Among the many diet trends of the decade, one of the most recognized is the Keto Diet. Many advocates of this form of eating have claimed that eating a keto diet has improved their health and well-being in drastic ways and that this is the ideal way of eating for them. But what is Keto and what are the actual benefits of the keto diet?
What is a Keto Diet?
A keto diet is short for a ketogenic diet. Ketosis is a metabolic state in which the body breaks down body fat and uses it as fuel. In a state of ketosis, the body utilizes fat and burns it, rather than sugar. While in ketosis, your blood sugar levels and insulin levels are significantly decreased, and the body has to rely on fat for energy.
A ketogenic diet is a low-carb and high-fat diet that focuses on getting your body into the ketosis state by drastically reducing your carbohydrate intake and replacing it with fat. While there are many variations of the diet, it follows a simple rule of thumb. Fewer carbs and more fats such as meat, fish, and healthy oils.
Another important point to consider when beginning a ketogenic diet is that an increased amount of protein can also be converted into glucose, which is the opposite of what the ketogenic diet aims to do. While following a keto diet, it is important to balance the amount of protein you consume and instead add more fatty foods.
What are the Benefits of the Keto Diet?
The keto diet has become one of the most researched diets and has supporters all over the world. But what benefits does the keto diet provide and how do you take advantage of them? Below, we have compiled the most common benefits of a keto diet that could give you more insight into what all the fuss behind keto is.
Weight Loss
Perhaps one of the most common benefits of the keto diet is its ability to support weight loss. Essentially every diet aimed towards weight loss encourages some kind of carbohydrate restriction, as reducing carbohydrates not only reduces your appetite but also leads to lesser calorie intake and therefore causes initial weight loss. The entire purpose of the keto diet is carb reduction, so it naturally makes sense that you would lose weight while following this diet.
The ketogenic diet consists of an eating plan that reduces the appetite-stimulating hormones as it consists of foods that fill you up for a longer time without causing an insulin spike in the body. This promotes weight loss and is a reason that many have achieved their dream body goal while following this plan.
Reduce Blood Sugar and Insulin Levels
Aside from weight loss, following the keto diet could prove to be extremely beneficial to those at risk of or already living with Diabetes and insulin resistance. Due to the decreased amount of carbohydrates you consume when following a keto diet, you are limiting the amount of sugar that they are broken down into, thus reducing your blood sugar levels.
Studies show that people who have incorporated a low-carbohydrate diet into their lives were able to reduce their insulin dosage almost immediately by nearly 50%.
This can prove to be extremely beneficial to those that are seeking an effective diabetes management method, although it should first be discussed with a doctor.
Improve Cholesterol Levels
Oftentimes when we hear the word “fat” we immediately associate it with increased cholesterol. It has been ingrained into our brains that fatty foods will increase our cholesterol and cause heart disease. While this may be true in the case of bad fats, there is something called good fats.
First, it is important to recognize that there are two different types of cholesterol: Bad LDL cholesterol and good HDL cholesterol. It is typically the bad cholesterol that we worry about. Eating a low-carb and high-fat diet reduces the bad LDL cholesterol levels and improves the good HDL cholesterol levels. It all boils down to the size of the cholesterol particles. Small particles are bad and can potentially lead to more heart attacks and heart disease, large particles are linked to a lower risk of a heart attack.
Improve Mental Clarity
If you are someone who relies heavily on caffeine to get you through the morning or experience brain fog frequently, a keto diet might aid you with that. One of the benefits of a keto diet is improved mental clarity. The increased amount of fats, particularly the Omega-3, increased the DHA fatty acid that makes up around 15-30% of our brain. Oftentimes, we supplement our health with fish oil capsules, when we could instead be consuming more Omega-3’s. It not only promotes mental clarity, decreases brain fog, improves concentration, but also helps improve long-term memory function.
Is the Keto Diet Right for Me?
Before beginning your journey with the keto diet, or any other diet for that matter, you must identify your aim. If you are searching for a diet that can help you achieve your weight loss goals, the keto diet’s benefits when it comes to losing body fat are unmatched. Any low-carb diet that leaves you feeling satiated after eating your meal will inevitably help you meet your body goals.
If you are searching for a method to manage any existing conditions, such as diabetes, cholesterol, or blood pressure, it is important that you first consult with your doctor as they can advise you whether or not the keto diet would be a good fit.
There is a multitude of other benefits to the keto diet that are not described in this post that we would encourage you to research before making a decision. Going keto has helped many people and improved their lifestyles drastically, and it could potentially be of great benefit to you as well. Consider incorporating some aspects of this diet to see if it truly works with your lifestyle.