Due to the great health benefits of the keto diet, they are a widely used and effective option when losing weight, however, beyond the effects on weight and body fat, this option can offer other benefits.
Drastically reducing sugar and processed food intake, limiting carbohydrate amounts, and returning to eating more healthy fats, as we did in the past, puts us on track for optimal physical and emotional health.
Beyond the consequences of losing weight or controlling obesity that we know are not few, the keto diet by inducing the formation of ketone bodies can affect our health in different ways. There are many health benefits of the keto diet.
We tell you the advantages of the keto diet backed by science, beyond weight loss.
The ketogenic diet and its health benefits
The current ketogenic diet originated as a way to treat neurological diseases, such as epilepsy.
Some studies have shown that the diet can have benefits in a wide variety of diseases:
- Heart disease: The ketogenic diet can improve risk factors such as body fat, HDL cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and blood sugar.
- Cancer: Today, this diet has been used to treat many types of cancer and reduce the growth of tumors.
- Alzheimer’s: The keto diet may reduce Alzheimer’s symptoms and slow its progression.
- Epilepsy: Research has shown that the ketogenic diet can greatly reduce seizures in children.
- Parkinson’s: One study found that diet helped improve Parkinson’s symptoms.
- Polycystic ovary syndrome: The ketogenic diet can help lower insulin levels, which may play a role in PCOS.
- Brain injuries: An animal study found that diet can reduce concussions and help patients recover from these injuries.
- Acne: Lowering your insulin levels and reducing your intake of sugar or processed foods could improve acne.
Benefits of the ketogenic diet for diabetes and prediabetes
Diabetes is characterized by changes in metabolism, increases in blood sugar, and deterioration in insulin functions. The ketogenic diet can help you to find your goal of losing excess fat, which is closely related to type 2 diabetes, prediabetes, and metabolic syndrome.
One study found that the ketogenic diet improved insulin sensitivity by a whopping 75% increase. In another study of people with type 2 diabetes, it was found that 7 of the 21 participants were able to stop taking all diabetes medications.
In yet another study, the ketogenic group lost 24.4 pounds (11.1 kg), compared to 15.2 pounds (6.9 kg) that the high-carbohydrate group lost. It is an important benefit when we consider the relationship between weight and type 2 diabetes.
Additionally, 95.2% of the ketogenic group were able to stop or reduce diabetes medications, compared to 62% of the high-carbohydrate group.
Keto diet to improve your intestinal flora
A study published in the journal Genes concludes that it can favorably modify our intestinal flora. And thus benefit health by helping to strengthen the body’s defenses and keep us away from various diseases linked to the microbiota.
Likewise, the research in question, published in EBio Medicine, had already found special characteristics in the composition of the intestinal flora in people with markers of cognitive decline.
Blood lipids, although many consider the opposite, are modified to a greater extent with a keto diet than with a low-fat diet. Thus, this option would help reduce triglycerides in the blood and raise HDL or good cholesterol in the body. This also translates into fewer cardiovascular risk factors that are important to consider.
On the other hand, inflammation turns out to be lower when following a keto diet due to the effect of ketone bodies in the body and this can bring many benefits, including a reduction in dementia symptoms and a delay in cognitive decline, according to recent research.
Keto diet prevents Alzheimer’s
The relationship between diet and our neurological health is becoming more established and Alzheimer’s disease is already considered avoidable or at least it is known that we can reduce its incidence with good habits. Thus, a recent study indicates that following a keto diet could reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s.
Thus, a double-blind trial was conducted in which the effect of a diet was tested
Mediterranean keto and diet recommended by the American Heart Association, on the microbiome and its relationship with markers of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.
The results show that a keto diet with ingredients of good nutritional quality can modulate the intestinal flora and thus reduce the presence of markers of Alzheimer’s disease.
This means that the keto diet, due to its effect on the intestinal level, could help prevent or slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. Especially, modifying the composition of the colonic flora.
It is important to know that the ketogenic diet requires certain care and supervision. That it is not suitable for everyone, and that only if we choose ingredients of good nutritional quality can we obtain greater benefits since previous studies linked trans fats to a higher incidence of Alzheimer’s.
Also, because it is a small study, more research is expected to confirm the relationship between ketone bodies, intestinal flora, and Alzheimer’s.
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