Top 10 Benefits of a Keto Diet
This guide will cover everything you need to know
A keto diet has become increasingly popular over the last few years, and with good reason.
Keto diets can help you lose weight, decrease your cholesterol levels, and balance your hormones to optimize overall health.
Although most people know what to expect when they’re starting a keto diet, many aren’t aware of all the health benefits that come along with it.
This guide will cover everything you need to know about the top 10 benefits of a keto diet, so keep reading!
1) Lose Weight Fast
Studies show that low-carb diets are more effective for weight loss than high-carb diets, even when people don’t restrict calories.
Studies show that a low-carb keto diet is better than any other diet in reducing body weight, triglycerides, and bad cholesterol (and raising good cholesterol) in those with obesity.
Want to know how much you can expect to lose? One study found that participants who followed an Atkins low-carb diet lost 44 pounds during Phase 1 (the first two weeks) alone.
Keep in mind that these individuals were not calorie-restricted; instead, they were encouraged to eat until complete.
At 12 months, participants lost 24 pounds (10 kg).
2) Improve Mental Health
When you eat carbs, your body stores them as glycogen in your muscles and liver (your brain mostly uses glucose).
This can make your body feel hungry and tired if you don’t replenish it with other fuels.
You replace lost glycogen with a keto diet by depleting stored body fat.
In addition to weight loss, research shows that keto diets can also improve mental health problems such as depression and anxiety by balancing out blood sugar levels and lowering inflammation.
3) Enhance Physical Performance
When you’re on a keto diet, your body converts fat into ketones for energy. This makes you stronger, and your muscle endurance will also increase significantly.
Many bodybuilders, for example, rely on their high-fat diets to improve their workouts. With so much strength available to them during
4) Keep Active During The Day
The keto diet will help you lose weight and stay active.
The keto diet was initially developed to help reduce seizures in epileptic children but has been found to have many other positive health benefits too.
These include reducing hunger, improving mental clarity, decreasing acne breakouts, and helping people sleep better at night.
Regular exercise is an essential part of living a healthy lifestyle, so if you are trying to lose weight on a keto diet, make sure you are active during your waking hours.
This will allow your body enough time between meals to work off extra calories to keep your hunger under control, and cravings for unhealthy food can be reduced.
It also ensures that you don’t feel sluggish, leading to poor food choices being made later in the day.
5) Reduce Body Fat While Maintaining Lean Muscle Mass
A keto diet is a powerful tool for weight loss.
However, that doesn’t mean it’s easy to stick with or quick to see results. Most people seem to find it extremely difficult to adhere to, especially in its rawest form.
You may be shocked by how long you have to go without carbs before your body reaches ketosis and begins burning fat for fuel.
If you’re used to eating multiple times per day, fasting can feel downright miserable sometimes! Because of that feeling, many people tend to become impatient and give up before reaching their goal weight—and they’re missing out on some significant benefits along the way.
6) Burn Stored Body Fat Instead of Carbohydrates
When we eat carbohydrates, they get broken down into glucose and sent through our bloodstream to be used as energy. But it doesn’t stop there.
The glucose enters our cells with insulin to be stored as glycogen.
Any leftover gets converted to fat, causing weight gain.
When you enter ketosis, your body burns fat instead of carbs for energy, burning off more calories than you take in.
This also leads to quick weight loss, even though you eat more fat and fewer carbs!
And instead of getting that glucose after a meal, which makes us hungry again shortly after that, we now have natural energy from stored fats! Win-win!
7) Control Blood Sugar Levels
Because keto restricts carb intake, it’s good to make sure your blood sugar doesn’t drop too low.
Eating moderate amounts of high-quality protein can help with that.
This will keep you from feeling weak and tired, which many people experience when they first go on keto.
8) Feel Less Hungry and Less Appetite Increase/Decrease
Some people say they feel less hungry on the keto diet, and others say they feel hungrier.
This is normal and varies from person to person.
Many causes of increased hunger during a ketogenic diet, such as sleep deprivation, stress, lack of socialization, etc.
However, if you add extra salt or electrolytes (through foods like bone broth), you may feel less hungry and more energized on your keto diet!
9) Avoid Increased Risk Of Heart Disease & Cancer
A common myth regarding low-carb diets is that they’re dangerous for your heart.
The truth is that these diets could lower your risk for heart disease and certain types of cancer—two leading causes of death worldwide.
Studies on animals show that carbohydrate-restricted diets are likely to be more effective than those high in carbohydrates for weight loss and improve insulin sensitivity and reduce risk factors associated with metabolic syndrome (diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol).
One study in humans found that participants following a very low carbohydrate diet had decreased triglycerides, LDL cholesterol (the bad kind), and blood glucose levels.
They also had increased HDL cholesterol (the good kind) and improved insulin sensitivity.
10) Stay In Ketosis Longer Easily & Effortlessly
When you first start keto, it’s essential to understand that your body has no idea how to utilize fat for energy.
It will take time for your cells to adapt to using ketones as fuel, so to ease your transition into ketosis, we recommend taking exogenous ketones during your first two weeks on a low-carb diet.
Taking these supplements (also known as ketone salts) will help raise blood levels of beta-hydroxybutyrate (BOHB), one of three compounds created when burning fat instead of glucose.
BOHB even tastes great! Spices like ginger and cinnamon can provide a further backup by helping kickstart cellular mitochondria production.
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About the Creator
Happy Life Official
I write about relationships, health, happiness, and much more to ease your life routine.
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