The ketogenic diet is becoming one of the lastest fads. It is promoted by the Body Reboot™ system as well as others.

The keto diet, as its sometimes called, is a low-carb and high fat diet. It usually is based on the 75-20-5 rule. You should eat 75% fat, 20% percent protein, and only 5% carbohydrates in calories each day. That is in in stark contrast to typical American diet, which is usually 50 – 65% carbohydrates.

After about a week on the ketogenic diet, the body goes into ketosis, which means it gets its energy from fat instead of carbohydrates.  A person on the ketogenic diet can test test whether he or she is in ketosis by using keto strips.

Image courtesy of: Body Comp Blueprint

People often start the ketogenic diet to lose weight. But what are the benefits of the ketogenic diet? And are there any risks?

Moira Lawler from EverydayHealth  addressed the benefits of the ketogenic diet.

Initially, the weight loss comes from loss of water, because you cut down on carbs in your diet and your body uses up the carbohydrates stored in the liver, which hold onto water. The diet results in further weight loss because it encourages you to load up on whole foods and satisfying healthy fats, Nisevich Bede says.

By cutting carbs, you’ll also cut sugar, which means a steadier supply of energy (no more sugar highs and crashes!). “The first thing people report is, ‘Oh my gosh, I have this steady energy and I don’t have the need to snack at 3 p.m. because my energy is weaning,’” Nisevich Bede says. Research shows that the keto diet leads to fewer hunger pangs and a lower desire to eat.

You lose weight because “if you’re not hungry every five minutes and can work on your willpower,” you won’t eat as much, Nisevich Bede says. And it may be easier to keep the weight off while you're on the keto diet: One study found that the keto diet led to greater long-term weight loss than a low-fat diet.

Besides weight loss, Lawler's research showed that there were other benefits.

There’s more to the keto diet than weight loss, though. For one thing, it’s been shown to be a mood stabilizer for people with type II bipolar disorder and can be even more effective than medication. Research also suggests the diet could help people with type 2 diabetes and can lead to improvements in HbA1c levels (though, be warned, it can also lead to hypoglycemia if you take medication to lower your blood sugar).

Finally, the keto diet may be beneficial for people with epilepsy. One study found it reduced the frequency of seizures for many study participants, 7 percent of whom were seizure-free at the four-year mark. And though it wasn’t the goal for this study, nearly 20 percent of the participants lost weight while following the diet.

As to some of downsides, Lawler noted that the diet is hard to stick to and that you would  feel hungrier than usual until you are three weeks into the diet.

Lawler also noted other risks.

It’s also common for people starting the diet to experience flu-like symptoms, such as headaches and fatigue. This side effect is so common that there’s a name for it: the keto flu. “You shed a ton of water weight at first, which can lead to dehydration,” Nisevich Bede explains. This can worsen the symptoms of the keto flu. To counter it, she recommends staying hydrated and loading up on electrolytes through electrolyte tablets or Pedialyte.

Other potential risks include kidney stones, several vitamin and mineral deficiencies, decreased bone mineral density, and gastrointestinal distress. And while some fats can be healthy, there’s a risk that in following a high-fat diet, you’ll increase your intake of unhealthy trans and saturated fats. These “bad” fats are found in things like red meat, poultry skin, cheese, and butter and can lead to an increased risk of bad cholesterol and heart disease.

To see the entire article as well as the references, go to EverydayHealth.com.