Imagine cutting your carbohydrate intake from 900 to 1,300 grams all the way down to 20 a day. This is what the keto diet focuses around. While some on the diet think it may be the right answer, others in dietetics have opposing opinions.

The keto diet focuses on a high fat intake with a very low carbohydrate intake. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that carbohydrates make up 45 to 65 percent of your total daily calories. If you are following a 2,000 calorie a day diet, you should be consuming roughly between 225 to 325 grams of carbohydrates.

When on the Keto diet, according to draxe.com, you are recommended to intake around 5%-10% of your complex carbs in one day, as seen in the pie chart.  In doing this, you will allow your body to reach a state called “Ketosis.” When your body reaches ketosis, you are no longer burning glucose for energy; you are burning fat for energy. In return, you begin to lose weight. Because of the few carbohydrates you are allowed to eat, it makes this diet very hard for some to follow.

“It is super super hard to maintain…I mean, you get carbohydrates even in your vegetables,” Dennis Suhay, a 53-year-old participant in the Keto diet, said.

Some on the diet also say they have noticed a significant difference in their joints and muscles.

“After sitting for long periods of time, I would feel my joints getting achy and sore, but now I feel like I can move around without being in pain,” Cathi Kelly, a 57-year-old participant, said.

Both Suhay and Kelly have followed the diet for about two years and have lost around 20 pounds. While those that are on the diet feel that it is working for them, BGSU Director of the Undergraduate Dietetics Program Carrie Hamady, shares an opposing view.

“The issue with it is, for most people it’s not sustainable…it’s not something they’re going to do five years from now or even 10 years from now,” Hamady said. She recommends people find a diet that works for their body type instead of a fad diet.  

“Everybody is an individual and we all have individual tastes and body type. That is another reason why fad diets don’t work,” she said.

Due to the body having such low intake of carbohydrates, blood sugar and insulin levels begin to drop. This then shifts the body’s metabolism away from carbs and more toward fat and ketones.

“As a registered dietitian, we don’t really want to put people on diets per se, we look at what is a sustainable, healthy lifestyle,” Hamady said.

College students may be looking for alternatives to weight loss. According to the International Journal of Women’s Health, 60%-80% of young students have been on a diet within the past year. Hamady would recommend college students look to find a more balanced meal instead of limiting themselves to certain nutrients.

“You might feel better in the short term but, you are not doing your body any favors if you want to live a long healthy life,” Hamady said.

Kelly and Suhay both believe the Keto diet has been working for them, which is why they have continued for the past two years.

Whether or not you feel the Keto diet can be beneficial, there will always be controversy on new dieting methods.