When I first heard of ketosis or low carb I thought to myself: what are the advantages of changing my entire diet and avoiding so many delicious foods that’s a perfectly valid question and I was looking for studies findings and research to investigate the benefits of ketosis. the result of this research which lasted several weeks is this article. before we start we should talk about what ketosis is and what we mean by ketogenic diet.
Ketosis: A diet with many advantages
The aim of ketogenic diet is to “enter ketosis“. Ketosis is a metabolic state in which your body runs out of glycogen (practically sugar) and instead primarily uses fatty acids to produce energy.
In response to this change, your liver produces ketone bodies that supply your body and brain with clean and sustainable energy.
To achieve this goal, you must adhere to a strict Low/No-Carb, Moderate Protein and High Fat diet. It requires a certain amount of discipline!
With this brief summary, we can now take a closer look at the list of benefits of ketosis and low carb.
TOP-21 Advantages of Ketose and Low-Carb
While many other diets have only one advantage (this would ideally be weight loss), the ketogenic diet offers a variety of advantages for your physical and mental performance and health.
This is because energy production from fatty acids and ketones is much more effective than burning glycogen or carbohydrates.
First of all the most important advantages and positive effects of a low-carb diet or the ketogenic diet:
- Lose weight faster and increase fat burning
- Improved sleep quality and better regeneration
- More mitochondria and improved mitochondrial performance
- Lower insulin and blood sugar levels
Here is the complete list of the 21 best known benefits of ketogenic nutrition including scientific studies and explanations:
1) Accelerated fat burning
The renunciation of sugar carbohydrates is one of the most effective ways to lose as much fat and excess body weight as possible in a short time.
The reason for this is that low-carb diets remove excess water from your body in the first step, then lower your insulin level and ultimately reduce your hunger/appetite [1, 2, 3].
Ketosis transforms your body into a fat burning machine that is active 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
A wonderful idea for any of us who want to get rid of excess weight quickly.
2) Stable and low blood sugar level
Millions of people worldwide suffer from diabetes or high insulin resistance. The good news for these people is that the ketogenic diet can offer them some advantages [4].
The absence of carbohydrates can dramatically reduce your blood sugar level and thus prevent fatigue or hunger attacks [5, 6].
3) Increased endurance
Endurance athletes can also increase their performance through ketosis. This is due to the fact that energy production from ketones and fatty acids requires less oxygen and is generally more efficient.
The FASTER study is one of the most well-known and large-scale studies in this field. The researchers investigated the effects of ketosis on the endurance of athletes – with amazing results [7].
In summary, the keto athletes differed in more powerful mitochondria, accelerated fat burning, less oxygen demand and slightly increased performance [7].
4) Better sleep quality
Sleep and especially deep sleep have been proven to be among the most important processes in our body. Here too, ketosis can work wonders!
When I started with ketogenic nutrition and I had the keto flu behind me, I immediately noticed that I got out of bed faster and more relaxed in the morning.
This is primarily due to the fact that ketosis on the one hand activates the cell-internal “garbage disposal” and on the other hand leads to efficient energy generation. Ketarians therefore often report improved sleep quality and a decreasing need for sleep.
5) Improved brain functions
Another well-researched advantage of ketogenic nutrition is the enhancement of brain functions such as memory, concentration or focus.
There are a number of human studies that have confirmed the positive effects of ketosis on the memory of adults [8].
In addition, ketosis leads to an increased production of mitochondria in the human brain, which can increase the concentration of ATP in your brain, and especially in your hippocampus [9].
6) Higher Basal Metabolic Rate and Energy Consumption
Your basal metabolic rate into the amount of energy your body needs per day to keep the most important functions in your body running.
There are several studies that have linked low carb or ketogenic nutrition to a higher basal metabolic rate [10, 11]. This means you can lose weight faster in the long run or define your body or muscles.
7) Nutrient-rich diet
Foods you should eat in the ketogenic diet include fish, vegetables, high quality meat and other unprocessed foods.
These foods are rich in minerals and essential nutrients that contribute to your body’s health and performance.
8) Lower blood pressure
Equally exciting: high blood pressure patients can benefit from a ketogenic diet.
Researchers Dr. Jeff Volek and Dr. Richard Feynman confirmed that a low-carb diet and forms of the ketogenic diet can reduce some important risk factors of various heart diseases. These include lower blood pressure [12].
9) Stronger mitochondria
Mitochondria are the cellular power plants of our body. Without them, we would run out of energy within a few minutes. Much of our health, performance and immune system depends on the function of our mitochondria.
In one of her articles, Dr. Gabriela Segura discusses in more detail the effect of ketosis on mitochondrial performance [13].
In general, one can conclude from her research that ketosis can measurably increase the performance and the number of mitochondria in our body.
10) Slower aging process
One way to slow down the aging of our body is to reduce oxidative stress. Excitingly, a low insulin level leads to less oxidative stress.
The renunciation of sugar and other carbohydrates as part of a ketogenic diet will lower your blood sugar and insulin levels sustainably, which in turn will measurably and noticeably slow down your aging process [14].
11) Faster and stronger feeling of fullness
Many diets cause one thing in particular: a constant feeling of hunger. The ketogenic diet is different here – because it has been proven that it can lead to a stronger feeling of satiety, which is even faster.
Every year, several studies prove the fact that the renunciation of carbohydrates and the consumption of more fat and protein leads to less hunger and a reduced calorie sum.
This allows you to burn more fat in less time – without the unpleasant feeling of constant and ubiquitous hunger!
12) Fasting becomes much easier
Everyone of us knows the feeling when we do without our lunch or simply forget to have dinner because of all the work.
In the context of a normal diet, it is already difficult for most people to do without any form of food for 12 hours – even though fasting can have an unbelievable number of health benefits.
In ketosis it’s different: it’s no longer a problem if you have to do without food for 12, 16 or even 24 hours. This will make it much easier for you to fast longer or intermittently (16-hour daily fast).
13) Better mood & mood
The Google search for “Autism + Ketosis” leads us to hundreds of blog entries and personal testimonials all about the positive effects of the ketogenic diet on people with autism.
This effect is due to the increased production of GABA and serotonin in the course of ketosis. The release of these happiness hormones in turn leads to Ketarians often reporting an improved mood.
Another convincing reason to do without sugar and simple carbohydrates in the future!
14) Faster weight loss
It has been scientifically proven that low-carb and high-fat diets are THE most effective way to lose a lot of weight and fat in a short period of time.
On the one hand, this is because excess water (which is bound to carbohydrates and glycogen) is excreted [15].
On the other hand, you transform your body into an efficient fat burning machine. So you will burn fat faster and more effectively in the long run and lose weight [16, 17, 18].
15) Higher HDL Cholesterol
HDL cholesterol (high-density lipoprotein) is also often referred to as the good cholesterol. The higher the amount of HDL relative to the “bad” LDL, the lower the risk of heart disease [19].
The high consumption of healthy fatty acids in the course of a ketogenic diet can increase the amount of “good” HDL cholesterol and thus prevent heart disease [20, 21].
16) Increased libido
Ketosis can significantly increase men’s quality of life by increasing testosterone levels and libido.
This effect becomes stronger the more high-quality fats (MCT, coconut fat, etc.) you consume as a man in ketosis. A good argument to buy a high-quality MCT oil as quickly as possible!
17) Lower insulin levels
Low-carb diets and ketogenic diets are particularly beneficial for people with diabetes and excessive insulin resistance, which affect several million people worldwide [22, 23].
Studies have shown that people with diabetes can reduce their insulin levels by up to 50 percent with a low/no-carb diet [24].
18) Get up faster in the morning
Due to the improved sleep quality we wrote about at the beginning of this article, many Ketarians report more energy and willpower to make it out of bed in the morning.
In my experience, this is one of the first positive effects you will notice at the beginning of ketogenic nutrition.
19) Improved LDL cholesterol levels
People with LDL levels that are too high are more likely to have a heart attack during their lifetime [25].
In ketosis, the average size of LDL particles increases while the absolute number of particles decreases [26]. The larger the LDL particles, the lower the risk of heart attack [27].
Therefore you can reduce the risk of a heart attack by avoiding sugar and carbohydrates!
20) Reduces symptoms of allergies
Ketosis also balances and calms the human immune system. Since an allergy is nothing more than an overreaction of the immune system, ketosis can reduce the symptoms of allergies.
21) Ketosis has an anti-catabolic effect
Athletes in particular are afraid of losing hard-earned muscle mass in ketosis – don’t worry, this is not the case if you eat the right keto foods!
Ketones have an anti-catabolic effect on your body. This means that they tell your body not to break down muscles but fat.
This makes just as much sense from an evolutionary perspective. Because in times of food shortage, our ancestors needed their muscles to be able to go hunting again.
What is the best way to start with ketosis?
As a first step, you should know which foods you should eat more often and which you should eat less often or not at all in order to get into ketosis as quickly as possible.
Which will interest you additionally:
This article is part of a series about ketosis and ketogenic nutrition. Here you can find more valuable articles and resources about how to get into ketosis quickly:
- Ketosis Signs: How to tell if your body is in ketosis
- Getting into ketosis faster with these 5 working tips
- Measure ketosis: What are Keto-Sticks and which measuring instruments are available?
- Ketogenic Diet & Ketosis: The 15 Best Foods for Quick Results
- Keto Flu: Symptoms, duration and what you can do about it
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