Keto is all over the place. It's become incredibly trendy, loved by people hoping to burn fat, and hated by those who still support the food pyramid we all learned about in grade school. The keto diet, while not a magic pill for every ailment, is truly helpful for preventing and healing some types of diseases. Let's take a look at the facts, and see some of the ways the ketogenic diet can benefit your health.
1. It Can Help You Lose Weight
This is one of the more obvious and well-known reasons many people start practicing the keto diet. What makes the keto diet so good for burning fat compared to other diets?
With the keto diet, you consume around 75% fat, 20 % protein, and keep carb intake down to 5% or less. With a high fat intake and low sugar intake, you'll have decreased food cravings, decrease fluctuations in blood sugar, and feel more satisfied with your meals. Many people are especially sensitive to grain, and eliminating them from their diet can help them to more easily absorb minerals like potassium and magnesium, which means their body is getting the nutrients it needs and they'll have less desire to eat more food than necessary.
When your blood sugar is low, your body instead uses its glycogen stores as a source of energy. Usually, your body stores around 2000 calories of energy reserves as glycogen for when you're running low on glucose. Once your body depletes its glycogen reserves, it turns to body fat for more energy.
Remember, the keto diet does not mean you can eat as much cheese or low-carb, high fat treats as you want. You still must be careful to not take in more calories than you need, or you will not lose weight. Keep focused on eating healthy fats like eggs, butter, grass-fed meats, and avocados, as well as lots of vegetables. Eat keto-friendly desserts, dairy, and sweets in moderation.
2. Keto Improves Your Brain Function
If your brain is not functioning at its best, as you might already know, it means decreased productivity at work, leading to an upset boss, lack of fulfillment, sugar cravings to get your energy back, and general unhappiness. It's a terrible downward spiral. The first keto diet was developed to treat epilepsy by Dr. Russell Wilder in 1923. It worked amazingly well, and the ketogenic diet is still used to treat epilepsy and other issues with brain function. Studies show that ketones are more effective as an energy source than sugar. [1]
3. Benefits for Cancer Patients
Research has shown that the keto diet leads to a greatly reduced tumor growth rate and increased survival for cancer patients. [2]
In Closing...
Chances are that if you're reading this, you're experiencing some sort of discomfort, whether that be mental, or physical. You may be overweight, have issues with your immune system, thyroid issues, fatigue, or you feel your brain function has diminished, and you want to do something about it. We hope this information can help you make the change you want and can serve to help you take action and motivate yourself to fix these issues. Anyone can easily implement the keto diet into their lives, and it doesn't have to be hard.
References
[1] Novel ketone diet enhances physical and cognitive performance
[2] Tumor Cells Growth and Survival Time with the Ketogenic Diet in Animal Models: A Systematic Review