Proven benefits of ketogenic and low carb diets
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Although controversial, you simply cannot deny the fact that low carb diets, and ketogenic diets, yield some pretty impressive results. Despite the fact that there are, and will always be, naysayers, experts have found that low carb diets and ketogenic diets can not only be safe when done correctly, but they can actually be beneficial for our health and well-being as well. You see, in the past, people often avoided fats like the plague, as they were considered to virtually be the root of all evil. More research was conducted however, equipment evolved and advanced, and experts found that, in fact, fats were not only acceptable, but they were also actually beneficial for our health and well-being. With this new evidence and research, new studies were conducted, and new diet plans were devised. Low carb diets such as the Atkins diet, for example, proved very popular as they yielded hugely impressive weight loss results. Ketogenic diets, which placed an emphasis on healthy fats, moderate protein consumption, and low carb consumption, also proved useful, especially for people trying to lose fat without burning muscle. To prove just how beneficial and effective these diets can be, here’s a look at several proven benefits of low carb diets and ketogenic diets.
Fat loss
First and foremost, one of the primary health benefits associated with these types of diet is the fact that they provide such amazing fat losses. When a person first begins a keto diet or a low carb diet for the first time, it is not uncommon for them to lose as much as 10 or more pounds in the first week. The idea behind these diets is that, by taking away the body’s preferred source of energy in the form of carbohydrates, it has to find energy from elsewhere, which it gets in the form of stored body fat. Once the body enters ketosis, which it does when there are no glucose reserves, ketones enter the bloodstream which allow the body to burn off body fat for energy. If you’re looking to burn off body fat whilst maintaining high energy levels, a low carb/ketogenic diet is absolutely ideal.
More energy
When you first make the transition over to a low carb diet, the first three days or so are generally pretty awful. There’s no point in sugar coating things (pardon the pun), you will struggle. Your energy levels will be at near zero, your strength will plummet, your motivation will drop, and you’ll want to do nothing other than sleep. If you can power through however, when you enter ketosis and when your body makes the transition into burning off your body fat for energy, you’ll feel amazing. Your energy levels will increase dramatically because you will literally be burning stored body fat for fuel. It generally takes three days to enter ketosis, but once you do, you will feel amazing. Not only will you have more energy, but your workouts will also improve because you will have more fuel in your body, allowing you to burn off even more body fat in the first place.
Never go hungry
Dieting sucks. The reason why dieting sucks, is because the convention method involves forcing your body into a caloric deficit where you consume several hundred calories less than your body needs to function in its current state. To do this, you obviously have to follow a low calorie diet in which you restrict food and drink intakes. Being in a caloric deficit leaves you feeling tired and weak, and you feel hungry. When you feel hungry, life generally sucks. With low carb diets and ketogenic diets however, the idea is to not go hungry. With these diets, you don’t count calories at all, you count carbs. If you’re on keto and you feel hungry, you can simply go ahead and make yourself a cheese omelette, complete with whole eggs. There are not many other diet protocols out there that encourage you to constantly eat whenever you feel slightly peckish, but with low carb and keto diets, this is exactly what you do, and you still lose copious amounts of weight in the process.
Eat foods you wouldn’t normally eat
A few decades ago, if you told somebody that you could eat smoked salmon, scrambled egg, and cheese for breakfast, and steak in a creamy mushroom sauce with buttered veggies for dinner, as well as numerous other snacks throughout the day, and still lose weight, they would have looked at you like you were insane. However, with low carb diets and ketogenic diets, that is exactly what you can do. You can have cream in your coffee and with your scrambled eggs, you can load up your omelettes with cheese, and you can eat as much meat and natural fats as you like. The results are as clear as day, so if you’re looking to lose weight, whilst still enjoying delicious foods, you may wish to seriously consider one of these types of diet.
Lose more abdominal fat
Although you can’t spot reduce body fat, studies have proven that with high protein/high fat/low carb diets, the vast majority of body fat that you lose, does indeed come from your abdomen. This is not only beneficial from an aesthetics point of view, it is also beneficial from a health and fitness point of view as well. You see, abdominal belly fat, also known as visceral belly fat, is extremely dangerous because the added weight and pressure from the fat can place many of your internal organs trapped underneath, under increased pressure, which can lead to organ failure, fatty liver disease, and much more besides. By following a low carb/ketogenic diet however, you generally find that the fat you do lose, primarily comes off of your abdomen, which is ideal from a health and fitness perspective.
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