Keto Diet in Athletic Population
Anastasia Athanasiou, MD, MSc*
Exercise and Sports Medicine, Head of Orthopedics Department Royal Hospital for Women and Children, Kingdom of Bahrain
*Corresponding Author: Dr. Anastasia Athanasiou, MD, MSc, Exercise and Sports Medicine, Head of Orthopedics Department Royal Hospital for Women and Children, Kingdom of Bahrain.
Received: September 24, 2022 Published: October 04, 2022
Abstract
During exercise with progressively increasing intensity, it is a fact that the body of each individual, for the production of energy, initially uses carbohydrates, then, to a lesser extent, fats and, finally, to a minimal extent, the amino acids of proteins. The importance of carbohydrates in a diet aimed at athletic performance has been a given since the 1960s. From the 1980s onwards, however, alternative diets emerged, which are limited in carbohydrates and with increased fats, in percentages of approximately 60% fat and 25% carbohydrates (% of total calories consumed). That kind of diet is known as ketogenic diet. More specifically, during nutritional ketosis, ketone bodies replace glucose as the main form of energy for peripheral tissues such as the brain, the heart, etc. Whether nutritional ketosis benefits athletic performance is a controversial issue that is still being studied. This paper will attempt to examine the effects of a ketogenic diet on the athletic population. In particular, this paper examines primary data, derived from studies that analyze the effect of a ketogenic diet on athletes of sports that require physical strength and endurance. The results of our study demonstrate that most of the data recorded so far reveal that following a ketogenic diet does not improve athletic performance. In addition, a ketogenic diet is not considered to be ideal when it comes to increasing the muscle mass of athletes. Furthermore, the vast majority of the studies suggest that following a ketogenic diet is ideal for the reduction of body weight. However, research is still required in order to acquire a more comprehensive understanding of ketosis and how it affects the health and performance of the athletic population.
Keywords: Ketogenic diet, Athletic Population, Low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet (LCKD), Literature review
Citation: Athanasiou A. “Keto Diet in Athletic Population” SVOA Orthopaedics 2022, 2:5, 113-117.