The Health Benefits of the Keto Diet
When you are looking for a diet that works with your body to strengthen it, you need to look to the Keto diet. This diet is one that is easy to follow and helps the body develop natural and healthy rhythms that will keep it working and help it balance itself. The ketogenic diet is one that has few carbs, limited protein, and is high in fat. The diet’s goal is to get your body into the state known as ketosis.
Ketosis is a metabolic state where your body runs out of glycogen (sugar), and it forces the body to find, or burn, an additional source of fuel. By searching for this additional source of fuel, your liver begins to process ketones, a source of fat, which then becomes the fuel, or energy, for the body. The benefits of the keto diet are many, which makes this an easy diet to maintain and continue. A diet works to change the body’s chemistry to make it more efficient. By adopting the keto diet, dieters may notice the following health benefits:
1. Better mental focus
The more traditional diet uses carbs for energy. Carbs cause blood sugar spikes, which means your energy levels rise and fall uncontrollably. This inconsistency makes it hard to focus and concentrate on your day as your energy levels plummet. Ketosis provides your brain with a consistent source of fuel that will last longer. It also won’t burn you out as quickly as the traditional carb diet.
2. More energy
As your body runs out of glycogen, your starving body reaches for food to keep it going. The diet keeps your body going because it is eating your fat stores and not depleting your stored energies.
3. Fight type 2 diabetes
Type II Diabetes increases the body’s production of insulin. The diet removes sugars from the diet. The removal of this sugar helps the HbA1c levels to drop, which allows for the dieters to control diabetes or eventually reverse it.
4. HDL cholesterol vs. LDL cholesterol and triglycerides
HDL cholesterol is the good cholesterol you want running through your body. It helps carry cholesterol through the body to the liver for elimination from the body. LDL cholesterol carries cholesterol to the liver as well as the rest of the body, where it can linger in the body and clog up the arteries, causing cardiovascular disease, heart attack, and stroke. The keto diet also decreases triglycerides in the body. Decreasing triglycerides also decreases the body’s chances of developing heart disease. Lower levels of bad cholesterol with higher levels of good cholesterol helps fight away the chance it will develop.
5. Keeps blood pressure within healthy levels
High blood pressure brings a host of health and heart problems with it. A diet keeps blood pressure levels in check and helps blood vessels stay clear. When blood flow and pressure are maintained, there are fewer chances for problems like seizures.
6. Reduced appetite and blood sugar
Maintaining a healthy weight begins with appetite control. The keto diet isn’t carb-heavy, which makes it easier to control cravings and hunger pains. Without these controlling factors, appetite is easy to control and weight easy to lose. Keto encourages the body to use fat as its main source of fuel, which makes the body actively burn fat instead. By using fat instead of glycogen, insulin levels, and blood sugar drop. By dropping these levels, people start to feel better.