I like eating plans that are made not just to help us get fit and eat better, but also improve our energy levels, make us more productive and lead to better focus. The keto diet is one such way to eat.
Not just that, but it activates other processes in the body worth our attention, as our health improves in general.
What is the Ketogenic Diet?
There are many types of low carb diets. Their main purpose is to help you lose weight and take better care of your body by choosing only the right carbs.
You’re limiting the unhealthy foods to a minimum, and instead encouraging the consumption of real foods such as proteins, the good type of fats, and veggies.
The ketogenic diet is a low-carb and high-fat eating plan.
When starting it, you drastically reduce the carbs you add to your menu (improve quality but limit quantity), and your body gets into a process called ketosis.
That’s a metabolic state in which your system is fueled mostly by the fats consumed during the day.
Understanding Ketosis
It’s a natural process that happens within each of us. It looks like this: when your body lacks enough glucose but needs to keep finding the energy to feed your mind and help you continue with your day, it starts storing fat and using it.
The reason why people get to this state on purpose is that they want to tell their body to stop relying on carbs for energy but to use the fat that’s already stored in the system.
When that happens, you’re losing weight effectively.
The result of this is the formation of ketones. A small amount of these is a good indicator of successfully getting rid of fats in the body, and knowing your system doesn’t rely on glucose (sugars and white carbs, for instance), to help you be productive.
However, when in a bigger dose (meaning when the ketosis is for an extended period of time), these are harmful.
It means not just keeping your body from getting enough of one of its main ingredients necessary to survive (carbohydrates), but also overdosing with proteins.
Which is one of the main reasons why experts suggest those who aren’t familiar with how the keto diet, or any low-carb diet for that matter, works, shouldn’t even give it a try.
When The Keto Diet Becomes a Bad Health Choice
Unfortunately, too many people do it without any preparation or research, and end up experiencing some of the side effects of such diet plans.
These might be low blood sugar, constipation, fatigue, irregular heartbeat, bad breath, sleep problems, and headaches.
The issues usually come when people get obsessed with it, use it for vanity reasons, get extreme and turn it into starvation, or else. In cases like that they aren’t giving their body enough of what it needs. And get it to a state where it has to think about survival, thus using any stored material it can find and causing side effects.
But the keto diet itself is science-backed, and proven to work for those wanting to lose weight and get in shape.
It requires discipline and dedication. But it’s worth it if you’re willing to improve the quality of your life. Let’s see how it can affect your health.
The Health Benefits of The Ketogenic Diet
1. It’s great for your heart.
The simple reason for that is that you lower blood triglycerides. These are fat molecules that are risky for your heart health.
Learn more about that with this ketogenic diet guide.
2. Kill cravings.
One of the best things about the keto diet is that it kills your appetite naturally.
By craving less, you’re more likely to follow the meal plan longer, and make sure to always make good food choices.
What’s more, you’re never hungry. While carbs won’t become something you see that much anymore, you’ll consume plenty of fats and proteins. These get you full faster and keep you satisfied till the next meal. In the end of the day, you end up eating no excess calories.
3. Control your glucose and reverse diabetes.
The keto diet is often used to help people treat some forms of diabetes, such as type 2, for instance. It’s helpful because it’s following the low-glycemic index rules for a diet.
Multiple studies show that when a person with diabetes starts eating this way, they manage their glucose levels to such an extent, that the symptoms of their condition can disappear over time.
4. Boost your brain power.
Most people wrongly assume that the brain can perform well only by receiving glucose. Truth is, when starving or eating low-carb foods, it boosts its performance. Basically, the glucose it needs can also be produced by proteins.
5. Finally get rid of the belly fat.
If you’ve been following diets your whole life, doing exercises, and wondering how to shape certain parts of your body, you might know that the stomach fat is the biggest challenge.
But it turns out that the keto diet is pretty beneficial in that area too.
Ketosis accelerates weight loss as it tells your body to burn stored fat. When on this diet, you stop the sugar, which is one of the main factors for fat around the waist.
What’s more, it turns out that enough quality protein on a daily basis is closely related to managing abdominal fat.
6. Fight diseases.
In addition to diabetes and heart diseases, being on the keto diet can help you starve cancer cells. It’s linked to improvements in patients with Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease too.
I think this is enough to encourage you to consider the keto diet as your next lifestyle change. What do you think?
