How and why does the keto diet work?
In: Biology
The keto diet works two-fold really. On one part it causes you to burn fat instead of carbs and glycogen (stored glucose). Keto is nice because you need energy all the time and that energy comes from excess fat stores on you. That’s an obvious loss. The second form is that keto suppresses hormones that stimulate hunger. Doing this leads to feeling full quicker when you do eat and not feeling that urge to eat when you are hungry. Fat is also harder to digest and costs more energy to use versus carbs (glucose). See, keto takes away your ability to eat empty carbs and that plays a big role in why you lose weight. You suddenly stop drinking soda and eating chips and other non-filling foods because you can’t if you want to stay on the diet. Considering a soda can be like 250 calories and you don’t drink them anymore you are cutting out 250 to 500 calories a day. That’s a big deal. I did keto for a few months to see what it was like and lose around 20lbs I wanted gone. I felt awake and alert. My upset stomach quit after a month. I slept better. I was in a better mood. I could eat a meal and not get tired after I was done. My exercise routine felt cleaner and like I was dialed in when I was doing it. All these things persisted even after the weight was done and I stayed on it. I do low carb now and still feel just as good.
What’s the difference between Keto and Atkins?
The keto diet doesn’t work it only provides temporary or short-term results and at great health risks as well.
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r/keto read the FAQ. Or should I say “For the love of God and everything holy, read the FAQ before you ask or post. “ Just like all social media, there are lots and lots of supportive people on this sub, but FML if there aren’t a few gatekeepers on there.
A ketogenic diet is a low carb, high protein and high fat diet. No one knows for sure if or why the keto diet might work. People have ideas, but they haven’t yet been proven by researchers. The prevailing opinion among physicians is that it works because it forces people to keep track of their diet and be mindful about what they eat.
Say you normally eat 3000 calories a day of primarily junk food. Now you adopt a keto diet that limits you to 2000 calories of nutrient dense food a day. Everytime you look at junk food, you notice it has carbs in it and stay away. That alone is enough to help you lose weight.
There are changes at a biochemical level as well, but the reduction in calories and increase in high quality food is enough to help people lose weight and live a healthier lifestyle. The same applies to pretty much all diets. You can get similar benefits by adopting a vegan diet, a Mediterranean diet, the Atkins diet, or pretty much any non-Western diet.
The most important detail is that the best diet is the one you can stick with. So if cutting out carbs is tolerable or even easy for you, then go for a low carb diet. If you aren’t a fan of meat, then go for a low meat diet. Diets are a marathon, not a sprint. Or better yet, they are a long term lifestyle adjustment, not a temporary shift.
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-weight/best-diet-quality-counts/
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