What Is Speed Keto?

Everything To Know
About The Buzzy Keto-Plus-Intermittent
Fasting Plan

It's not about getting into ketosis faster.

If you know anything about the keto diet, you understand that the eating style is
preeettyyy restrictive, and not the easiest to stick with long-term. Still, fans of the
high-fat, low-carb diet tout benefits like weight loss breakthroughs, more energy,
clearer skin, and less cravings for sugar.

Sounds wonderful, right? Well, a new version of keto aimed at upping all of these
perks has keto fanatics buzzing, but some health and nutrition pros say it may be
even more unsustainable than the keto diet you already know. The new version is
called Speed Keto, and dietitians aren't exactly recommending it if you're looking
to lose weight or start eating healthier.

Still, if you're curious about the eating plan and its origin, here's what you need to
know.

What is the Speed Keto diet?

Basically, Speed Keto is a combination of the traditional keto diet (made up of 60
to 70 percent fat, 15 to 30 percent protein, and 5 to 10 percent carbs) and
intermittent fasting (IF), which involves alternating between various periods of
fasting and eating. One of the most common styles of IF is the 16:8 method, in
which you fast for 16 hours and can eat during the 8-hour period that follows.

When it comes to Speed Keto, the goal is to get the dieter down to one meal per
day, which also has to fit into the keto guidelines of being high-fat and low-carb.
The goal of eating less carbs is to get the body into a state of ketosis, which is
when your body burns fat, instead of carbohydrate stores, for fuel, which can lead
to weight loss.

Speed Keto, which you can buy as a digital program, was created by Harlan
Kilstein, an “expert coach and motivator” with a doctor of education degree,
according to his website. Per the site, Speed Keto is meant to simplify the dieting
process and help people get past weight-loss plateaus that might occur after
eating a traditional keto diet for a few weeks.
Can Speed Keto help me lose weight?
"I think keto and 'Speed Keto' diets will result in weight loss," says Hillary Cecere,
registered dietitian at Eat Clean Bro. "Any time food is restricted and a calorie
deficit occurs, so will weight loss, and when your eating window is smaller, you are
more likely to consume less calories."

That being said, Cecere doesn't support the diet as a healthy way of eating. "This
diet is unsustainable. Once it's no longer being utilized, weight gain will happen,"
Cecere says. "I also think it eliminates a lot of nutrient-dense foods. This diet is not
for health or longevity—it's only for quick weight loss."

In order to maintain weight loss, it's crucial that the diet you follow is something
you can sustain long-term, notes Cecere. And if eating keto in general isn't your
cup of tea, that's totally fine, too. "You don't need to be in ketosis to lose weight,"
she says. "Weight loss is determined by calorie deficit—there are plenty of other
healthy, sustainable ways to lose weight if that's something you're interested in."

It's also worth noting that combining keto and intermittent fasting isn't exactly
new. Many people have been following a diet that combines the two because
eating mostly fats and proteins does fill you up and make it easier to fast between
meals. The difference here is that Speed Keto recommends a specific IF schedule
and one meal a day.

"Combining a super restrictive diet with long periods of non-eating is not good,"
Scott Keatley, RD, of Keatley Medical Nutrition Therapy, previously told WH. “The
body will cannibalize its own muscle for energy if intake from food is too low but
the body does not differentiate between something like a calf muscle or a heart
muscle. Keatley added that all your important organs are made of smooth muscle,
"and going on a diet like this may harm something like your bladder or lungs just
as much as provide fat loss."
It's also worth noting that following a regular keto diet can already have some not-
so-pleasant side effects. At the end of the day, whether you want to follow a keto
eating plan is up to you, but experts generally warn against pairing keto with an
extreme intermittent fasting schedule in the way that the Speed Keto diet does,
experts caution. Whatever you choose diet-wise, it's always wise to talk to a
dietitian or trusted MD before you drastically overhaul your eating plan.

The bottom line: Speed Keto may not be a sustainable option when it comes to
weight loss.