What if there was a diet where you could eat as much cheese and even meat and oil, and still improve your health? The Keto diet promises you can still eat a variety of delicious meals, while still losing weight and gaining muscle. It works by cutting out refined sugars and carbs completely, and focusing on healthy fats and keeping your body from breaking down the excess sugars for energy, which can cause a lot of health problems.
What Is Keto?
The Ketogenic diet, or Keto, works by sending your body into a state of ketosis. That means it’s constantly burning fat, instead of glucose for energy. That means the body quickly burns through stored fats. Staying on the keto diet means eating lots of fats in the place of carbs, since carbohydrates contain sugars. You want to make sure that you have enough fats and proteins in your diet that you can keep burning nothing but fat, to stay in shape, while still maintaining a healthy body weight. A keto calculator or tracker will help you keep track of your macros, the portions of calories from fats, proteins and carbs, that are ideal for your body and and goals.
5 Health Benefits of Keto
Though some people may be surprised that any diet so high in fats can help you lose so much weight so quickly. But the keto diet actually comes with many health benefits. These are just a few of the health benefits that come with the keto diet:
1. Reduces Your Appetite
Hunger and cravings are your body’s way of signaling that you are not getting the nutrients you need. It’s a common side effect to dieting, as your body adjusts to the chemical changes. It can take a long time for your body to get used to new portions, or new foods, and meanwhile, you may experience a lot of hunger. The high-fat, high-protein keto diet is designed to keep you full, even as you burn fat. The more protein and fats you eat, the fewer calories you need to consume, and the more your body can actually use what you give it.
2. Rapid Early Weight Loss
Low carb diets cause you to lose weight quickly, especially at first. The sudden lack of glucose in your body causes you to rid your body of excess water, and lower your insulin levels. You’ll lose a lot of weight in the first few months, and without ever feeling like you’re starving yourself!
3. No More Muffin Tops
Since keto encourages your body to burn excess fat, even when you plateau, that is, you reach the state of maintaining instead of losing weight, keto targets areas of the body that store the most fat, like your belly, and your butt, so you’ll notice the change long-term.
4. Reduced Blood Sugar and Insulin Levels
Drastically cutting your carbs is a great way to naturally lower insulin and glucose levels in your blood, which lowers the risk of diabetes, and can even make it possible for some people with diabetes to reduce their insulin dosage. If you have diabetes or take blood sugar medication, talk to your doctor about your carb intake, and get advice on how to go about it safely.
5. Improved Brain Function
Have you ever heard of brain food? Most foods that are good for cognitive function and lowering the stress levels in your brain tend to be high fat foods like fish. Meanwhile, foods high in sugar can exacerbate anxiety disorders and even epilepsy and other brain disorders. Your brain needs a certain level of glucose, but lowering your glucose so your liver can produce it from proteins has been shown to help with certain brain disorders.
Now that you’ve seen the great benefits of a keto diet, how do you get started? The most important thing is to cut your carbs. But to maintain your health and hit your goals in the keto diet, keeping track of your macros, the percentages of fats, carbohydrates, and proteins you’re eating, is essential. If you’re feeling a little overwhelmed about starting, here is how to begin, in just a few easy steps.
Do Your Research
Learn about the keto diet. What foods to eat, what to avoid, what can be substituted, and what you’re willing to give up entirely. You should also examine your own relationship with fat. Many people are afraid to try a high-fat diet, because they’ve been told fat is the problem. Get used to the idea of cooking with oil and butter, and slowly start pushing out things like potatoes and rice.
Learn To Cook
If you’re not confident in the kitchen, now’s the time to challenge yourself. Keto doesn’t make room for overly processed foods. Just because it’s a high-fat diet doesn’t mean you can eat all the bacon cheeseburgers you want! Start with four or five recipes, so you can mix and match, and you’ll soon find yourself full of ideas for keto-friendly recipes
Don’t Go At It Alone
Keto works with the science of your body fat, but it can be dangerous to completely remove carbs from your diet. Getting the percentage of fats, proteins and carbohydrates correct for your body type, weight and diet goals isn’t always easy. But there are plenty of keto calculators online. And if you find yourself getting discouraged, you may look into getting a nutritionist, who can offer advice. There are communities and blogs for keto dieters to connect, swap recipes, and offer each other support and advice. Most of all, tell your family and friends about your goals. They can help and support your choice, making things like eating out, and celebrating holidays a lot easier!
Starting a low carb, high fat diet like keto can be intimidating. Any lifestyle change can take a lot of work. And traditional diets warn us away from fats, even healthy fats. But keto has a lot of health benefits both in the short and long term. And with some community around you, and some research under your belt, you’ll have everything you need to start eating healthier and feeling great.