KEY HEALTH BENEFITS OF THE KETO DIET

If you’ve spent any time on Pinterest lately, you’ve probably been buried in a cheesy avalanche of ketogenic and keto-friendly recipes—including keto meal plans and even keto meal delivery services. Maybe you’ve already be reading up on the benefits of low-carb diets, or looking up keto diet reviews. You’re starting to wonder: is this keto thing for real? Can I really up my fat intake and still lose weight? The answer is YES...and that’s just one of the many benefits of the keto diet. Here’s a comprehensive list of keto pros and cons. Spoiler alert: it’s mostly pros!

Faster Weight Loss

Listen, we’re not saying carbs aren’t delicious. They’re just really not great if you’re trying to slim down. Research reveals that one of the biggest benefits of low-carb diets is faster weight loss. In fact, in studies comparing low-carb and low-fat diets, the folks who successfully cut carbs lost 2–3 times as much weight—while also reporting that they felt less hungry! 

And that’s not even the whole picture! Another one of our favorite benefits of the keto diet is how FAST this way of eating can melt away those extra pounds. Unlike many weight loss methods, keto can deliver expect exceptional results in the first couple of weeks, thanks to a dramatic reduction in insulin and inflammation levels—which helps to flush out water AND fat.

Targeting Belly Fat

When exploring the benefits of a ketogenic diet, it’s also important to talk about WHERE you’ll lose the weight. For many years, fitness and nutrition experts have believed that it’s impossible to “spot reduce” weight. For example, if you tend to carry excess weight in your hips or thighs, it’s very difficult to get those areas smaller without losing weight elsewhere—including places where you don’t necessarily want to forfeit volume (ladies, you know what we’re getting at). 

However, if you’ve read any keto diet reviews, you may have noticed a trend: claims of flatter abs and disappearing love handles. And here we have one of the coolest benefits of the keto diet—visceral fat targeting—which we’ll explain with some light science. There are two types of fat in our bodies, and where we tend to store that fat affects our health. Subcutaneous fat is the stuff we have everywhere, underneath our skin; visceral fat tends to collect in the torso area.

Visceral fat is linked to inflammation and insulin resistance, both of which make it difficult to lose weight. Low-carb diets in general, and the keto diet in particular, have been proven to help lose a higher proportion of visceral fat. If that’s not spot reduction, we don’t know what is!

Reduced Disease Risk

While many keto converts initially start experimenting with high-fat/low-carb eating for weight loss, we’d be remiss if we didn’t discuss the many ancillary health-related benefits of the keto diet. Cutting back on carbs and consuming lots of healthy fats is clinically proven to help your body balance the levels of a variety of substances that help keep your body in tip-top shape:

1. Triglycerides: these are fat molecules circulating in your bloodstream, and they can be a risk factor for heart disease. Low-carb diets like keto can help cut them dramatically.
   
   
2. HDL, or “Good” Cholesterol: risk of heart disease is determined by the ratio of HDL to LDL, or “bad” cholesterol. Healthy fats, like olive oil and avocados, give HDL a boost.
   
   
3. Insulin and Blood Sugar: this is one of the most critical benefits of the keto diet! Low-carb, high-fat eating can help to drastically reduce both blood sugar and insulin—which are tied to obesity, diabetes and a variety of chronic conditions. 

Brain-Health Booster

If you’re weighing the benefits of the keto diet against CICO (calories in/calories out), IF (intermittent fasting) or a variety of other healthy weight loss approaches, your brain may not exactly be...pun intended...top of mind. But there’s a reason so many keto diet reviews include mention of epilepsy, Alzheimer’s and other neurological disorders: keto is good for your brain!

Why? Your brain needs glucose to function—so if you dramatically reduce your intake of sugars and other carbs, your liver can convert protein to glucose to ensure your noggin keeps working at peak performance. In addition, your brain can also burn ketones, which another form of energy your body produces, using stored fat, when carb intake is restricted. 

The brain benefits of the keto diet are so pronounced that in many cases, sustained ketosis can cure children of epilepsy—in one study, low-carb, high-fat eating reduced overall symptoms by greater than 50%, and even completely erased seizures for 16% of participants. For this reason, the brain benefits of the keto diet are currently being studied for other chronic and deadly neurological conditions like Parkinson’s disease and ALS.

Healthy Keto Hack

For long-term keto success, we believe it’s important to be prepared. That’s exactly why we created Keto Krisp: an on-the-go, keto-friendly snack that satisfies the mind while fortifying the body. Made with premium coconut/nut butters, MCT oil, whey protein isolate krisps and other wholesome ingredients, our keto-friendly protein bars have next-to-no sugar—just enough to satisfy that pesky sweet tooth—and the perfect balance of healthy protein and good fats to keep your body chugging along in a state of ketosis. 

Considering giving keto a go? Set yourself up for long-term keto success with meal prep, regular exercise, and a ready supply of healthy, keto-friendly snacks like Keto Krisp.