Benefits of the Ketogenic Diet

For a lot of people, starting the ketogenic diet is usually for one reason - weight loss. It has become presumably, the "easiest" diet the yields the fastest results. Easiest in quotes because it isn't as it seems and definitely not as hard as a lot of people make it out to be. Today, I give many more benefits of the ketogenic diet. However, I will explain a few theories concerning glucose. 

• Glucose is useful in the synthesis of cholesterol.
• Excess glucose in the body is stored as fat.
• Glucose pulls water with it wherever it goes. This is obvious in the amounts of water been released during the process of glycogenolysis.
• Finally, Glucose is energy for our good body cells, but also for the bad ones like cancer cells.

Now to the benefits;

• Weight Loss - This is obvious. The less carbs you eat, the more energy you'll need. The body will have no option but to burn fat to ketones for energy.

• Blood Glucose Stabilization - When you eat less carbs and as a result, require less glucose for energy, your blood glucose levels stabilizes. This also reverses type 2 diabetes mellitus as you require almost no insulin for glucose absorption. What happens in type II DM is that there is insensitivity to insulin produced by the pancreas.

• Controls Dyslipidemia - When you go for a lipid profile testing, they check for triglycerides, LDLs (low density lipoproteins), HDLs (high density lipoproteins) and total cholesterol. In layman's terms, it is expected that only the HDLs which is good for the heart should be above normal, while the remaining which are bad for the heart should be low or normal. In dyslipidemia, the reverse is the case. As you begin to eat less carbs, less triglycerides and cholesterol are form and with intake of more saturated fat, HDLs go up and LDLs go down.

• Reduced Blood Pressure - Most of the time, the cause of hypertension is attributed to elevated cholesterol levels and high intake of salt which is said to also increase blood volume by increasing water retention. Remember I stated earlier that wherever glucose goes, so does water and also that glucose is necessary for the formation of cholesterol. Reducing carbs intake, reduces the amounts of cholesterol in the blood and also reduces blood volume. These processes cumulatively lead to a reduction in blood pressure.

• Controls Metabolic Syndrome - This is explained in the above points. Metabolic syndrome is a syndrome composed of abdominal obesity, elevated blood pressure, insulin resistance with elevated blood glucose and dyslipidemia.

• Improved fertility - Studies have shown that overweight and obesity are associated with poor sperm quality in men and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) in women. However, these have also been shown to improve with as much or as little as a 5% loss in body fat. There have been numerous testimonies to back this up.

• Decreased Menstrual Cramps & Premenstrual Syndrome - I'll tell you my story, every month, I dreaded the time of the month. I started planning towards what pain medications to take before it came. Two days to the day, I'd have severe headaches and bloating, these, I took as normal "premenstrual syndrome" signs. When the period does come, the pain was excruciating. Started the ketogenic diet and one month into it, no headaches, bloating and most importantly NO PAIN!!! and it has been so for months now.

• Better Oral Hygiene - One very important cause of tooth decay (dental caries) is SUGAR! Sugar from high carb foods left in the mouth for bacteria to act on. This is a personal experience. I don't have food hanging in my teeth anymore.

• Mood Stabilization - Studies have shown that ketosis stabilizes neurotransmitters in the brain like serotonin and dopamine thereby improving mood.

• Controls Epilepsy - This is a well established fact since the 1920s. I guess because ketosis stabilizes the brain neurotransmitters or maybe because high glucose and fluid retention causes the minimal cerebral edema (brain swelling) which doesn't go down well with seizures.

• Shrinking of Cancer Cells & Fibroids -  Fibroids are a benign form of cancer. Cancer ass stated earlier are fed by glucose, restricting glucose in your diet starves these cells and shrinks them. Note** I haven't said it is a cure.

• Healthier Skin - There have been reports of improved skin conditions and less acne with the ketogenic diet.

• Increased Physical Endurance - Running on glucose, leaves you exhausted and needing more glucose each time you exert yourself. When you become stable on the ketogenic diet, you won't get easily exhausted as your source of energy will be ketones not glucose.

• Improved Mental Focus - Believe it or not, the brain can work just as good if not better with ketones. No need for constant sugar refill and no constant fatigue.

• Reduced Sleep Apnea - This is a common complication of overweight and obesity, and as weight loss ensues, sleep apnea improves.

• Decreased Joint Pain & Stiffness - Explained by weight loss

Other possible benefits may include:

• Suppressed appetite
• Parkinson's disease
• Alzheimer's disease

These benefits are awesome right? However, there are a few side effects of this diet and that comes in the next post. 

Stay tuned....