Many fad diets have gained popularity over the years. The Atkins diet was popular in the early 2000‘s, until an autopsy of the founder discovered some serious health problems. The Paleo diet is still somewhat popular but has lost support in recent years.
The keto diet is probably the newest. Its roots can be traced to Dr. Timothy Noakes, a physician from South Africa. Dr. Noakes claims to have stumbled upon the cure to obesity. He said that it is possible to change our physiology to make our body burn fat instead of carbohydrates. Noakes invented a new diet around this theory, which relies on extended periods of fasting and is laden with saturated fats and is very low in carbohydrates.
What is the Keto Diet and How Does it Affect Men Following it?
An article by Shelly Fan in Scientific America may quell some skepticism over the diet. Fan pointed out that variations of the keto diet have been around for nearly a century, even though Noakes only recently coined the term for it. Earlier versions of the diet were used to successfully treat epilepsy in young children.
Evidence shows that the diet is useful for treating a wide range of neurological disorders, insomnia, autism and several forms of mental illness. It has also been shown to treat physical problems, such as brain cancer.
Medical scientists are still trying to identify side effects of the keto diet. However, Fan says that they have not discovered any yet. It is possible that the diet is still too new to collect relevant data. However, it is also possible that it is a natural solution to many physical and neurological health problems.
Men are more likely than women to experience certain neurological disorders, which is why the diet is gaining popularity among them.
Major Celebrities Encourage Men to Try the Keto Diet
Many critics have been skeptical of his diet, but it has gradually gained support. Some celebrities have claim to have experienced remarkable results from it. Tim Ferris, author of the Four Hour Work Week and other self-improvement and motivational books, is one of the people that tried the keto diet.
Ferris said that he undergoes a 72 hour fast every month. He also occasionally goes through longer fasting periods under the supervision of his physician.
Ferris believes that the keto diet helped cure his Lyme disease. He said that he starved precancerous cells of sugar, which they depended on to reproduce and infect healthy neighboring cells. He also said that there were clear cognitive benefits of the diet as well.
Business Insider contributor Richard Feloni interviewed Ferris and his friend to better understand the benefits of the diet.
“As you can tell, Ferriss likes to take things to the extremes, but intermittent fasting can also just last 24 hours and yield benefits. His friend Jocko Willink, a former Navy SEAL commander who’s also an author and podcast host, has a monthly 24-hour fast that he adopted after perceiving the benefits of the practice while in the military.”
The keto diet isn’t just popular among men in careers that focus on cognitive discipline. Athletes are also turning to it as well. Men’s Fitness blogger Tyler Graham wrote about some of the famous athletes that have started following the keto diet.
“Two years ago, LeBron James famously lost 25 pounds and upped his late-game endurance by cutting carbs and sugars from his diet… Last summer, Sami Inkinen, the ultrafit co-founder of real estate juggernaut Trulia, rowed with his wife from California to Hawaii in record time on a keto diet, to promote high-fat eating and raise awareness about the dangers of too much sugar. The Keto Diet, say its ardent supporters, is a natural way to literally reprogram your metabolism and transition to an upgraded operating system. You’ll ultimately feel better and perform better, and your body fat will plummet.”
Even professional poker players have adopted these new ways of eating to increase stamina and cognitive ability. Texas Hold’em poker tournaments are grueling mental and physical games where players are required to keep laser focused for 10 hours a day over multiple days of play. Daniel Negreanu is one of the world’s best poker players with 6 World Series of Poker bracelets to his name. Negreanu left the high fat and processed foods for clean whole foods and found his energy, focus and overall health improve significantly.
The keto diet is still a novel idea, but preliminary evidence shows that it is having a revolutionary impact on people that practice it. Will it prove to be more than a fad diet? Only time will tell.
One thing is clear though. The evidence supporting the benefits of this diet trump those of other fads that have taken hold in recent years.