What Atkins Got Right: The Basics of Ketosis

By Rebecca Thieneman, VP of Nutrition and Health Coaching 

Understanding Keto

Remember Atkins? Gaining popularity around 2003 and widely considered a fad diet at the time, Atkins is based upon very low carbohydrate intake, with a good amount protein and lots of fat. In recent years, that foundation has started to gain increased attention once again, but now under its original (but only recently popular) name: The keto diet. Plenty of nutritionists, health coaches, and even doctors expound upon the virtues of this way of eating, but can a high-fat diet really be good for you? 

To get to the root of that question, it helps to have a primer on how exactly a ketogenic diet works.

Low carb versus ketogenic

First, an important distinction: While a ketogenic diet is by nature very low in carbs, not all low-carb diets are keto diets. The government's Dietary Guidelines recommend that carbs make up 45% to 65% of our diet, which translates to somewhere between 225 to 325 grams per day—and the average American falls well into that range. While there isn’t a specific definition of what constitutes low-carb, the general guideline is that anything under 100 grams of net carbs per day counts. (Net carbs are calculated by subtracting the grams of fiber from the total carb count of each food.)

A ketogenic diet on the other hand is defined quite specifically as a diet that pushes your body into a state of ketosis. Put very simply, ketosis forces your body to use the existing fat stored in your body for energy instead of carbohydrates. On the keto diet, you get a whopping 75% of your daily calories from fat, and usually just 5% from carbs. This typically begins within 48 hours of beginning the diet and reaches optimal efficiency after consistently reducing carb intake for two weeks.

The total number of net carbs allowed depends on a variety of factors, but almost everyone will get into ketosis on fewer than 20 grams per day. 

The benefits of ketosis

Believe it or not, the ketogenic diet has been used for therapeutic benefits since the 1920s, when it was developed as a treatment for childhood epilepsy. In fact, it’s still a viable treatment option when anticonvulsant drugs are ineffective. It’s believed that the diet may also be effective at treating other neurological conditions like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and autism. 

Then of course there’s weight loss: There’s no doubt that this way of eating helps people lose lots of weight quickly. After as little as a few days on a low-calorie keto diet, not only does your body become very efficient at using fat for fuel instead of carbs, but insulin resistance is improved. The result is improved metabolism and accelerated fat loss. Some studies even suggest that ketosis can help prevent your body from storing any new fat.   

The downsides of the keto diet

The main downside of the ketogenic diet is that we don’t really know much about its long-term effects—there aren’t many studies outside of the neurological research. What we do know for sure is that it can be tough to get all the nutrients you need if you’re restricting yourself to only 20 grams of net carbs each day, since it’s difficult to eat enough fruit or even veggies. Also, to lose weight rapidly, you still need to limit calories as well, and that combined with strict calculation of fat, protein, and carb intake requires a lot of effort! 

Is a diet high in fat healthy?

After the low-fat craze, it’s easy to see why a diet like Atkins took off. In the beginning, people interpreted it as being allowed to eat all the bacon, cheese, and bunless burgers they could stand. While you may in fact lose weight eating this way, not many people would argue that that’s really providing your body with the nutrients it needs. Nowadays, even the Atkins plan (yep, it’s still around!) advocates a diet made up of mainly fresh, whole foods.

The same goes for the keto diet. With natural fats, high-quality proteins, and carbs from plenty of fresh veggies, it can be a perfectly healthy way to eat—at least for a time. You might discover that you miss delicious, carbohydrate-filled foods like sweet potatoes, wild rice, and oats—and that your own body does quite well with these in your diet while maintaining a healthy weight. The key is to eat tasty, fresh food in a balance that works for you.

Rebecca Thieneman is devoted to transformative wellness and scalable health solutions that are bridging the worlds of science and spirituality, mind and body, and human touch and technology. Rebecca is a Functional Nutrition Therapist (RDN) and Yoga and Meditation Teacher with over a decade of experience in leadership, health innovation, and mind body education.