10 Health Benefits of the Ketogenic Diet

Arrgghh I really prefer NOT to refer to it as a diet, it's more of a lifestyle and a way of eating. Like perhaps a Vegetarian. So when I refer to it as the Ketogenic "Diet" Just know that the term is used very loosely. That being said, let's dive right into it. You have heard and thunk it all i'm sure. "THAT MUCH FAT CAN'T BE HEALTHY" "Isn't this the Atkins diet" "Will it cause heart attacks" The truth of the matter is Yes that much fat CAN be healthy, It's not the atkins diet and it will actually raise your GOOD cholesterol therefore helping to prevent heart attacks. Let's talk about just some of the benefits...

1. Low Carb High Fat Diet kills your appetite

Everyone hates to diet, WHY? Because no one wants to feel hungry or starved. It's a horrible feeling and makes you miserable and moody. One of the best things about the KETO diet is that it leads to an automatic reduction in appetite. Studies show that when people cut carbs and eat high fat diets they end up eating way fewer calories. You simply are not as hungry, which also makes it way easier to NOT give into temptation!

2. More weightloss than traditional diets

Cutting Carbs is one of the simplest and effective ways to lose weight. Studies show that people on low carb diets lose more weight and faster than those on low fat diets. Even when the low fat dieters are restricting their calories.
One of the reasons for this is the low carb dieters tend to get rid of excess water from the body. Because they lower insulin levels, the kidneys start shedding the excess sodium leading to some pretty rapid weightloss. 

3. Lose stubborn and deadly Abdominal visceral fat

Not all fat is created equal. It is where the fat is stored that will determine how it will effect our health and risk of disease. We have subcutaneous fat (under the skin) and then we have Visceral fat in the abdominal cavity. This is the fat that tends to lodge around the organs. Having a lot of visceral fat can drive inflammation, insulin resistance and is believed to be the leading drive of metabolic dysfunction.The keto diet is very effective at reducing this harmful abdominal fat. 

4. Triglycerides tend to go down

The Keto diet is very effective at lowering triglycerides which are fat molecules in our blood and a well known risk factor for heart disease.

5. Increases Levels of HDL (Good Cholesterol)

High Density lipoprotein"HDL" is often referred to as Good Cholesterol
HDL & LDL refer to the lipoproteins that carry cholesterol around in the blood.
LDL Carried cholesterol from the liver and to the rest of the body HDL carries cholesterol AWAY from the body and to the liver where it can be reused or excreted.
The HIGHER your levels of HDL the lower your risk of heart disease.
One of the best ways to increase HDL levels is to eat a diet which includes a good amount of healthy fats.
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6. Reduced Blood Sugar & insulin levels

Reducing Carbohydrate consumption causes a decrease in blood sugar and insulin levels. This can be very effective in treating and possible reducing type 2 diabetes.

7. Blood Pressure tends to go down

Studies show that reducing carbs leads to a significant reduction in blood pressure, which should lead to a reduced risk of many common diseases.

8. Effective treatment against metabolic syndrome

Metabolic syndrome is a medical condition that is highly associated with the risk of diabetes and heart disease. It is actually a collection of symptoms

• Abdominal Obesity
• Elevated Blood Pressure
• ELevated fasting blood sugar levels
• High Tryglycerides
• Low HDL Levels

​All 5 of the above symptoms improve dramatically on a high fat low carb diet.

9. Improves the pattern of LDL Cholesterol

it is known that people who have high LDL are much more likely to have a heart attack.

It is now known that there are 2 types of LDL, Small Particles and Large Particles. People who have mostly small particles are at a higher risk of heart disease & people who have mostly large particles have a low risk. It turns out that low carb diets actually turn the LDL particles from small to large while reducing the number of LDL particles floating around in the blood stream

10. Therapeutic for several Brain Disorders

Glucose is necessary for the brain! Some parts of the brain can only burn glucose. That is why the liver will produce glucose out of protein if we don't eat any carbs It is also why the ketogenic diet is low carb not NO CARB. But a large part of the brain can also burn ketones. Ketones are formed when carb intake is very low (Ketosis) This is the mechanism behind the ketogenic diet which has been used for decades to treat epilepsy in children who don't respond to drug treatment. In many cases the diet alone can cure epilepsy. Ketogenic diets are now also being studied to treat other brain disorders such as alzheimers & parkinsons.

* the keto blog is not intended to diagnose prevent treat or cure any disease. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food & drug administration