Feature by Laudia Nunoo Sawer
Tema, April 11, - “Wow, you are
looking tight, amazing and oh your tummy, looking so flat.”
These and many other
complimentary comments have flooded social media lately especially Facebook as
people mostly, women happily showcase their pictures after achieving “their
aim” of losing weight through the Ketogenic regime.
Some testify of losing over
chunks of body weight after four months, while others also share how people
have visibly noticed a change in their body shape just a week or two after
embarking on the journey to lose weight.
In the past, the African woman
would do anything to gain some flesh to bring out her curves especially around
her buttocks, hips and breasts as that was what the black man cherished. Those
who lacked such fleshy looks were referred to as “tsingilingi”, “boney”, among
others.
A woman who loses weight after
given birth, is mocked for not eating well or lacking the proper care after
delivering. She must eat plenty carbohydrates with soup to ensure that she
looked fresh and well nourished.
But over the past two to three
years, young ladies, nursing mothers and even the middle age and the elderly
have launched on to consuming cups of slimming tea, flat tummy tea, dietary
supplement for weight loss, detoxing tea, among others. There was no single day
you won’t see one advert or the other on these products.
It seems everything has its time,
without any warning or announcement, more and more women have all of a sudden
become conscious of their weight and would do anything and everything to lose
some kilogrammes here and there.
The weight losing craze came to
my notice when somebody added me to a social media group which is aimed at
promoting weight loss through ketogenic lifestyle. I was confused at first as I
saw the various testimonies and pictures of people losing weight. Mine! And the
different images of appetizing foods on display wasn’t easy at all. As for the
terminologies, I am still schooling myself on them, I hope I shall conquer them
very soon.
So I finally got the gist,
ketogenic diet or lifestyle is the new food revolution towards losing weight.
But how can one lose so much weight by consuming lots of meat, chicken, eggs,
sardines, cheese, mayonnaise, avocados, among others.
To achieve this, there are meal
plans specially drawn by the administrators of these groups which members
follow religiously to achieve their desired body size. Just like a church
environment, everyone sang the chorus: wow what a miracle! Somebody had dropped
from size 22 to 14 within some few months.
What is Ketogenic eating?
So what at all is keto, the short
form of ketogenic eating. Information gathered from different health sites and
authorities reveal that it is a high-fat, adequate-protein, low-carbohydrate
diet eating.
The diet regime has been used
since the early 1900s to treat epilepsy in children successfully. It is still
one of the most widely used therapies for children who have uncontrolled
epilepsy. It allows fewer medications to be used while still offering excellent
control.
On a normal diet of high
carbohydrates, the body produces glucose and insulin. The insulin is produced
by the body to process the glucose which is converted into energy. Since the
glucose is being used as a primary energy, the other fats are not needed and
are therefore stored.
On the other hand, due to the
lowering of the carbohydrate intake, the body does not have enough carbohydrate
to produce the glucose and insulin, a situation which forces the body into a
state of ketosis
Ketosis is a natural process the
body initiates to help us survive when food intake is low. During this state,
we produce ketones, which are produced from the breakdown of fats in the lever.
The end goal of a properly
maintained keto diet is to force the body into this metabolic state (ketosis),
this is not done through starvation of calories but rather low or no intake of
carbohydrates.
When a person overload the body
with fats and take away carbohydrates, it would begin to burn ketones as the
primary energy source. Optimal ketone levels offer many health benefits
including weight loss, physical and mental performance benefits.
A typical keto dieter refrains
from eating grains such as wheat, corn, rice, cereal, and sugars including
honey, maple syrup. Also, fruits including apples, bananas, oranges and tubers
such as potato and yams
They rather eat meat, fish, beef,
lamb, poultry, eggs, spinach, kale, broccoli, cauliflower hard cheeses, high
fat cream, butter, walnuts, sunflower seeds, macadamias, avocado and berries
such as raspberries, blackberries, low glycemic impact berries and coconut oil,
high fat salad dressing, saturated fats.
When they miss their banku, fufu
and regular bread, keto dieters device ingenious ways of getting their favorite
carbohydrate foods by taking cabbage banku, garden egg fufu, oats swallow,
coconut flour and pysllium husk banku, among others do the trick for them.
Other benefits of keto diet
include its natural way of lowering blood sugar levels due to the type of food
eaten. It is said to be the effective way to manage and prevent diabetes
compared to low calories diets.
It is also said to improve mental
focus as ketones are a great source of fuel for the brain and lowering carb
intake, help one to avoid spikes in blood sugar, which could result in improved
focus and concentration.
It is believed to improve
triglyceride levels and cholesterol levels mostly associated with arterial
buildup. Low carbohydrates, high-fat diets show a dramatic increase in High
Density Lipoproteins (HDL) and decrease in Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL)
particle concentration compared to low-fat diets.
Side effects
Losing weight with keto is not
all that rosy as it has its side effects especially within the first few days
of jumping onto it. These include frequent urination as the kidney excrete
excess sodium as the levels of circulating insulin drops.
Dizziness and drowsiness also
occurs during keto dieting as the body eliminates minerals like potassium,
magnesium, and sodium. To conquer this, one must eat foods rich in potassium
such as leafy green, broccoli, dairy, meat poultry, fish, and avocados.
Another side effect is the
“ketosis flu”, a flu-like symptoms of headaches, tiredness, lethargy, brain
fog, and irritability.
What the experts say
Even though people are happy they
are getting their desired body size through keto, Mr Prince Baidoo, Tema
General Hospital Dietitian and Mr Samuel Atuahene-Antwi, Tema Metropolitan
Nutritionist told the Ghana News Agency that they do not approve of the sudden
craze for keto dieting
They indicated that people were
put on the diet as a therapy for intermittent seizures after careful assessment
therefore it was not advisable for people to just jump on it without any proper
medical assessment.
Mr Baidoo further said being on
keto puts unnecessary pressure on the liver, a situation which could lead to
the contraction of several liver diseases in future and a possible heart
attack.
He added that such persons were
also prone to having a higher cholesterol level, hypertension and stroke.
He therefore advised those who
want to watch their weight to use medically acceptable ways instead of exposing
themselves to long term sicknesses.
Social media followers say Keto
lifestyle is “bae”, but even as we do all we can to lose a kilo or more, let’s
cherish the advice of the experts and stick to what is acceptable and good for
our health instead of exposing ourselves to terminal illnesses. It is obvious
that this weight loss craze could also lead us astray.
GNA
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