with other low-carbohydrate, high-protein diets.

Potential effects: There are positives as well as negative effects of this diet. Some negative side effects of a long-term ketogenic diet have been suggested various risk factors like increased incidence of kidney stones, osteoporosis, and high uric acid levels in the blood. In some cases, possible nutrient deficiencies may arise if a variety of recommended foods on the diet are not included. It is important not to solely focus on eating high-fat foods, but to include varieties like meat, fish, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds to ensure adequate intake of fibre, vitamin B and essential minerals. Assistance from a registered dietician may be beneficial in creating a ketogenic diet, which has minimal nutrient deficiencies.

Intermittent fasting: 

This type of fasting is an eating pattern that cycles between periods of fasting and eating. It is currently very popular in the health and fitness community.

Intermittent fasting does not specify which foods you should eat, but rather when you should eat them. This means it is not really a diet; it is more accurately described as an eating pattern. Common methods of this fasting involve fasting for 16 hours and having an eight-hour eating window. Some people do 24 24-hour fasting twice a week. This intermittent fast has different methods

You can follow intermittent fasting in several ways:

1. The 16/8 method:

• This involves an 8-hour eating period and 16 16-hour fasting period. Some people do this by skipping breakfast, but you can also do the reverse and skip dinner or eat early. 

2. eat-stop-eat:

• This method is done by fasting for 24 hours once or twice per week. Because this is a slightly more advanced version of fasting. This must be tried if you are pretty comfortable with practice. 

3. The 5:2 diet:

• With this method, you consume only 500-600 calories on two non-consecutive days of the week but eat as usual the other 5 days.

How does it work:

Weight loss is the most common reason that people try this process. By reducing the amount of time you spend eating, you will likely consume fewer calories without realising it. In addition to lowering insulin and increasing growth hormone levels. Intermittent fasting increases the release of the fat-burning hormone norepinephrine. Because of these changes, short-term fasting may temporarily increase your metabolic rate.

Potential effects:

This intermittent fast is safe for many healthy adults when practiced in moderation. However, it is not a universal solution and may present risks for certain populations.

• Malnutrition if caloric intake is quite low. 
• Electrolyte imbalance, dehydration
• Fatigue or difficulty in concentration.
• Loss of muscle mass if protein intake is inadequate.