Expert warns about the dangers of following Jenna Jameson's diet to lose weight
Jenna Jameson has always been a vocal supporter of the ketogenic diet and has credited it for her tremendous 60-pound weight loss. Jenna has also revealed on social media what she eats as per the diet and, while many applaud her tremendous weight loss, experts believe that it is not the best diet that one should follow.
Jenna described her meal on social media as “Every morning I eat the exact same thing. 3 eggs with cheese and an avocado. Lunch is my biggest meal, I always eat arugula salad, grilled asparagus or zucchini with some kind of meat (usually a hamburger patty or grilled chicken) I then snack whenever I feel hungry (usually on almonds or macadamia nuts… sometime cottage cheese) that’s it!"
She further added, "then I begin my fast at 6 pm. I drink lots of water until I go to sleep at around 10 pm. I drink coffee at 8 am and I end my fast at 11 am." However, talking to Page Six, registered dietician Brigitte Zeitlin warned people that this diet is not a healthy way of losing weight. “It sounds drastically under the number of calories she needs to maintain one’s health in general,” Zeitlin, who owns BZ Nutrition said.
She further added, "She’s also fasting for a tremendous amount of hours during the day. No, it does not sound like enough calories for an otherwise healthy human being.” Zeitlin also warned people against the combination of products that are followed for the diet, saying, it’s “not sustainable for long periods of time.”
Instead, she believes that one must eat small portions of food often because studies have suggested that eating this way speeds up a person’s metabolism and helps maintain weight loss. “Eventually when you do decide to eat more food [after intermittent fasting] you’ll gain weight back and likely overeat and over binge because you’ve been starving and depriving yourself for so long,” she said. “… [It’s] not something I typically recommend unless you’ve been instructed to do so by your physician for some other medical reason.”
Before the diet became a trend for people, it was originally created by doctors to help treat children with epilepsy and other seizure disorders for which medication wasn't enough. Physicians found that putting children into a state of ketosis helped minimize seizures. The keto diet has been used since the 1920s to treat the disease but “must only be followed with the support of an experienced epilepsy specialist and dietitian", according to the Epilepsy Society.
“The ketogenic diet is conducted under strict medical supervision,” Zeitlin noted. “It’s not a diet intended for weight loss. It was never intended for weight loss.” Zeitlin believes that the "huge problem" with the diet is it’s too low in carbohydrates, such as fruit and whole grains, which could lead to life-threatening issues because people aren’t consuming enough fiber. It is believed that low-carb diets can also lead to sluggishness and headaches.
“We get our energy and our fuel from food, so if you’re going long periods of time without eating, fueling, how are you going to be energized?” Zeitlin said. “If you’re not eating all the foods, you’re going to be deficient in various vitamins and minerals and lacking energy.” While Zeitlin agreed that the food items Jenna is eating are healthy, she believes she is not eating enough of it.