Although it’s been around for quite a while, keto has only become mainstream in the last couple of years. As more and more people hear about it and try it, the more popular it becomes.
Why is a ketogenic diet becoming so popular? The diet promotes stable blood sugar and steady weight loss while being easy to follow and understand.
There’s a lot of reasons that keto has exploded in popularity. Keep reading to learn more about it.
Why Is A Ketogenic Diet Becoming So Popular?
One of the biggest reasons a ketogenic diet has become so popular is that it’s one of the most simple diet plans to follow. With so many diet plans out there with so many different rules, it’s refreshing to find something that not only works well but is also extremely easy to follow.
Seriously, look at the basic rules of keto:
- Don’t eat carbohydrates
- Increase your healthy fat intake
- Eat moderate amounts of protein
All you need to do is follow these key points, and you’re on the right track. In addition to being so easy to follow, many great benefits come with eating keto.
Keto Is Easy To Stick To
Most diets are so restrictive that they’re meant to be used on a short-term basis. Keto takes the opposite approach. Instead of thinking of it as a diet, consider it a lifestyle change.
I’m not going to lie. At first, the keto diet can be hard, and I’ve started and stopped more times over the last year and a half than I’d like to admit. I was a carb addict and had trouble giving up a lot of the foods I thought I loved.
Sticking to keto got a lot easier over time, and as you lose your carb cravings, it gets so much easier. Eventually, you don’t crave carbs at all anymore. Of course, there are still times you’ll slip up, but keep calm and don’t let one bad meal ruin all of your progress.
As a lifestyle, you can stay on keto forever with no adverse effects whatsoever. There are several benefits from living a ketogenic lifestyle, each of which are additional reasons that keto has become so popular.
Keto Helps You Lose Weight
Everyone has different reasons for beginning a ketogenic diet, but the vast majority start because they want to lose weight. When following keto correctly, most people lose weight as long as they stick to it.
Regardless of how easy it seems, weight loss is always about consuming fewer calories than your body burns. With other forms of diets, people often feel hungry, sometimes shortly after they eat. Things are different when it comes to keto.
Ever sat there and mindlessly snacked on carbs? Sometimes, I could graze on chips, cookies, and candy all day long. On the contrary, you can only eat so much healthy fat and protein. As you eat them, you get satiated, and they don’t sound nearly as good. Have you ever seen a three-pound steak? I guarantee it would taste great at first, but as you progress, your body is going to tell you that it has had plenty.
Taking carbs out of your diet will lead to a decrease in your appetite over time. Mixing carbohydrates with unhealthy fats trigger cravings, making you want to eat everything in sight. When you don’t have the desire to eat all the time, your calories naturally reduce, and weight loss becomes more manageable.
More Stomach Fat Loss
Fat stored in the stomach and abdomen is some of the most stubborn fat to lose. This is because not all body fat is created equal.
There are two types of fat that become stored in your body. They are subcutaneous, which is the fat stored underneath your skin, and visceral, which is the fat that forms in your abdomen and is the most common type of fat that men who are overweight deal with.
Visceral fat causes the most problems for people because it lodges itself around some of your most vital organs. You can find it associated with insulin resistance and inflammation, both of which can lead to type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
According to studies performed at the National Center for Biotechnology Information, a diet that restricts carbohydrates is the most effective when it comes to getting rid of the abdominal fat that can harm your body.
Keto Helps Improve Acne
Acne doesn’t just occur in teenagers. Many adults are attempting to get a handle on the condition and have no clue what else they can try. As more research is conducted, more and more scientists are noticing a correlation between acne, diet, and blood sugar.
When you consume large amounts of carbohydrates, your blood sugar is continually spiking and falling. When it becomes unstable, your body reacts to protect itself, leading to skin health being adversely affected.
A study published by the National Library of Medicine showed promising results that by limiting the number of carbs you eat, you might be able to clear up your acne significantly.
Keto Prevents Heart Disease
A 2004 study of 60 participants at the Mount Sinai Medical Center-Miami Heart Institute showed that by keeping your blood sugar stable, you’re able to lower the number of triglycerides in your body, allowing your blood pressure to remain normal.
A lot of people struggle with the fact that consuming more fat in our diets lowers triglycerides, but it works! The Journal of Nutrition has found that eating carbohydrates, especially those containing fructose, is the leading cause of triglyceride spikes.
These studies have also found a correlation between eating a ketogenic diet increasing your HDL, otherwise known as your good cholesterol, while simultaneously lowering LDL, your bad cholesterol.
Keto Gives You Energy
If you are just starting keto, you’re probably calling me a liar right now. You might even be cursing me under your breath. In the beginning, you may experience keto flu, which will make you feel tired and under the weather.
As hard as it may be to believe, especially if you’re experiencing keto flu as you read this, but this is a good thing. Going through it is a positive sign that your body is changing the way it gets its energy. Instead of burning the sugar found in carbs, it is now burning fat.
It’s important to note that not everyone who starts keto is going to get the keto flu. If you haven’t had to deal with the fatigue, nausea, headaches, and confusion, it doesn’t mean you’re not in ketosis. These are not badges of honor and are not required. If you’re wondering whether or not you are in ketosis, you can check quickly using ketone strips to test the ketones in your urine.
Once you make it through the keto flu, you’re going to notice a significant change in the amount of energy you have. While you may be used to a mid-day crash, you’re going to find out you’re able to do more than you could previously. This is because when using fat as your primary source of fuel, your regular endurance increases and is much easier to sustain.
The energy benefits are great if you’re also exercising alongside keto because all of that extra energy will transition nicely to your workouts, allowing you to burn additional calories.
Does Keto Help Other Diseases?
I’m going to go into much more detail in future articles about the many medical benefits of a ketogenic diet. As stated above, there’s been a ton of research done that shows keto helps with heart disease and acne.
According to a May 2020 review by Dr. Minesk Khatri, an assistant professor of medicine at Columbia University, keto has also been found to be extremely effective against metabolic syndrome, Lou Gehrig’s disease, insulin resistance, Parkinson’s, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s, polycystic ovary syndrome, and even some forms of cancer.
As you can see, there are so many good reasons that keto is widespread, and as more studies and research is conducted on all of its benefits, its popularity will only continue to grow.
Related Questions
What age should someone start keto? There is not a minimum age to begin keto. Exhaustive studies have been conducted that show keto is safe and beneficial for all ages, from newborns to older men and women.
What fruit can I eat on the keto diet? The best fruit options for keto include avocados, lemon, blackberries, watermelon, tomatoes, strawberries, cantaloupe, and raspberries.
Why am I starving on the keto diet? You shouldn’t be hungry if you’re following a ketogenic diet correctly. If you are, you need to identify what’s causing the hunger and correct it.
