Never, ever follow the ketogenic diet in these specific cases: you run a big health risk. Here’s what you need to know
There are various types of diet and the ketogenic diet is one of them. In fact, the ketogenic diet is a food and nutritional strategy that essentially consists of limiting your carbohydrate intake with a maximum of 50 grams of foods containing carbohydrates per day, and instead increasing the consumption of proteins and especially fats, an important macronutrient in this diet.
So, the permitted foods in the ketogenic diet include sources of animal fats such as yogurt, cheeses, and butter, vegetable oils like that of olive and coconut, foods rich in good fats such as avocado, almonds, and also sunflower, sesame, and pumpkin seeds. As for proteins, they should be consumed in moderation, and as regards vegetables, we should in particular avoid cooked carrots and tomatoes as much as possible and prefer leafy vegetables.
Among prohibited foods in this diet, we instead find legumes, every cereal, potatoes and their derivatives, and also the fruit, given that it is rich in sugars. No also to sugary drinks and ice creams. Given the limited consumption of carbohydrates, with this diet, you generally lose weight quickly in the short term.
However, in certain specific cases, we should avoid following the ketogenic diet. Otherwise, we would risk running into serious health problems. But let’s go in order and see together and in more detail what there is to know about the diet in question and what the main contraindications are consequently.
Ketogenic diet: not just anyone can follow it
As just mentioned, the ketogenic diet is a diet based on the limitation of carbohydrate consumption. Like all diets, it has pros and cons, but there is something in particular that we need to keep in mind.
In fact, not everyone can follow this diet given that in some specific cases we would risk endangering our health. Here’s what we absolutely need to know.
Contraindications of the ketogenic diet
First of all, anyone who suffers from pancreatitis and liver and kidney failure should never, ever follow the ketogenic diet. In addition to that, those who also suffer from cardiovascular diseases should pay particular attention.
Furthermore, those who have high blood pressure, take medications for heart failure, and have diabetes should consult a specialist doctor beforehand.
Also watch out for those who are very thin, children and adolescents, pregnant or breastfeeding women, and finally in subjects who suffer from behavioral, eating, and mental disorders or alcoholism. In short, as the saying goes: “Better safe than sorry!”