Is The Keto Diet Dangerous?

If you listen to conversations that people have about changing their diet or read things online that people are sharing about their new eating plan, there are so many people who come out of the woodwork and tell you that it’s dangerous to eat a keto diet, that it’s not sustainable long-term, or that it’s not healthy. The amazing thing is they say these things with no education whatsoever about health/nutrition and without any deep knowledge about what the keto diet is.

I hope we all know by now that you cannot trust everything you read on the internet. And we definitely shouldn’t be listening to someone trying to tell us how to eat when they don’t have any knowledge about health issues or nutrition. As I’ve told you before, I don’t even want you to take my word for it. I’ve shared tons of resources with you so that you can educate yourself and have firsthand knowledge of how food works in your body.

So all that to say, please don’t listen to the naysayers. The keto diet (or diets that are similar by being very low-carb) is absolutely NOT dangerous and is VERY healthy for you. Our ancestors ate a diet that would have been much more like a keto diet than anything close to the current American diet. There were no processed foods, their carbs would have been in the form of vegetables that were high in nutrients and fiber, they ate a lot of meat, and they weren’t afraid to eat fats. Because of that, they were healthier and much slimmer! Statistics prove that.

Gary Taubes shares information in one of his books from an article written by 100+ Canadian doctors who have treated their patients by prescribing a keto diet:

“What we see in our clinics: blood sugar values go down, blood pressure drops, chronic pain decreases or disappears, lipid profiles improve, inflammatory markers improve, energy increases, weight decreases, sleep is improved, IBS [irritable bowel syndrome] symptoms are lessened, etc. Medication is adjusted downward, or even eliminated, which reduces the side-effects for patients and the costs to society. The results we achieve with our patients are impressive and durable.”

Physicians who now prescribe these diets commonly say that they rarely if ever prescribe drugs to their patients for blood sugar control or hypertension; rather, they de-prescribe, they get patients off medications. That’s compelling testimony.

Gary Taubes, The Case for Keto

Does that sound like something dangerous to us? I think not. That kind of information right there is why I have chosen to stick with this lifestyle for well over three years as of this writing and I won’t ever go back. It’s not just about weight loss but about being healthy. My annual check up continues to prove that this has been very good for my body.

The keto diet is one of the healthiest ways you can eat. There are similar diets with different labels that you can also choose from but it basically comes down to eating low carb, eliminating sugar, and removing inflammatory foods from our diet. Choose the label you want and follow the guidelines for the one you choose but if you do those three things you’re doing your health a huge favor - not creating a dangerous situation.