The lazy Keto diet may be perfect if you find the original version too restrictive

In the lazy keto diet, you don't have to worry about tracking calories, protein, or fat. All you need to do is restrict your carbs intake.

If you find the keto diet too restrictive, the lazy keto diet may be an option. This diet limits your carbs intake, but it does not require you to count calories and there are no rules regarding your protein or fat intake. This version of the ketogenic diet will suppress your appetite, offer quick weight loss and induce better blood glucose control in those with type 2 diabetes.

On the other hand, the traditional ketogenic diet requires you to keep a strict watch on your intake of calories, carbs, fat, and protein. This helps your body reach a state of ketosis, a metabolic state where your body uses fats instead of glucose as a source of energy. It is a highly restrictive low-carb diet where you closely track your macronutrient intake and follow a strict, very-low-carb, high-fat eating pattern that includes only moderate amounts of protein. Carbs must constitute around 5 to 10 per cent of your total daily calories. Your intake of total calories, protein and fats is also restricted. But in the lazy keto diet, you don't have to worry about tracking calories, protein, or fat. This is what makes it so appealing for most people.

Foods that you can eat

You have to consume very-low-carb foods in this diet. Meat and poultry, fish and shellfish, like salmon, tuna, shrimp, lobster and crab, eggs, nuts and seeds and high-fat dairy products are allowed in this diet. You may also have low-carb veggies like leafy greens, broccoli, tomatoes and onions. You can have unsweetened beverages like water and coffee and tea without sugar. Fruits like strawberries, blueberries and blackberries are allowed in small amounts.

Foods to stay away from

You have to avoid all high-carb foods while on this diet. Grains, starchy vegetables, most fruits, legumes, milk and yogurt, sugary foods like cookies, cakes, desserts, and sugary drinks are not allowed in this diet.

Health benefits of this variation

The keto diet offers many health benefits, and this may be true for the lazy variation too. But there is as yet no research to prove this conclusively. It may suppress appetite and food cravings, which will definitely help you lose a lot of weight. It may also bring down your risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Side-effects of the lazy keto diet

Experts warn that there may be some side-effects of ignoring your intake of calories, fat, and protein. You may not be able to achieve the metabolic state of ketosis, which is so important for weight loss in the traditional keto diet. Your diet quality may also suffer. Since you are not tracking your calories, protein and fat intake, you may not really achieve the state of ketosis. But like in the keto diet, you may experience symptoms of keto flu which includes nausea, headache, fatigue, constipation and dizziness. Again, since you are not monitoring your protein intake, your body can convert protein into glucose in a process called gluconeogenesis. This defeats the purpose of the diet, which is to use fats as an energy source. The lazy keto diet also limits your intake of fruits, starchy vegetables, grains and legumes. So, you may suffer from some nutritional deficiency.

A word of caution

Though the keto diet can help people with diabetes control their blood sugar levels, too much restriction on carb intake may cause hypoglycemia. So, if you are diabetic, stay away from this diet or at least consult a doctor before going on this diet.