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Understanding The Keto Diet - Is it worth trying?

Understanding The Keto Diet: Should you try it?

Do you keep hearing about keto but you’re not sure what all hype is about? This article is an introduction to one of the most popular diets today - Keto Diet. After reading, you’ll have a clear understanding of what it is and whether it’s a diet you should consider trying.

Overview of the Keto Diet

The keto diet is a nutritional plan that focuses on foods that are high in fat while minimizing carbs. Simply put, the diet replaces your carbohydrate intake with fats, which allows your body to enter a metabolic state called ketosis, which burns fat and produces ketones to use as fuel.

When your body is in this state it becomes very efficient at burning fat for energy. By default, our bodies will use glucose (sugar) as fuel obtained from carbs that we consume, but when supply of carbs remains low for a prolonged period of time - as is required to achieve ketosis - the body will switch to using fat for fuel instead.

The keto diet is fundamentally different from most diets out there, which is why there’s a lot of confusion. For example, a vegetarian diet is simply an exclusion of meat, a vegan diet is an exclusion of all foods derived from animals, a GI diet is a diet focused on consuming only carbs with a low glycemic index score (low GI carbs are more complex carbs, such as beans that slowly release glucose into your blood preventing the big spikes in blood sugar caused by simple carbs like bread). The number of diets out there are endless. They all have diet restrictions but they almost all have the same thing in common - they don’t force your body to change its energy source. Again, keto requires your body to be in a state called ketosis. To achieve ketosis, it can take 2 days to a week of extremely low carb consumption BUT you can easily get out of ketosis in less than a day by over consuming carbs.

Staying in a state of ketosis requires consistency and discipline. Sound difficult? It can be but keto leads to a reduction in insulin levels and blood sugar. Ketone levels are increased when your carbohydrate intake is low, and both of these effects can provide some important health benefits worth considering.

The Good - Benefits of Keto

There are many benefits of the keto diet including weight loss, reducing the effects of diabetes, minimizing sugar cravings, and much more!

Weight Loss

The most widely known benefit of keto and its most attractive benefit is rapid weight loss. You can effectively lose weight with keto because of its extremely low carb nature. You also feel full longer because your body has plenty of fat stored to use as energy. Instead of waiting for you to consume carbs, your body burns fat stored to produce ketones. This is similar to the weight loss benefit of intermittent fasting.

Studies have also shown that the ketogenic diet was more effective for long term weight loss than low-fat diets. This clinical trial found That the individuals who followed the keto diet for eight weeks lost almost five times more body fat than the others who chose a low-fat diet instead.

Keto and Type 2 Diabetes

There are promising results for those who have type 2 diabetes, which causes high blood sugar, impaired insulin function, inflammation and changes in metabolism. Studies show that ketosis is effective in regulating blood sugar levels, improving insulin function, and reducing inflammation. The combination of these benefits has the potential to reverse type 2 diabetes. Keep in mind that even if your type 2 diabetes is reversed, it doesn’t mean it will never return. Reverting back to a poor diet can cause it to return. This means after keto, you’ll have to focus on not over consuming carbs/sugar, especially simple carbs. Excess fat is also linked to Type 2 diabetes, since keto helps improve insulin sensitivity and long-term blood sugar management, you also lose weight. That’s 2 for 1!

Kick Those Sugar Cravings

Helping you eliminate sugar cravings is another benefit of the keto diet. Most foods people like to eat are either highly refined carbs that our bodies easily convert to glucose or loaded with various types of sugar. This can lead to excessive sugar cravings that cause us to overeat.

There are growing number of microbiome studies that show that foods we eat change the type of bacteria also referred to as microbes that grow in our gut. These microbes are responsible for absorbing specific type of nutrients. Some break down plant cellulose, some break down meat, some break down sugars, etc. Our gut bacteria is always changing based on what we eat. The fascinating thing about some of these studies is that they suggest the types of microbes we have determine our cravings!

Every time you change your diet drastically, your gut microbes change as well. Sugar is almost eliminated in a keto diet so you develop much healthier gut microbes. The microbes that process sugar die off and new ones emerge. On top of that, staying on a keto diet for 30 days+ can drastically change your eating habits. You get used to reading nutritional labels and you associate sugar as a bad food. All of these combined result in you kicking the sugar cravings!

Additional Health Benefits

Other valuable health benefits include reducing the risk of heart disease, slowing down the progression of certain cancers, and reductions in seizures caused by epilepsy. Similarly, research has begun to show that the keto diet can help improve cognitive function and reduce the symptoms of diseases like Alzheimer’s.

All these conditions have been linked to one or more of the following: inflammation, insulin malfunction, poor gut health, high blood sugar or being overweight. The keto diet has a positive effect in all these areas, which combined may have a significant impact on your health. Of course, the benefits will vary from person to person because everyone has a different starting point. Nevertheless, people suffering from these heath problems are seeing promising results with keto.

The Bad - What Are The Downsides?

Although there are many benefits to following the ketogenic diet, it can be a rough journey. Before you decide to give it a try consider the following.

Limited Research

Even though the benefits of keto sound amazing, the research is still ongoing. We don’t know the long term effects of staying on a keto diet. Some doctors suggest going on a keto diet for 2-3 weeks, some 6-8 weeks and some more. The Kete diet is considered very safe short term but the long term safety is up for debate. Since there’s enough research to prove some benefits and its considered safe short term, it might be worth a try for anyone suffering from the health problems it can potentially reverse.

Keto Side Effects

There are a wide array of side effects some of which doctors don’t know the cause. It’s important to understand that flipping your body’s fuel source switch is not an easy task initially. Some will have it easier than others. While your body adjusts to ketosis and a completely new diet you’ll likely experience some following side effect. Keep in mind not everyone will experience the same effects. Some of these side effects are a sign of some kind of deficiency. Be sure to research these side effects so you have a plan/fix in place in case you experience them.

Keto Flu

The keto flu is one of the most common and refers to a set of symptoms some experience in early stages of ketosis. These symptoms include nausea, constipation, digestive discomfort, reduced energy, irritability, muscle cramps, headache and insomnia. These symptoms can be part of a carb/sugar withdrawal process and are totally normal or can be an indication that you’re dehydrated or have low sodium. It’s most common a result of low sodium. When you’re on keto you urinate a lot of sodium. You also likely reduce your sodium intake by avoiding processed salty foods. This can result in the keto flu. Increasing your sodium intake can resolve this issue.

Bad Breath

Yes, bad breath is a common symptom. It’s probably not the bad breath you’re thinking of. When you have it you’ll notice a metallic taste in your mouth and it has a distinct odor. The smell can either be fruity (not so bad) or a smell of nail polish remover.

Keto Rash

The cause of keto rash are much less understood. This symptom is also more rare. The few people that experience this get itchy patches often on their back, chest, armpits and neck or a combination of those areas. Since this is more rare, research is even more limited and will take some time for us to understand the underlying cause of these rashes.

Other Health Risks

Additional health risks include a lack of essential nutrients that are found in foods that are not recommended under the keto diet, low blood protein levels, excess fat in the liver, and kidney stones.

If you are on certain types of medication for Type 2 diabetes, like sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors, you increase the risk of diabetic ketoacidosis. If you are on this medication, you should not attempt the keto diet since it could lead to dangerous conditions that increase the acidity of your blood.

Getting Started with Keto

Now that you understand what the keto diet is, as well as the pros and cons associated with it, let's go over how you can get started.

Educate Yourself

The first thing that you need to do to get started with keto is to educate yourself. Reading this article is just the first step - you need to spend some time researching exactly what will happen to your body on keto as well as the importance of eating clean so that you can be fully prepared for what you may experience while on the diet.

It is necessary to understand all of the side effects as well as the recommended supplements that can help you minimize their effects.

Learn how to Read Nutrition Labels

If you plan to start keto, understanding how to read nutrition labels is a must. Get used to understanding them because you will need to know what to look for to follow this diet properly.

This is the only way to be sure that you can achieve some of the benefits provided by keto!

Sample Meal Plans are Your Friend

Learning what foods you should eat can be somewhat daunting if you are new to keto, so sample meal plans are your friend. Research example meal plans to help you get started - they should look something like this:

Breakfast: Eggs with veggies and avocado

Lunch: Chicken salad with cheese and olive oil

Dinner: Salmon and asparagus cooked with butter

Meal Prep, Meal Prep, Meal Prep

Once you have an idea of what the right foods should look like, it is time to meal prep. Preparing your meals ahead of time will help you stay on track and help you avoid opportunities to break your diet because you're not sure what to eat!

To summarize, the keto diet focuses on reducing your carb intake and replacing it with fat so that your body can use it as an energy source instead. It is a great option for individuals who are overweight, are seeking to improve their health, or have diabetes.

Although there are many benefits, it is necessary to consider the health risks that the keto diet poses - be sure to think about how this would play into your specific lifestyle and preferences!

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Pure and Simple

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Good fish oil

I have been taking fish oil for years for heart and brain health. This fish oil by TGS Nutrition seems like a good one. It is sourced from wild caught Alaska pollock. It contains the triglyceride form of Omega-3's and the quality seems good. A serving size of 2 softgels contains 640mg of EPA and 420mg of DHA. The softgels are of the regular size and pretty easy to swallow. No fishy odor or burps.

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Always use trusted wild caught sources

Fish oil is a great supplement to take for so many reasons, heart and brain and joint health to name a few. You likely aren’t getting enough Omega 3 in your diet unless you eat fish a few times a week. Pregnant women need it more as it is critical for fetal development and for young kids it is important for brain development too, so read up on it. The recommended dose of total Omega 3 is 1100 mg for women , but 1600 mg for men, so this product falls a little short for men. Yes, you are getting oil from wild caught pollack, USA made. And that’s what your paying extra for of course. But there are other available options too of wild caught fish that are equally good, so shop around . More isn’t necessarily better, but try and get the recommended dose and a high amount of DHA ( at least 200mg DHA ) . This one covers that easily. This is a worthy product , but the fact that you should take it consistently means you need to find your most affordable option. Research and shop. Spend your money on good and economical products and always understand what you are taking and why. No complaints, this is a 3 month supply for about 14.00 a month and a good clean product.

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Good choice for omega 3’s

I take many various dietary supplements. But fish oil is the only one that I take faithfully daily. And I'm approaching 70 years old with great health, vigor and mobility. This TGS fish oil product comes packaged 180 softgels per bottle. Serving size is two softgels daily which delivers 640 mg EPA, 420 mg DHA, 200 mg other Omega-3s. The fish oil is sourced wild-caught Alaskan Pollock (not from shellfish or krill) and the softgel capsule is bovine gelatin-based . . . which is compatible with my kosher-like diet. Labelling claims the fish are sustainably caught, then processed to eliminate mercury (small fish generally contain much less mercury anyway). Expiration date appears to be about 2 years into the future.

TGS Omega 3 fish oil - 1260mg

It is really hard to find supplements now a days that are transparent. Whether it’s transparent with ingredient amounts vs. just proprietary blend formulas, or transparent on the actual ingredients. The fish oils by TGS have both transparency on the amount of EPA/DHA which are both in line for the levels you want in a fish oil, as well as, where the fish oil originates from (Alaska Pollock). I take 2-3g of fish oils a day as a normal part of my diet. These are easy to swallow and provide a good source of omega-3s.

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Potent and no fish burps

This fish oil has a high potency listed. As with any supplement, we as consumers are at the mercy of the manufacturer when it comes to potency listings and ingredients, but I have no reason to doubt this of this product. I believe this to be slightly pricey at $39.99, but I also believe that you could get by with 1 gel-cap per day as opposed to the recommended 2 per day. The National Academy of Medicine sets the daily adequate intake (AI) of omega-3 fatty acids as 1.6 grams for adult men and 1.1 grams for adult women, while standard supplements typically contain around 1 gram of fish oil, with 120 milligram of EPA and 120 milligrams of DHA, the two types of omega-3 fatty acids. I have been using fish oil, or krill oil, as a supplement for quite a few years and believe it to be beneficial.

I really had no dislikes (other than price) of this product. There was no fish burp after taking it. As with any fish oil capsules, they tend to be on the large side (1 is pictured atop a US Dime), but I had no difficulty in taking them. I even tried taking 1 before a meal and still had no fish burps.

I hope that this helps someone decide on whether or not to purchase this product.

Wild caught

From wild Alaska pollock and sustainably sourced as well as made in the USA, what more could I ask for.
I’m taking 2 softgels daily and this huge bottle contains 180 softgels so I have a 3 month supply for the very reasonable cost of $39.99.
I’ve not experienced any fishy burps with TGS fish oil nor any other negative effects. I’m very pleased with the quality of this supplement and i would definitely repurchase.

Good product and 3 month supply

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Large easy to swallow clean looking capsules

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Highly recommended

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Good concentration

I've been taking Omega 3 for years and have tried many different supplements. This one has a good concentration of EPA and DHA. You get 180 gelcaps for a good price. I typically take quite a bit of Omega 3 as it helps a lot. As a result, I like getting containers this size. The small stuff I blow through quickly. You can't go wrong with this.

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