Katherine Zeratsky, a Mayo Clinic registered dietician nutritionist, believes that doing a keto diet can be dangerous since ketones can be poisonous and the body needs to get rid of them. She says that this a stressful process on the body, and for most people the high fat content combined with limits on nutrient-rich fruits, vegetables and grains is a concern for long-term heart health. In this interview, she explains that the keto diet has been done initially to treat epilepsy. For this, the calculation of ingredients should be very accurate and this should be done for specific reasons in the time of emergency. Hence, this diet should not be taken lightly and there’s a natural need for carbohydrates. That’s why it exists in nature.
Keto diet and diet comparisons: Mayo Clinic Radio
On the Mayo Clinic Radio podcast, Katherine Zeratsky, a Mayo Clinic registered dietician nutritionist, discusses the keto diet and compare it with other popular diet plans, including the Mediterranean diet; Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, also known as the "DASH diet"; and the Mayo Clinic diet.
This interview originally aired Feb. 16, 2019.
In 2018, the ketogenic or "keto" diet topped the list of trending health-related questions searched on Google. The keto diet is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet. The idea is that getting most of your calories from fat forces your body to use different energy pathways. Instead of carbs for energy, the body burns fat, entering a state called "ketosis." While the ketogenic diet may be recommended for some people with uncontrolled epilepsy to help control seizures, for most people the high fat content combined with limits on nutrient-rich fruits, vegetables and grains is a concern for long-term heart health.
