Low Carb vs Keto - Which One Is Right For You?

Many people assume that because I live a mostly ketogenic lifestyle, that must be what I always recommend to people. You may be surprised that I don’t. Low Carb vs Keto - there is no one size fits all diet! Let me walk you through some things you might want to consider when you are trying to decide which is right for you. The one thing I do recommend to EVERYONE, is to eat real food! Skip the highly processed take-out and packaged convenience foods. Your body will thank you!

Let’s start by looking at which is more effective. There are no actual studies done to compare a low carb diets to a ketogenic diets because there is no money to be made in that type of study. Just because no one wants to fund it, doesn’t mean that there aren’t important differences to consider. I have been helping people decide where to start and how to find what works well for them since 2019.

Most think that a ketogenic diet would be more effective because it’s more restrictive, therefore you’d expect a bigger impact on weight loss. With many of my clients, this is true. This doesn’t mean that a low carb diet won’t give you great results either! A moderate reduction in carbohydrates can still have metabolic health benefits for weight loss and more.

Whats the Difference Between Keto and Low Carb Diets

While some might find that a low carb diet doesn’t get them the results they’d like, others find it much easier to stick to. Slow and steady wins the race. Keto diets can give you a quicker rate of weight loss which provides a boost of motivation when you start out. If you’re seeing quick results, you’re more likely to stick with it. If your progress is slow, you may feel frustrated and give up. Those of us with food addictions may find that type of restriction too much.

Initially, in the first few weeks of a well formulated ketogenic diet, there can be a significant amount of weight loss but that is mostly water weight that your body has been hanging onto when you consume carbs. I personally dropped 50 pounds in 4 months effortlessly and without being hungry.

While that sounds great, faster doesn’t mean better. Weight loss on a low carb diet will be slower, but if you find extremes hard, slower may be better for you and you’ll have the option of switching to a lower carb keto diet if low carb isn’t giving you the results you want. Again, while there are no studies, it can depend on many things. Those that go slower feel there may be less excess skin when they reach their goal. This may be something you want to consider as so many factors can affect this.

Low Carb vs Keto - Which is The Easiest to Follow?

Low Carb vs Keto - let’s take a closer look at which diet is the easier and why. While both low carb and keto dieters will eat the mostly the same foods, keto is more restrictive with a much lower carbs per day limit. Does this make it harder? Well, that depends! Carbohydrates come from plants and the stricter we are with limiting our carbohydrate intake like in the keto diet, the less fruit and vegetables we are able to eat.

To achieve ketosis, you will have to limit your consumption of low carb fruit like berries and stick to leafy greens and above ground low carb veggies.  This can be too restrictive for some people and too hard to maintain. These people tend to stick to the diet for a few weeks and then completely go off the rails and then have a hard time getting back on plan. Sometimes it can be months before they can get back on track, so you may want to stick to a low carbohydrate diet so that you have more options.

Low Carb Pros and Cons

For some, less food choices make it easier to choose and stick to the plan and still lose weight. The more options you have, the harder it can be to choose, and some become overwhelmed and just give up. Some like the variety and enjoyment from having more food choices and therefore make it more sustainable.

By following a moderately low carb diet, you can enjoy a wider range of fruits and vegetables. Just remember that the carb intake should still be whole food carbs, not crappy packaged low carb or “keto friendly” foods. This way of eating is still much healthier that what the average person is eating these days.

Low Carb vs Keto - Things You Should Know

For reference, a low carb diet is generally 130 grams or less of total carbohydrates a day and a ketogenic diet is 30g of total carbohydrates per day. You may hear about counting net carbs vs. total carbs, but this can get you into trouble with consuming too many carbs and hinder your progress. It also introduces thinking that you can eat whole grains, or those packaged low carb or keto friendly foods. Some of them have 20g+ of carbs but are filled with fibre to achieve 1g of net carbs. Some of those fibers affect you more than you might imagine. Remember, just eat real food, it has the best nutrition!

Keto Pros and Cons

Low Carb vs Keto, when following a ketogenic diet, you may want to monitor ketones to know if you are in ketosis or not. There are some signs or symptoms but that may not be accurate. The best way to know is to do a blood test and check for ketones. While there are urine test strips, they are only accurate in the first few weeks of a strict ketogenic diet. After the first few weeks, the body starts to use ketones efficiently and stops spilling the excess into the urine. While test strips for testing for ketones in the blood are expensive, they are most accurate.

When following a low carb or keto diet, you should track your daily carbs, not your daily calories, especially in the beginning while you are learning. You won’t need to do this forever, but it’s great to know how to do it so that if you plateau for 4 weeks or more. You can track to see if you have carb creep or gotten sloppy in your measurements. While both can be considered a high fat diet, you may be eating too much fat. There are many reasons for plateaus.

Are There Side Effects?

A well formulated low carb diet is easily tolerated by most everyone without any side effects. The same may not be true for a ketogenic diet, especially in the beginning when you cut out all processed foods and dramatically cut carbs. With good protein intake, both have numerous potential health benefits and very few risk factors.

When you cut carbs, you will see a rapid decrease in blood sugar and insulin and your kidneys no longer need all the water to process those carbs. Your body will excrete the excess water taking some electrolytes with it. This electrolyte loss can show up in symptoms like headaches, fatigue, sleep issues etc. and is often referred to as the keto flu. These signs aren’t a reason to not follow a ketogenic diet as they will pass in a few days. You can salt your food well, drink plenty of plain water and even use a sugar free electrolyte supplement to help. Always read the label as many have sugar in them. I like the LMNT brand or Redmond’s Re-Lyte brand.

So, Do I Quit Carbs Cold Turkey or Wean Off Them Slowly?

When I started my journey, it started with going gluten free, followed by gradually reducing my carbs and then finally just going cold turkey. I had ditched sugar and processed food completely before going cold turkey. You may choose to just jump right in and go cold turkey – the choice is yours!

Something else to consider for those on medications for blood sugar management or blood pressure medications – consult with you doctor to manage your dosage. When you cut carbs, you can have a substantial drop in blood sugar! This requires less medication, same with blood pressure medications. This can happen quickly, so be prepared.

Will I be Hungry?

This is one of the best things I love about a low carb or keto diet. The lack of “hangry” and the afternoon slump. After the initial transition, your hungry level drops dramatically. That’s because your blood sugar swings are gone. When I was consuming carbs, I was always thinking about my next meal.  Within a few hours of eating, my blood sugar would come down sharply and I would be hungry again. I’d eat (usually crappy carbs), and the cycle would start all over. This practice keeps your insulin up and you stay in fat storage mode.

With high insulin and our bodies in fat storage mode, we can’t burn body fat. So, we need to lower insulin by lowering blood glucose. And we do that by putting less carbohydrates into our body and eating less often. Goodbye 3 meals and 3 snacks a day! With substantially less hunger, most low carb-ers only eat 2 meals a day and no snacks because we’re not hungry.

While following a low carb diet, you’ll be less hungry and the benefit of a ketogenic diet is that ketones inhibit hunger, so you’ll naturally eat less. I found when I wasn’t hungry all the time, I stopped thinking about food and when my next meal was. It was very freeing!

How Safe is a Low Carb or Keto Diet?

Whether you follow a low carb or keto diet, both intend for you to consume real whole foods and skip highly processed convenience foods. Some feel that the amount of fat in a ketogenic diet is a concern. By consuming a variety of healthy fats, paired with quality proteins and low carb fruits and veggies, you’ll be eliminating processed foods. How can that be bad?

Is A Low Carb or Keto Diet Right For You?

There are many benefits well beyond weight loss. Most people find they much better when they rid their diet of highly processed carbs, seed oils, additives and preservatives.

Ketones are a great source of fuel for the brain. Many people see significant benefits of mental clarity and less brain fog.  Your blood sugar will drop, and you may be able to reduce or eliminate your diabetes medications and prevent the metabolic diseases associated with type 2 diabetes. This is a good reason to work with your doctor to monitor medications as needed.

Ketones are anti-inflammatory and can benefit people with chronic inflammation. My joints and overall stiffness decreased dramatically. There are so many metabolic health conditions that improve with a low carb or keto diet.  Conditions like fatty liver, PCOS, heart disease to name just a few.

Studies are showing promise in the areas of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease as well as cancer. This gives us plenty to think about where our personal health is concerned.

The Bottom Line on Low Carb vs Keto

So now it’s up to you to decide where you want to start. You can ease in and reduce your carbs or rip the band aid off and jump into a ketogenic diet. If you feel the restriction will cause you to over indulge, start reducing your carbs like I did. This method takes longer to see results but if it keeps you from going off the rails and over indulging, then start there. You can always drop down to a ketogenic diet when you feel ready.

If you jump straight into a ketogenic diet, you could see results quickly which could motivate you to continue. Something else to note, on a ketogenic diet your hunger will diminish. This will make intermittent fasting super simple and easy to do. This lifestyle will become very easy to maintain.