Supermodel Miranda 5:2 weight loss may cause ketosis

Australian supermodel Miranda Kerr's curvaceous figure on the catwalk is the envy of many women. Her secret to maintaining her figure, in addition to doing yoga, is to lose weight through the 5:2 diet, which means eating low-carbohydrate foods for 5 days a week and dieting for the other 2 days. However, British dentists warn that long-term use of this method to lose weight may cause "ketosis" and produce bad breath!

The Daily Mail reported that Dr. Sameer Patel, clinical director of elleven, a well-known dental hospital in London, said that although the weight loss methods of many Hollywood celebrities can help reduce waistlines, they will have an impact on oral health. For example, a diet that is too low in carbohydrates may cause bad breath, and low-calorie meal replacements may contain a lot of sugar, causing tooth decay.

Supermodel's 5:2 diet may cause bad breath

Supermodel Miranda Kerr is one of the followers of the 5:2 diet. Other celebrities who have used this method to lose weight include: American actor Liv Tyler and British actor Benedict Cumberbatch. The principle of this weight loss method is to eat a low-carb, high-protein diet 5 days a week and diet the other 2 days.

Dr. Samir Patel pointed out that when the daily carbohydrate intake is too low, the body will use fat to produce energy and produce ketones in the process. When there are too many ketones in the body, ketosis will occur, and some compounds that are easy to cause bad breath will be produced in the body.

Ketosis is a complication caused by an unbalanced diet, and neither flossing nor brushing can remove the bad breath. Therefore, people who want to adopt this weight loss method must think twice and try to eat some healthy carbohydrate foods, such as whole wheat pasta or whole wheat bread, which can help prevent bad breath caused by ketosis and is also beneficial for weight loss.

Milkshakes are high in sugar and can cause tooth decay

Most milkshake meal replacement diets replace two meals a day with a calorie-limited milkshake, but each serving of a milkshake may contain up to 18 grams of sugar. Sugary meal replacements may cause tooth decay and increase plaque and cavity formation.

Dr. Samir Patel recommends that people who want to use this method to lose weight should read the nutritional label carefully before purchasing meal replacements and choose products with lower sugar content. After drinking the meal replacement, they must at least rinse their mouth with water or chew gum to reduce the impact of the sugar in the meal replacement on oral health.

【Medical Dictionary/Ketosis】:

When the human body does not take in enough carbohydrates, insulin secretion decreases and glucose cannot be used to produce energy, resulting in a shortage of the body's main energy source. The body's mechanism will turn to using fat to produce energy, and at the same time, some substances called ketone bodies (acetoacetic acid, acetone, β-hydroxybutyric acid) will be produced. If these ketones increase too much, the acid concentration in the blood will increase and the blood pH will decrease, which will evolve into ketosis, the so-called ketoacidosis. Acidic substances enter the brain tissue through the blood circulation, causing serious damage to brain cells, leading to coma and even life-threatening.