11 Health Benefits of A Ketogenic Diet
The Keto diet is a life-changing diet plan of recent times. It not only helps In weight loss but also provides a beneficial effect on overall health. It helps to improve cardiac health. The ketogenic diet helps in reducing inflammation in traumas. So overall benefits of the ketogenic diet are life-changing. It helps in improving the quality of life. The health benefits of a ketogenic diet are compiled here.
1. Weight Loss
Weight loss is the most primer benefit of the ketogenic diet. It is mainly organized for weight-loss functions. The ketogenic diet is effective in a way because it changes the diet from a very high carb to a carb-burning and from a low-fat diet to a heavy-fat diet. A very high-fat diet helps to reduce appetite and increases the metabolic rate of body cells and helps to reduce weight. A diet high in carbs causes weight gain. Conversely, a diet with low carbohydrates is beneficial to reduce the desire to eat, thus helping in weight loss.
The ketogenic diet reduces the risk of obesity-related diseases like diabetes, and stroke. It improves the overall quality of the body. If a person is a little out of shape and wants to be fit, the ketogenic diet is the best option for this person. The best part of this diet is that a person who is on a keto diet does not have to strive for the whole day. He will take a diet full of energy and proteins. He also gains some energy with this diet. The ketogenic diet helps in weight loss and shaping the body. It functions as fat-burning metabolism known as ketosis. Ketosis helps the body to improve overall physical activity. These are the benefits of the ketosis diet in weight loss.
2. Reduced Appetite
In the keto diet, you eat a high-fat diet with low carb. This diet reduces the appetite and helps in satisfying the hunger of the body. The ketogenic diet helps in fat burning. This diet is low in carbohydrates, moderate in proteins and high in fat. In the ketogenic diet, a person should also take a required amount of macronutrients according to his or her height, weight, physical activity, age and goals. The energy value of these macros is given here
– Carbohydrates have 4 calories per gram
– Protein has 4 calories per gram
– Fat has 9 calories per gram
So it shows that fat is a more satisfactory macronutrient to fulfil body needs. It solely gives more energy than a combination of carbohydrates and proteins. In a keto life, a person is not having high levels of blood sugars due to fewer carbohydrates consumption. Hormones play a role in controlling hunger by producing a state of satisfaction. The ketogenic diet suppresses hunger hormones So by doing this it reduces the appetite.
3. Inflammation
The ketogenic diet helps to reduce inflammation and pain. It functions similar to NSAIDs by producing BHB (ß-hydroxybutyrate) which helps to suppress the inflammatory pathways by activating AMP. It also helps to inactivate the COX-2 enzyme. The diet also includes anti-inflammatory foods like eggs, olive oil, coconut oil, and other foods that contain omega 3s. all these foods help to reduce inflammation. Other anti-inflammatory foods are given below:
– Eggs
– Olive oil
– Coconut oil
– Avocados
– Fatty fish
– Spinach
– Cauliflower
– Broccoli
– Blueberries
– Bone broth
– Garlic Nuts
4. Cholesterol
It was considered that a high-fat diet causes an increase in cholesterol levels in the body. But researches show that people who are on the keto diet show a low level of cholesterol in the body and it also helps to improve overall heart health by increasing the levels of HDL in the diet. Some people show a minute increase in LDL level at the start of this diet. But this diet is mainly considered a carbohydrates and sugar-free diet and helps in cardiovascular improvements.
5. Diabetes & Blood Sugar Control
The ketogenic diet consists of low carbohydrates and low sugar. It helps to reduce blood sugar levels. The ketogenic diet is fully recommended for diabetic patients. It stabilizes the blood glucose levels and reduces the dependency on medication for diabetic patients. By reducing sugar and carbohydrate intake, the stores of energy such as fats start burning and help to reduce weight. This process also reduces insulin dependency. So this diet shows a surprising response in the reduction of blood glucose levels and reduces the risk of heart problems.
6. Blood Pressure
The ketogenic diet helps in the management of blood pressure. Studies have shown that those individuals who are on the ketogenic diet have low systolic blood pressure. Reduced systolic pressure helps in the reduction of overall blood pressure. The ketogenic diet reduces blood pressure by reducing LDL and triglycerides.
7. Heart Health
Studies show that the ketogenic diet reduces overall heart health. It causes a significant reduction in biomarkers of heart diseases. It also reduces the LDL levels in most people. LDL was considered a make it or break it factor for CVS health. It also reduces the incidence of heart attacks in previously affected people. In people where the ketogenic diet causes an increase in LDL, it changes the size of LDL particles and reduces the number of small damaging LDL particles. So it improves heart health by reducing damaging biomarkers.
8. Brain Health
The keto diet is used to treat seizures in neurological studies. In recent studies, it is described that the keto diet is used to treat seizures in the pediatric ward. It shows a 90 % reduction in seizures within 3 weeks of diet. It is used as an anti-seizure medication. Ketones act as neuroprotective substances. It helps to protect brain cells from damage and acts as an antioxidant. The ketone diet also helps to regulate the brain’s neurotransmitters. The overall effect of the ketogenic diet on brain health is positive. This topic is still under study to understand the overall effect of ketones on brain health.
9. Acne
The ketogenic diet helps in skin clarity. It helps women with PCOS. PCOS causes hormonal imbalance and other problems like depression, anxiety, skin acne, insulin resistance etc. The ketogenic diet helps to reduce these symptoms. And helps in the reduction of insulin and body mass. This reduction of insulin also causes a reduction in acne lesions. The ketogenic diet also helps to reduce inflammation. So it has a positive effect on acne reduction.
10. Migraines
Studies show that the ketogenic diet shows a reduction in migraine and severe headaches. The ketogenic diet helps to maintain the energy level of brain cells. So it helps to improve the health of brain cells and reduces migraine. A ketogenic diet is very low in carbohydrates so It helps to reduce the side effects of anti-migraine medications.
11. Cancer Treatment
The ketogenic diet is helpful in the reduction of cancer. Cancer cells mainly depend upon glucose to metabolize. The ketogenic diet consists of a low glucose diet so it reduces the metabolism of cancer cells and helps to treat cancer. This diet reduces the growth of cancer cells and increases the survival rate of the affected person. The ketogenic diet is the treatment of choice for cancer. It has the strongest tumour-suppressing effect.
Conclusion
There are many proven health benefits of a ketogenic diet, as shared above. To fully maximize such benefits, you should ease yourself into the diet and monitor your ketone levels to ensure optimal effects.
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Reference
Winters, N. (2020) 11 Significant Health Benefits of the Ketogenic Diet. Retrieved from: https://keto-mojo.com/article/top-11-health-benefits-of-keto/