Intermittent Fasting or Keto Diet, Which is the best?

I promised to do CFB blog hiatus for 5 months but thanks to these two famous diet that trended online, I broke my promise! I was asked by a friend why not choose Intermittent Fasting or Keto Diet to really lose some weight? I was then teased that I've been working out for years but there's no outcome?! Again, my real goal for fitness is not just about abs and muscles, in my 31 years of age, it is now more on health and fitness - internally and more on externally. For me, why should you now follow either of the said diet? Check this out!

Working out. Pic by pinterest.com

According to Catherine Orda of Multisport.ph, This is what happens to your body during intermittent fasting:

Starts with the Liver : What’s happening here is that rather than using up the little glycogen you have left in order to synthesize energy for your body and brain, you’re burning stored fat instead—so you are literally burning fat to survive.

Then to the Brain : Once you’re in that process of burning stored fat, what happens next is you release chemicals called ketones. These chemicals help build and strengthen neurons and neural connections in areas of the brain responsible for learning and memory. Intermittent fasting (or periodically restricting calories) signals the brain to create protective proteins that strengthens its connections, thus improving cognitive function and promoting the growth of new brain cells.

Then to your Belly : When you have low glycogen levels, your body has no choice but to burn stored fat in order to synthesize energy. The good news is that the fat being burned includes stubborn belly fat.

Then to the Muscles : Shedding pounds leads to the loss of fat tissue and muscle, but intermittent fasting can ramp up fat burning so that you lose more fat and less muscle.

Then to your Heart : Nonetheless, it’s been found that intermittent fasting positively affects the way you metabolize cholesterol and sugar such that levels of bad cholesterol can be decreased by up to 32 percent and triglycerides by up to 42 percent. This can reduce your risk of gaining weight and developing diabetes, which are both risk factors for heart disease.

And here are some side effects of Ketogenic Diet according to diabetes.co.uk:

Loss of salts 
Keto-flu : During that time, and especially at the end of the first week, it is likely that you may feel some symptoms that are similar to the flu, such as:

• Brain fog / slow thinking
• Dizziness
• Fatigue
• Racing heart rate when lying down
• Insomnia
• Cravings

Changes in bowel habits : Drink plenty of water and consider increasing your consumption of non-starchy, fibrous vegetable, legumes, nuts and seeds, as these are all good low-carbohydrate sources of fibre.

Leg cramps : One of the causes of leg cramps on a ketogenic diet is a condition called hyponatremia, which occurs when the level of sodium (salt) in the blood is too low.

Bad breath : Ketones can be released in the breath, as well as in the urine and sweat. Acetone is a form of ketone that when released on the breath may lead to a metallic taste in the mouth or a less-than-pleasant smelling breath.

Loss of energy : One of the biggest misconceptions about ketogenic diets is that a lack of glucose depletes the body of energy.

Maintaining steady energy levels is actually more challenging on a standard diet as it varies according to fluctuations in blood sugar, which is dependent upon the insulin response to carbohydrate intake.