By There are a number of health benefits associated with a daily, lower carbohydrate intake and allowing our bodies to delve into a state of ketosis as a result. Although some people deem this diet to be unrealistic long term, it can be a viable solution when alternating prolonged periods of time with low carb, then higher carb intake, especially if you are an athlete or require substantial fuel for training. Although most of us do not have to train like an athlete, it does make sense to eat optimally for our healths sake long term
Below are some wonderful benefits of Ketosis, that not only increase weight loss, but also help curb those ghastly symptoms of dieting long term.
6 weight loss benefits of ketosis
- Initially, you will lose weight very quickly. Keto diets are beneficial for those who are seeking a fast, effective and efficient way to lose weight almost immediately. Studies show that those on a low carb diet, lose more weight, and faster than a calorie restricted diet. The reason for this quick weight loss, is that eating lower carb rids the body of excess water, as well as lowering insulin levels. This is usually apparent within a couple of weeks of starting the diet. It’s safe to say that it’s not the quantity that matters, it’s the quality of the food.
- Your appetite is reduced immensely. The worst thing about dieting is the constant hunger, and the cravings which sometimes get all too much. This is why over the long term, restricting calories is not effective, and can cause us to gain even more body fat than when we started. Ketosis on the other hand, leads to us automatically reducing our appetite. When people diminish carbs, therefore eating more fat’s and protein, they experience satiety. Over the long term, this works out to consuming even less calories, even without trying hard to do so.
- Keto is known for reducing a greater portion of belly fat. You probably know that there are a couple of different types of fat on our bodies. The most dangerous one is Visceral fat, which tends to be around the organs. Too much of this fat increases inflammation and insulin resistance. This is a huge driver of metabolic function, and explains why so many people are not conquering the battle of belly fat. Low carb is one of the key components in reducing belly fat, resetting your metabolism by reducing inflammation and increasing your insulin sensitivity. You might also like the benefits of reducing heart disease and type 2 diabetes. This is definitely a winning combination in the fight against disease.
- Your levels of energy increase, therefore making your workouts more effective. Even though when you first start your ketogenic journey, you may be plagued with energy decreases, the need to rest more and generally feeling down, it will be shorted lived. By about day 6–7, you will start to feel like your normal self again, but magnified in energy and strength. It’s the result of the brain now burning ketones for energy, rather than simple sugars, therefore, stabilised insulin levels, and the available energy sources for our brain and body tissue. Over the long term, this means that you will be able to power through your workouts consistently, add more muscle to your frame, and therefor burn more calories. Long term, this is a sensational strategy for keeping your health and body composition at optimal levels.
- Stabilisation of women’s hormones, therefore increasing weight loss. As you know, hormones play a key role in weight loss. Low carb diets may reduce symptoms of prolonged menstrual periods, acne and obesity. Blood sugar levels are stabilised, even lowered, which then has the knock on effect of stabilised, hormone levels, even more apparent in women. Insulin stabilisation, also reacts positively with our hunger signs and our ability to increase energy levels. May I also point out that when you are no longer plagued by extreme hunger, and decreased energy levels, your quality of life is instantly enhanced. This makes a huge difference for women, and men alike.
- Decreasing the rate of muscle loss. We have touched on many points above, but the amount of muscle we make and retain is highly important when it comes to weight loss. The more muscle we can retain as we become older, the more likely we are to keep our body composition and health intact. Muscle requires calories to keep and grow, therefore, the more we work at it, the better and more efficiently we will burn calories. Muscle wastage as we age is one of the key factors in gaining weight, and with that comes a host of many other disease. Keep this in mind when you are deciding on what strategies you need to implement regularly within your life to keep muscle wastage at bay.
I do hope these tips and tricks have helped you, and that you can really appreciate the benefits of a keto diet over the long term.
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