Looking to test the keto diet? Read this first!

Are you a fan of meat, eggs, avocado and salmon? Then maybe the keto diet might suit you.

But before you start, you might want to hear what the experts say about the pros and cons of the keto diet?

Here's everything you need to know before you decide!

Keto, or ketogenic diet, is a diet that involves eating very little carbohydrates and thus causing the body to end up in a condition called ketosis. Ketosis is a condition when the body enters a kind of starvation position. We have talked to two diet experts to find out both the benefits and disadvantages of the diet.

For the keto diet: Andreas Eenfeldt, the diet doctor

Andreas Eenfeldt, founder of Diet Doctor and author of the book "The Food Revolution" has been on the keto diet for twelve years.

- Keto is about eating very little carbohydrates so that the body is largely driven by fat, a variant of LCHF, says Andreas.

Even the brain is powered by fat. But the brain cannot burn fat directly, but what happens is that the fat in the liver is converted into something called ketones. Then the body becomes very fat-driven instead of being driven on carbohydrates. Which is very useful if you want to lose weight, then it is often fat that we want to burn.

- Ketogenic diet maximizes the body's fat burning, Andreas explains.

In addition to fat burning, according to him, there are many benefits of diet. 

- Many people experience increased mental and physical performance! For me personally, the biggest advantage is that you do not get hungry and do not need to eat as often. It saves both time and money, says Andreas.

The ketosis state - that's how it works

You reach ketosis by eating very little carbohydrates. Either through a strict low carbohydrate diet or through fasting. It takes about two days to get into ketosis.

When the body's sugar stores run out, the body begins to form ketones in the blood. They range from below 0.2 millimoles (unit of substance amount) up to between about 0.5-3 millimoles in the blood, which means that you are in ketosis (for someone who has previously eaten a regular Western diet). It is also possible to measure ketones in the urine. If you end up in ketosis via prolonged fasting or starvation, your body can slow down metabolism. But if you eat measured on the keto diet, metabolism is kept up.

- It is a natural function in the body to go into ketosis, it is not dangerous, says Andreas.

How to eat in the keto diet

According to the National Food Agency, you should get about 50 percent carbohydrate, 30 percent fat and 20 percent protein. But if you do a keto detox, the breakdown looks completely different. During the keto diet, you eat about 70 percent fat, 25 percent protein and 5 percent carbohydrates.

Carbohydrate intake is minimal, preferably below 20 grams per day. The diet becomes more effective the lower the carbohydrate intake you have. (Maximum 5 grams of carbohydrates per 100 grams is a directive.) The amount of protein you should eat is about one gram per kilogram of body weight. The amount of ketones in the blood you want to maximize, therefore protein intake is sparse.

It is free to eat fatty fish, meat, poultry, eggs, natural fat and ground vegetables. What you should avoid are starchy foods (bread, pasta, potatoes ...), sugar, margarine and light products. Fruit also goes away. If you want to eat dairy products, choose the fattest option.

You can eat nuts and berries in moderate amounts, up to one fist of nuts per day. On special occasions, alcohol is okay if you stick to drinks without sugar, such as dry wine. But be prepared that alcohol can adversely affect your weight loss. You are welcome to drink water, coffee and tea.

- I recommend eating fat so that you feel satisfied and satisfied, not hungry and tired, says Andreas.

Side effects of the keto diet

Initiating a keto-detox involves a drastic dietary change and with it comes side effects.

- Especially when you start a keto diet. What is called a restructuring problem. As a headache, fatigue, dizziness and that you can feel easily irritable. This is usually transient in a few days or a week, Andreas says.

You can minimize many side effects by getting enough fluid and salt in you. Salt is especially important in the beginning of the keto diet as you will tend to squeeze out more salt than usual.

- What you can do best is take a cup of broth once or twice a day the first week. Then you get both liquid and salt. That is usually a good tip, Andreas continues.

Other side effects that you may have are bad breath and that you start to smell bad. It is individual how long the smell lasts, but it usually does not last long. If you want to get rid of it you can increase your intake of carbohydrates, then the ketosis and thereby the smell decreases.

It can also be tough to work out when you start a keto diet; it takes a few weeks for the body to use fat burning enough in the muscles.

- You probably expect to have significantly less energy when you exercise on a keto diet in the beginning, but after a few weeks you will feel as much energy as before or even more, Andreas concludes.