Keto | Page 5 of 5 | Healthy For Better

A ketogenic diet or keto diet is based on having calories from a high amount of fat and protein instead of carbohydrates. The beginners of this diet often make the mistake of consuming too much fat. So, if you are planning to start a keto diet, you are probably wondering, “What Happens If You Eat Too Much Fat on Keto?” Eating more than necessary fat during the keto diet will stall your weight loss. In the worst case scenario, too much fat increases the chance of heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. Therefore, you should not overload your diet plan with excessive fat. In this article, I will further explain what happens when you eat too much fat in ketosis. So, I advise you to read till the end to have a complete idea on the topic at hand. What Happens to Excess Fat in Ketosis? The entire concept of the keto diet is based on forcing your body to function on fat instead of glycogen which comes from carbs. When you lower the carbohydrate consumption, at one stage, there will be very low carbohydrate to get energy for your body. Then, your body will switch to fat to get energy. This stage is called ketosis. As you will not be consuming much carbs, you have to eat a good amount of fat to keep your body functional. Now, the mistake many people make is they do not eat the right kind of fat or have more fat than required. There is no doubt that fat is vital for weight loss in the keto diet, but saturated and trans fat are not healthy for ketosis. Too much saturated fat increases the level of bad cholesterol in our body, and adds up to the fat in the body. This is why many keto diet experts advise avoiding foods that contain a high amount of saturated fats like cheese, butter, coconut oil, cakes, and sausages. As an alternative to these foods, you can add avocado, nuts, ghee, salmons, olives, olive oils, and coconut butter. These foods have healthy fats like monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated fats. These two types of fats create good cholesterols in our bodies. The Effects of Eating Too Much Fat So, what can happen to your body when you have excess fat? Your organs such as the gallbladder and pancreas will not function properly to break the fat properly, and the fat will cause more harm than good. Here are some common problems you may encounter: No weight loss Have you lowered your carb intake but still cannot lose weight? Well, it is because you are eating too much saturated fat. Your body ignores the body fat and turns the dietary fats into small ketones. Then, the body gets rid of those ketones. The ketogenic diet does not have any effect on the fat in the body. Hence, people who have an unplanned amount of fat in their diet cannot lose weight. Rather, they gain more weight. Heart Disease If someone is on the ketogenic diet and has too much fat for a long time, they have a higher possibility of getting heart disease and diabetes. When the body fails to burn excessive fat, it increases bad cholesterol in the bloodstream. It results in high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, and heart attack. Risk for Type-2 Diabetes A high-fat diet can cause diabetes. If you eat processed meat regularly for the keto diet, you can get diabetic. Besides, people can also develop Type-2 diabetes as a high amount of fat can hamper the action of insulin. Hence, experts often instruct diabetic people not to follow the keto diet and stick to more normal diet plans suitable for them. Skin Inflammation Skin inflammation is a common sign of having too much dietary fat in the body. Eating foods like fish oil with omega 3 fatty acid, coconut oil, and butter can cause inflammation, especially skin inflammation. The saturated fat of these foods can increase ache and skin irritation. Moreover, your skin will produce excessive oil. So, if you see too many pimples on your face after starting the keto diet, you should check on your fat intake. However, healthy fats from avocado, nuts, fish, and olive are safe for your skin. Bloated Stomach Apart from heart diseases, excessive fat can also bloat your stomach. When there is a high amount of fat, our gallbladder and pancreas fail to process all of them and break them timely. Hence, you will feel bloated and nauseous. The right side of your gallbladder will feel full. As a result, you will be burping more than often and feel uncomfortable. So, when you go to the toilet and see your stools are floating, that means your dietary fats are coming out. They are not being absorbed to create energy, and the fat is affecting your stomach. Shoulder Pain Sometimes people can start feeling shoulder pain when they are on the keto diet. They may think that they are not getting enough energy from the diet and misunderstand the situation. You may be surprised to hear that a dysfunctional gallbladder caused by high fat can cause shoulder pain! When your gallbladder is overloaded with fat, it swells up a bit. It is under the ribcage, and there is a nerve called the phrenic nerve. This nerve moves up to the right shoulder to the neck. Therefore, the pressure on the gallbladder distresses the nerve and can cause pain on the right shoulder and right side of the neck. This feeling is quite uncomfortable, and people blame the diet for having too many side effects. Pain under Right Rib Cage As the gallbladder gets swollen, you will feel pain underneath your right rib cage. So, any pain under the right rib cage during your keto diet is a clear indication of high-fat consumption. Right Rhomboid Pain Another unusual problem you may face during the ketogenic diet for fat is a pain in the right rhomboid. There are two muscles between the scapula and the spine. These muscles are called rhomboid muscles. The right rhomboid muscle also gets irritating pain because of the overloaded fat in the gallbladder. Digestion Problem A high amount of fat in your gallbladder and pancreas can also create digestion problems. The gallbladder, pancreas, and liver work together to process the bile juice. When the gallbladder does not function correctly, the digestion process also does not work properly. This is why people often complain about having oily and black stool because of the keto diet. Loss of Appetite If you do not know well about diets, you probably think that loss if apatite is good for losing weight. But it is not. For example, you eat a good portion of butter during a meal, and you do not feel hungry for a while. During that time, you ignore eating other healthier food and miss the nutrients you need to keep your body functional. How Much Fat Should Be Eaten? It is widely agreed that for the ketogenic diet, a person should have 70-80% fat, 10-20% protein, and 5-10% carbohydrate from his or her daily calorie. Now, the question is, "How much fat is enough for getting energy on the keto diet?" The answer actually varies from person to person. The amount of fat consumption is to be based on how many calories you target to have every day. For example, if you are planning to consume 2,000 calories every day, you should plan to have 165-200 grams of fat on the keto diet. The level of calorie intake is based on a person’s gender, height and weight. Therefore, the level of fat consumption also varies. Conclusion By now, you must have understood what happens if you eat too much fat on keto. No doubt, eating fatty food is the most important process of losing weight on the keto diet. But you must know the difference between healthy and unhealthy fats before you make your diet plans so that you can lose weight without any problems. Best of luck on achieving your desired body. And thanks for stopping by.