GM Diet vs Keto Diet: Which diet is healthy and best for you?
Obesity has been the root cause of most diseases including Diabetes and Heart Disease. And the most common cause of obesity is bad diet. In an age of fast food diet, sedentary lifestyle obesity is becoming a constant problem. In this scenario, the modern generation sees dieting as a quick-fix to the obesity problem.
A lot of diet plans are floated around. Today we look at two scientifically validated diet plan – GM Diet and Keto Diet that has helped many people across the world in reducing weight and becoming fit. However, that said, any diet plan comes with associated risks. People with underlying health conditions are not supposed to jump in blindly in the diet-fad without consulting their doctor. And ensure that you drink a lot of water to keep your body hydrated and flush out toxins during the diet period.
GM Diet
GM Diet or General Motors Diet is a 7 day diet plan that aids weight loss and detoxifies the body. It is one of the oldest diet plan and is quite popular even today. Exercising is an optional thing during the diet though it is advised not to do heavy work outs in the first three days of the diet.
Among the very specific instruction about what to eat in the 7 days course, the GM diet also instructs followers to drink around 8 to 12 glasses of water daily to stay hydrated. The diet plan also recommends a special soup made of cabbage, celery and bell papers, that followers can consume two to three bowls everyday. The soup is popularly known as GM Wonder Soup.
The Day one of GM diet suggests followers to eat only fruits except Bananas. Though the amount of fruit is not specified in the diet plan, it is suggested to put special emphasis on Melons to aid weight loss.
The Day two of GM diet suggests followers to eat only vegetables in raw or cooked form. Once again, there is no specified amount of vegetables but potatoes are suggested only for breakfasts. The Day three suggests followers to eat both vegetables and fruits. But bananas and potatoes are advised against.
On Day four, it is only bananas and milk that a person should eat. Amount is specified for this day to up to 6 large or 8 small bananas and 3 glasses of milk, preferably skim.
On Day five, you can eat 284-gram portions of beef, chicken or fish. In addition to the meat, you may only eat 6 whole tomatoes. Vegetarians may replace meat with either brown rice or cottage cheese.
It is also suggested to increase the water intake by two glasses on Day five to flush out extra uric acid that may form due to meat.
On Day six, you can eat 284 gram portion of of beef, chicken or fish twice. Also, you can eat unlimited amount of vegetables except potatoes. Vegetarians are advised again to replace meat with either brown rice or cottage cheese. And the water intake increase is also a very important step.
The last day, i.e. Day seven, is when you eat only brown rice, fruits, fruit juice and vegetables. No maximum amount is specified for any of these foods.
Does GM Diet Work?
It does. This is an old tested diet plan that has aided weight loss for many. The good part is it promotes eating of fruits and vegetables, something that we have lost a habit of in the age of fast food. By restricting the in take of processed food for 7 days and limiting the intake of carbohydrates, it also allows the body to detox naturally over a period of 7 days.
Also, except for natural sugar through fruits, there is practically zero sugar intake in these days. This is a very important step too.
Many followers have reported added benefits of GM diet beyond weight loss. These include, improved appearance of skin, better digestion and metabolism, curing of irritable bowel syndrome and constipation. However, these are not scientifically proven benefits of GM diet and the results may vary depending on which fruits and vegetables you choose to add in the diet plan.
Are there risks of GM diet?
Every diet plan comes with associated risks. You are altering your food habits which can make your body go into a distress mode.
One of the problem with GM diet is that it does not specify which fruits and which vegetables to add to your diet. If the follower is not careful about picking up a variety of fruits and vegetables, then he or she may not get necessary nutrients. Also, despite the diet plan suggests an increased consumption of water, many followers miss this step. That results into dehydration and associated problems.
Keto Diet
“Ketogenic” is a term for a low-carb diet (like the Atkins diet). The idea is for you to get more calories from protein and fat and less from carbohydrates. This diet was first used in 1921 to treat epilepsy in children. The popular belief that high-fat diets cause obesity and several other diseases such as coronary heart disease, diabetes, and cancer has not been observed in recent epidemiological studies. Studies carried out in animals that were fed high-fat diets did not show a specific causal relationship between dietary fat and obesity. On the contrary, very-low-carbohydrate and high-fat diets such as the ketogenic diet have shown to beneficial to weight loss.
A keto diet is a very low-carb, high-fat diet. You eat fewer carbs and replace it with fat, resulting in a state called ketosis. Ketosis is a natural process the body initiates to help us survive when food intake is low. During this state, we produce ketones, which are produced from the breakdown of fats in the liver.
In general, it should take you 2–4 days to enter ketosis. However, some people may find they need a week or longer. The time it takes depends on various factors, such as your age, metabolism, exercise level, and current carb, protein, and fat intake.
Here is a list of things that you are NOT supposed to eat in a Keto diet:
Grains – wheat, corn, rice, cereal, etc.
Sugar – honey, agave, maple syrup, etc.
Fruit – apples, bananas, oranges, etc.
Tubers – potato, yams, etc.
And, here is a list of things that you can Eat during Keto Diet
Meats – fish, beef, lamb, poultry, eggs, etc.
Leafy Greens – spinach, kale, etc.
Above ground vegetables – broccoli, cauliflower, etc.
High Fat Dairy – hard cheeses, high fat cream, butter, etc.
Nuts and seeds – macadamias, walnuts, sunflower seeds, etc.
Avocado and berries – raspberries, blackberries, and other low glycemic impact berries
Sweeteners – stevia, erythritol, monk fruit, and other low-carb sweeteners
Other fats – coconut oil, high-fat salad dressing, saturated fats, etc.
Does Keto Diet Work?
Researches have shown that in a span of 2 to 6 months, a high fat-low carb diet like Keto diet helps weight loss much faster than a low fat diet. Keto diet has been promoted by many celebrities as their preferred method of diet. Keto diet also breaks sugar addiction in people, which can be a very healthy improvement in lifestyle.
However, people with little to no exercise, people with drinking habit may not see much benefit in terms of weight loss.
What are the risks of Keto Diet?
The Keto diet is a strict diet. It tends to cause social isolation where you will not be able to party or be a part of family function without breaking rules. Apart from that, the keto diet could cause low blood pressure, kidney stones, constipation, nutrient deficiencies and an increased risk of heart disease.
GM Diet vs Keto Diet: Which is better?
While the GM diet is a limited period diet, Keto is a complete lifestyle change. Thatways, GM is easy to follow for 7 days. But, one of the biggest problem of GM diet is that the fat tends to come back after 7 days if you are not careful with what you eat or if you do not exercise at all. The Keto diet on the other hand has a long lasting effect. The GM diet is also a Do-It-Yourself diet. In case you go wrong in the meal plan, the lack of nutrients won’t end up causing major health problems for a healthy person because it is for a short duration.
But for Keto diet, it is necessary that you consult a dietician about what to eat and what not to. A self imposed strict diet plan over a longer period of time can result into serious deprivation of nutrient and cause major health problems without you realizing it.