Benefits of a Keto Diet
15 Amazing Benefits of Keto – What are the benefits of a keto lifestyle? You may have read about the many positive side effects of a keto or low-carb (LCHF) diet (“the way to eat”). The keto diet has so many health benefits, and weight loss is just the tip of the iceberg. Following a ketogenic or low-carb way of eating can help you achieve a healthy weight and reverse conditions like type 2 diabetes. That’s what some doctors and health professionals have been telling us for years.
15 Amazing Benefits of Keto
Keto and LCHF are being cited in countries around the world, including the UK, as the way forward to help tackle and reduce the obesity crisis. It is claimed to help reverse and prevent type 2 diabetes. Many other health conditions can be successfully managed or reversed by simply changing foods.
How does Keto work?
A ketogenic diet removes overly processed fake foods from your plate. Unhealthy foods such as sugar and refined carbohydrates such as grains and cereals are eliminated from the diet. When you follow keto, you replace them with natural, real, whole foods, including lots of healthy, low-carb vegetables. What could be better for you? You can read more about “What is Keto?” in my blog.
The benefits of the keto diet
Fat is not the enemy and never was! We know that now. In fact, we’ve known this for decades. Unfortunately, fat, instead of sugar, has been demonized and portrayed as the unhealthiest food we can eat. Research, which has been going on for many years, shows us that sugar and refined carbohydrates are more to blame for many of the health problems we face in the modern world. There are a lot of research papers published online about this. Many books also go into the science behind keto and LCHF diets. (I’ve listed some of my favorite sources at the end of this list).
So what health benefits can a keto diet give you?
Keto can potentially help with all of these:
1. It can help stabilize appetite and reduce cravings
A well-balanced, healthy keto diet gives you enough energy to keep you going without insulin spikes or dips. Thus, it provides you with stable energy throughout the day. No need for afternoon naps or tea naps. And when your appetite is stable, you don’t feel the need to snack or graze throughout the day or evening. You tend to feel full and satisfied for longer on a healthy keto diet. These rules! This is one of the best benefits of keto.
2. It can help stabilize blood sugar – without large insulin spikes
Because you’ve lowered your carb intake on keto, your body doesn’t have a high insulin response. Insulin is needed to convert carbohydrates into energy, so by cutting back on carbs, insulin levels stay low and stable throughout the day*. Once again, keto rules!
Keto and diabetes – health benefits
3. Management of type 1 and type 2 diabetes (often reversing type 2 for life)
For the reasons stated above, keto can help you manage your T1D with less insulin needed and manage your T2D, with most people getting off their T2D medications and managing their blood sugar through diet*. Diabetes UK and the NHS support keto or low-carb diets to manage and prevent type 2 diabetes. A lifestyle change can keep you healthy and symptom-free.
4. Better energy levels and better sleep patterns
For the same reason as number 1. A keto diet gives you a constant, steady source of energy without dips in energy levels.
5. Anti-inflammatory foods – reduce inflammation and pain associated with it
Many people suffer from joint pain. By eating real, whole, healthy foods on a keto diet, you eliminate a lot of toxins from processed foods. Keto replaces it with all the nutrients and minerals our bodies thrive on. Another one of the fantastic the benefits of keto.
And more benefits of a keto diet
6. It can help reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression
Eating well and feeling energized while building a good healthy relationship with food means you can be in a better frame of mind to deal with other things going on in your life. Weight loss and fat loss have a big impact on your hormone levels, which in turn can have a huge impact on your mental health and well-being. Good mental health is another of the most important benefits of keto.
7. It can prevent diseases associated with old age – for example Alzheimer’s
Recent studies have shown that a keto diet helps the brain stay healthy for longer. And of course, it was actually developed in the 1920s to treat seizures in epileptic children. So in other words, keto and ketones are good for your brain! An eating plan that has been used by medical professionals around the world for 100 years!? Yes! It’s not a fad diet. A well-functioning brain, a healthy body and a healthy weight mean that fewer diseases have a chance to develop. When you start to discover all the benefits of keto, it really motivates you to live this lifestyle!
8. Prevent heart disease
Studies over the past 60 years show that cholesterol and heart disease do not go hand in hand and that one does not cause the other. Neither keto nor saturated fat causes high cholesterol. One of the most exciting benefits of keto is that it is a heart-healthy diet.
9. Help to Improve gastrointestinal problems
Carbohydrates and sugar feed bad gut bacteria. Healthy fats in food, on the other hand, feed good gut bacteria. It’s as simple as that. Our instincts love all the good, healthy fats you feed when you’re on a long-term keto diet. Just one of the gut health benefits of keto and the low-carb Mediterranean keto diet.
Keto and hormones
10. Helps stabilize hormones – may help with fertility issues
See point 6. Our hormones, especially estrogen, are directly related to how much body fat we store. The more body fat you have, the higher your estrogen levels. When you start losing body fat through keto, estrogen can be reduced and there can be a significant change in your hormones. in general. Some women, for example, can reverse their perimenopausal symptoms and their monthly cycle can return to normal. For women in particular, this is one keto benefit we can all get on board with!
11. Reduction of triglycerides in the blood
12. Increase your good cholesterol (HDL)
13. Lowers bad cholesterol (LDL)
14. Decreased blood pressure
See point 8. All of these can be improved by following a keto diet. Cholesterol MAY go up at first, but then soon stabilizes and within 6 months, for example, you can see completely normal healthier ranges. If your cholesterol is a problem, then don’t worry because these are some of the amazing benefits of keto.
15. Reduces Body Fat – Aids Healthy Weight Loss!
Top of most people’s list when starting a keto diet. If you’re not burning carbs for energy, that is FAT BURNING. That’s what it means both dietary fat and stored body fat.
This might be why people start a keto diet, but it’s all the other benefits of keto that make it a real lifestyle change and sustainable in the long run. Is this one of the ultimate benefits of keto? Weight loss is your main goal!
The Conclusion:
Losing weight and melting body fat is just ONE of the many benefits of keto, and it’s a happy side effect of following a keto diet because when you’re in ketosis, you naturally use fat to make ketones, which release energy from your cells..
Goodbye body fat, forever!
15 Amazing Benefits of Keto
Sources:
Book: Dr Jason Fung, The Obesity Code (Available from Amazon)
Twitter and website: Dr. Aseem Malhotra, a leading cardiologist who advocates LCHF (http://doctoraseem.com/)
Website, Youtube, Ted Talks: Dr Zoe Harcombe (https://www.zoeharcombe.com/about-2/)
* Disclaimer – Please note: Any interpreted advice provided on this page is not intended to be a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or any treatment. It is recommended that you seek the advice of a medical professional before starting any changes to your diet. current and seek guidance if you have any underlying medical condition or health problem. This is a blog to share information and opinions about a keto and LCHF lifestyle. We do not provide medical advice and take no responsibility for what people choose to eat.
