What is keto and why would anyone choose such a diet? There are definite benefits to a keto diet. Read on while we chew the fat about Keto.
The Ketogenic diet is a low-carb diet that was first invented by researchers at John Hopkins University in the 1920’s to help patients with epilepsy. They found that fasting for a certain period by avoiding consumption of carbohydrates helped reduce the number of seizures while having positive effects on body fat, sugar level, and hunger levels.
The central idea of a Ketogenic diet is to create a dietary intake that restricts intake of foods with sugar, starch, and carbohydrates. In general, these are broken down into sugar as insulin and glucose and are used by our body. If there is an excessive intake of carbohydrates, then these calories get converted into fat. While on a Ketogenic diet, your body taps into the fat storage and converts that into energy due to the lack of access to immediate carbohydrates. This process is called Ketosis. This prevents the increase in insulin levels and helps to maintain weight, prevent diabetes and can also prevent that afternoon slump. There are some definite benefits of the Ketogenic diet.
Get Into Ketosis
Consumption of glucose from carbohydrate foods (grains, starchy vegetables, fruit) is cut way down.
This forces your body to find an alternative fuel source: fat (think avocados, coconut oil, salmon).
Meanwhile, in the absence of glucose, the body also starts to burn fat and produces ketones instead.
Once ketone levels in the blood rise to a certain point, you enter a state of ketosis.
This state of high ketone levels results in quick and consistent weight loss until you reach a healthy, stable body weight.
Benefits
- Weight loss & Weight Management
One of the greatest benefits of being in the state of ketosis is weight loss or weight management. As your body taps into stored fat, and the reduction of consumption of carbohydrate, it makes it one of the easiest diets to lose unwanted weight and maintain a healthy BMI
- Prevent Neurological Disorders
According to https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19664276 clinical improvement was observed in Alzheimer’s patients fed a ketogenic diet, and this was marked by improved mitochondrial function. In fact, a European Journal of Clinical Nutrition Study pointed to emerging data that suggested the therapeutic use of ketogenic diets for multiple neurological disorders beyond epilepsy and Alzheimer’s, including headaches, neurotrauma, Parkinson’s disease, sleep disorders, brain cancer, autism, and multiple sclerosis.
- Prevent Diabetes
Due to the low carbohydrate diet and the drastic reduction in insulin level spikes, the Ketogenic diet has been proven to reduce chances of one being diabetic, and it also helps one to revert their lifestyle into a healthy one.
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