Kapok Aging and Caregiver Resources: Is the Keto Diet Good for Seniors?
Reprinted with permission from Kapok Aging and Caregiver Resources
By Cassie Greenfield, MSc
The keto diet is an interesting approach. It’s promoted as a healthy way to live, one that can help stabilize blood sugar levels and promote weight loss. Such features could make it powerful for obese seniors and perhaps also for those with diabetes.
Yet, keto is also a highly controversial diet.
While it is often practiced and seems safe enough for many people, is it something that seniors should try? Today, we’re considering the pros and cons of the keto diet for seniors, along with things to consider when starting the approach.
Whatever you decide, it’s important to talk to the senior’s doctor before starting keto and keep an eye out for problems as you go. Doing so is crucial, as keto doesn’t work well for everyone.
What is a Keto Diet?
In a nutshell, a keto diet is an eating plan that involves dramatically cutting down your intake of digestible carbs, while typically increasing fat intake at the same time.
This often involves getting down to between 20 and 50 net grams of carbs (fiber doesn’t count in this calculation, as it is largely indigestible). Decreasing carb intake like this allows the body to enter a state called ketosis, where the body is using ketones from fat as a source of energy instead of carbs.
Keto advocates claim that ketosis is an incredibly powerful state. In particular, burning fat instead of carbs could lead to better weight loss and more stable blood sugar. The ketones produced during ketosis may also improve health in other ways.
Benefits of the Keto Diet for Seniors
Helps With Weight Loss
Many people find that keto dieting truly helps them to lose weight, partly because of the way ketosis burns fat. Appetite can also decrease while practicing keto, which helps with weight loss as well.
Beyond this, keto helps because it doesn’t always feel like a diet. Participants are still allowed many favorite dishes, including those that are high in fat. For some, this approach even makes the diet feel decadent and delicious.
It’s also possible to make keto versions of most high carb dishes, like bread and rice. While these don’t taste as good as their high carb counterparts, they’re better than missing out entirely.
Finally, many people gain weight from sugar rather than fat. The low carb aspect of keto means that sugary treats are no longer an option, which may be enough to kickstart weight loss for some seniors.
About Angelica Herrera Venson, DrPH, MPH
Founder of Kapok Aging and Caregiver Resouces
Angelica Herrera Venson, DrPH, MPH is a gerontologist born in San Diego and raised on both sides of the U.S-Mexico border. She’s a public health advocate who has spent two decades in community health work and research investigating how immigrant and racial /ethnic minority family caregivers and seniors navigate old age and seek out health and elder care. Today, Angelica supports some of Arizona’s community health centers, which serve primarily Medicaid and underserved communities, in their transition to value-based care.
About Multicultural Guide to Caregiving
Author and gerontologist, Angelica P. Herrera Venson, DrPH, opens up and shares her family’s personal stories and lessons from her field work and research on aging and caregiving with communities of color and first generation Americans.
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