Everybody seems to be talking about the latest diet craze, the keto diet. It’s also known as the ketogenic diet, which is a high-fat, adequate-protein, and low carb diet, like the Atkins diet. The ultimate goal of a keto diet is to obtain more fat than carbohydrates, and more calories from protein. Many people love the keto diet because it depletes the body of its sugar reserves to break down fat (ketosis) and protein for energy.  In this article, you’ll learn how a low carb diet improves health so that you can make an informed decision before trying this diet.

If you’re still on the fence, check out these keto diet facts:

Keto Diet Turns Fat Into Energy

You’re restricted to eat high-carbohydrate foods in a keto diet, so instead of carbohydrates, your body burns fat and converts it to energy. Due to ketosis, a keto diet can help you achieve your weight-loss goals.

Here are the good-to-know facts about how a low carb diet improves health:

  • A keto diet is high in protein so you won’t feel hungry unlike other types of diet.
  • When a keto diet is combined with lifestyle changes, it can help melt your stubborn belly fat, and you’ll surely lose weight.
  • Fats are considered the most powerful energy source which provides 9 cal/g, so a keto diet can give you the energy you need throughout the day.
  • Eating fiber-rich and high-fat foods increase satiety so that a keto diet won’t leave you craving for more.

Keto Diet Gets Rid of Complex Carbs

It’s crucial to reduce processed sugar in your diet, which makes complex carbohydrates, because it is high in fructose, promoting type II diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Also, fructose causes the formation of fat inside the abdomen, creating a pot belly.

Here are the good-to-know facts about how a low carb diet improves health:

  • Keto diet cuts down on carbs below 50 g a day.
  • This amount of fat switches your body to nutritional ketosis, which forces your body to burn its fat stores for energy.
  • Keeping carbohydrate intake low on a keto diet with moderate protein and lots of fat will help you get rid of complex carbs.
  • The low carbohydrate foods allowed on a ketogenic diet include berries, leafy greens, squash, and cruciferous veggies. Eat low-carb protein bars instead of regular energy bars.
  • Get rid of legumes, grains, honey, and sugar thoroughly.

Keto Diet Reduces Carbs for Healthy Skin

Acne can be related to poor diet and fluctuating blood sugar due to eating refined and processed carbohydrates. If you reduce your carbohydrate intake, you’ll have healthier skin, most especially if you consume whole foods or unprocessed foods.

Keto Diet and Exercise Increase Fat Burning Process

Exercise is essential for every weight-loss strategy, and even if you’re on a regular diet. That’s why also if you’re on a keto diet, it’s crucial to exercise every day or get enough physical activity for increased fat burning. More so if you want to lose your lower belly fat, keto diet and exercise should be implemented.

Through exercise, the fat in your belly melts because of increased resting metabolic rate or RMR. It’s the rate wherein your body burns more calories at rest, so the higher your RMR is, the more fat you will burn even at rest. That’s why exercise should be part of your daily routine.

Keto Diet Burns Fat Through Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting is a dietary strategy that cycle between periods of eating and fasting, lasting 8 to 12 hours for keto fasters. The eating period is within a limited time frame or also known as the feeding window.

Here are the benefits of intermittent fasting to staying healthy:

  • Enhances the burning of fat tissue by increasing blood flow
  • Activates white blood cells essential for fat burning
  • Enhances your metabolic rate

Keto Diet Reduces Bad Cholesterol

When it comes to cardiovascular health, a keto diet can help reduce your cholesterol levels, specifically the bad cholesterol or less density lipoprotein or LDL. Instead of pork rinds, consider avocados as a healthy fat in a healthy keto diet.

Keto Diet Causes Oxidative Stress of Cancer Cells

In the 1920s, epilepsy patients were advised to consume low carbs and a high-protein diet, which are the qualities of a keto diet that can help improve the overall health of patients who have cancer. The ketogenic diet causes limitation of several growth factors and initiates oxidative stress to cancer cells. Due to glucose depletion, cancer cells slow because these cells tend to utilize glucose to increase or remain active. Also, the keto diet lowers blood glucose levels, reducing insulin complications associated with some types of cancers.

Here are the findings of research from the University of Alabama in Birmingham about how a keto diet can help patients with endometrial or ovarian cancer: 

  • Cancer patients who stayed on the keto diet had reduced insulin levels and reduced weight than those who strictly followed the recommended low-fat diet by the American Cancer Society or ACS.
  • Positive weight loss does not mean that the keto diet is a cure or alternative treatment for cancer, but it can help limit your body’s carbohydrates, which increase insulin and glucose levels.

Keto Diet Has Neuroprotective Benefits

Patients who are suffering from degenerative diseases, like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, as well as some types of sleep disorders, can benefit from keto diet. Studies show that children had improved cognitive functioning and alertness following a keto diet.

Here’s how a low carb diet improves health and helps patients with seizures:

  • When the right balance of protein, fat, and carbs are combined, the body utilizes energy, which results in ketosis.
  • The product of ketosis is called ‘ketone bodies,’ which are known to reduce focal seizures among children with epilepsy.

Conclusion

Indeed, the keto diet provides a lot of excellent benefits for the body. It helps you manage or lose weight, achieve healthier skin, and reduce the complications and risks of developing cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and degenerative diseases. Because of ketosis or the break down of fats and decreased carbohydrates in the body, your blood sugar and insulin levels remain stable, promoting overall health.