It is that time of year when diet plans and gym membership advertisements begin to pop up all over the internet. People seeking options for losing weight will find several new “fad” diets to try. One of the more popular diets right now is the ketogenic diet, a low-carbohydrate, high-fat approach to dropping pounds.

Lauren Davis, a student at Ball State University, has been trying the keto diet since August, and has seen results.

“It has helped me become more healthy and make better choices on what I choose to eat,” Davis said. “I eat a lot of chicken, I eat a lot of asparagus, or green beans or just anything green.”

Davis has lost 20 pounds and says the diet is fairly easy to follow, but it is not without challenges.

“I have the worst sweet tooth,” Davis said, explaining how much she misses ice cream and all of her other favorite sweets.
Davis will get to satisfy her sweet tooth again soon as she doesn’t plan to intensively follow this diet forever. Christy Tunnell, assistant clinical lecturer of nutrition and dietetics at Ball State University says this is a good thing. She says that the keto diet is a fad and fad diets aren’t meant to stick around.

“It’s not permanent. It’s impermanent; it’s not here to stay. It’s usually not doable for a long period of time,” Tunnell said.
Another major problem with many fad diets, including the keto diet, is that they don’t contain variety, moderation and balance, which Tunnell says are the three most important elements of a healthy diet.

While several of these diets have healthy aspects, they might involve cutting out certain food groups from the diet, which could be harmful as time goes on.

“The biggest problem I have with keto right now is that we just don’t have any good, long-term studies out there,” Tunnell said.“I just don’t feel like I can say definitively, with all the research that we do have, that it points to keto is totally safe long-term.”

Tunnell says that most dietitians recommend following the variety, moderation and balance guidelines and cutting back 300 calories per day to lose weight in a healthy way. This can be done by eating 300 less calories, or it can be done by eating 150 less calories and working out and burning the other 150.

Some people try to cut corners to lose weight more quickly and it can be tricky to determine which diets are safe. Tunnell says that keto and juicing both have benefits, but they can become dangerous if done for long periods of time. The Mediterranean diet and the Atkins diet have proven to be quite successful long term.

Tunnell says that it is important to remember that everyone is different when looking for a diet to follow, and everyone will find something different that works for them.

“I would say it really starts with you. Take a good, hard look at your diet, really see what you’re eating and drinking throughout the day, and then don’t be afraid to reach out for help,” Tunnell said.

Tunnell also recommends seeing a professional instead of looking to fad diets that anyone can create online.

Abby Perrey is a reporter for a Ball State University arts journalism class.