Have you tried or are you considering trying one of the many popular diets? Diets such as, Keto, Zone, Raw Food, Paleo, Intermittent Fasting and many others are all the rage. But how familiar are you with the side effects or how the diet will impact your health? Health professional have always cautioned people to heed the warning, “check with your doctor before beginning any diet.” But in actuality, how many really do?
Let’s review the possible effects of some of the well-known extremely low-carb diets, such as the Ketogenic Diet, Low-Carb Paleo Diet, Zero-Carb Diet, Low-Carb Mediterranean Diet, and the Atkins Diet, the original founder of the low-carb diet.
Whether a diet is right for you depends on many factors
The foundation of these diets is limiting carbohydrates found in grains, starchy vegetables, and fruit while emphasizing eating foods high in protein and heathy fats. While some dieters may be aware of some of the side effects such bad breath and constipation many are not aware of all the side effects including to your urological system.
Beautify.com interviewed Dr. Robert Pugach, a urologist in Orange County California Urology for his input on low carb diet.
“The foundation of the Keto diet is adherence to an extremely low-carb, high-fat diet in order to put your body into a metabolic state called ketosis which helps your body to be more efficient at burning fat,” says Dr. Pugach.
Dr. Pugach explains the known side effects of having your body go into a metabolic ketosis state:
“At the onset of the diet, the effect of lowering carbohydrates stimulates the body to burn ketones for energy instead of glucose. Once the body is in ketosis some people may experience headaches, dehydration, irritability, constipation, nausea, and fatigue.”
While these are known medical symptoms there are potential serious urological effects. Dr. Pugach lists the following possible effects of a low carb-high fat diet.
- High fat intake may be a factor that promotes prostate cancer development.
- Dehydration puts stress on the kidneys and increases the risk of kidney stones of all types.
- The high intake of animal proteins makes your urine more acidic and increases uric acid levels. This combination makes you more susceptible to uric acid kidney stones as well as gout.
The takeaway message is that there is a potential for unanticipated side effects in most diets.
“Whether a diet is right for you depends on many factors ranging from your basic metabolism to the presence of many co-existing medical conditions such as kidney disease, high blood pressure, kidney stones, and diabetes,” says Dr. Pugach.
The bottom line is you really should always talk to your doctor for advice before starting any diet.