Struggling to Drop Those Extra Pounds? Here’s How a Low-Carb Diet Can Help

You might have adopted the keto lifestyle, but do you know all about the science behind your new way of eating? Like all the ways keto helps you lose weight?

The more you know, the better your chances of success are on this diet, so let’s break down the science in everyday terms. I am not a doctor or a nutritionist, I’m just someone who’s been on the diet for years and has done lots of reading to keep myself informed.

The Benefits of Keto

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There are many benefits to the keto diet, but let’s be real: it didn’t become popular in the last few years because we were trying to be healthy. Nope. We were trying to lose weight.

We discovered that the keto diet does this in a way that was delicious and easy to follow, and the more we shared this way of eating with friends and family, the more this diet spread like wildfire.

If there’s still someone out there who sees your weight loss but isn’t convinced this way of eating is healthy, share this post with them so they can see for themselves!

There are a number of ways this diet is good for us, but yes, weight loss is the number one reason many of us start this diet. Let’s dive into exactly how you lose weight on keto.

How Keto Helps You Lose Weight

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The whole point of the keto diet is to get into ketosis. This is a metabolic state where your body uses fat as an energy source instead of glucose, which we’re all accustomed to. How does using fat for energy aid weight loss?

1. Using fat for fuel

Operating from a state of ketosis is a very efficient way to burn fat stores and lose weight. You’ll feel the difference in your body when you’re in ketosis. Your energy is higher, and your brain functions efficiently. Turns out, your brain loves fat as a source of fuel!

2. Keto diet eliminates bloating

People who are in ketosis typically lose quite a bit of weight in the first two weeks of their transition. This is usually caused when water that is tied to glycogen is flushed from the body. It’s quite encouraging to see that big drop as you transition to this lifestyle. This dramatic event usually supports the continuation of your new healthy lifestyle.

3. Keto eliminates insulin trigger foods

Starch and sugar carbs are insulin triggers that cause blood sugar spikes that lead to weight gain. While on a keto diet, these insulin triggers are eliminated so the body can burn fat instead of storing it. This is great news because a poor insulin response leads to diabetes and a whole host of lifestyle diseases I am sure you want to stay away from.

4. High Protein

Protein helps keep you full and satisfied, so you naturally eat less. It also helps you increase lean muscle mass, which promotes fat burning. That means you can eat more food when you build muscle! This is one of the factors that make the keto diet so effective. Prioritize protein is your new motto.

5. Keto regulates your appetite and naturally reduces calorie intake

A ketogenic diet naturally regulates your appetite because all those insulin-triggered foods that wreak havoc in the bloodstream are gone. Poof! This usually means that erratic hunger and out-of-control cravings are eliminated. Fat is very filling my friend. You won’t feel those hunger pangs like you used to once you’ve entered ketosis. In fact, you’ll start fasting longer, easier.

Additionally, researchers from St. Louis and Japan found that the hunger-regulating hormone leptin is positively affected by the keto diet’s ability to reduce triglyceride levels in the body, which allows that hormone to work more effectively in regulating the appetite.

When people embark on a low-carb diet, their appetite significantly drops naturally, and they naturally feel satisfied with less food, resulting in weight loss as they naturally eat fewer calories and without suffering and starvation usually associated with dieting.

6. Lower visceral fat

Perhaps one of my favorite benefits of the keto diet is that it tends to eat away at your visceral fat first. This is the dangerous fat that sits around your organs in your belly, beneath that surface area fat that you can pinch.

When your body eats that fat, you get a leaner look, which is great, but this type of fat is also the most dangerous kind, usually leading to heart disease, diabetes, and other types of lifestyle diseases.

These are the ways keto helps you lose weight without even adding exercise into the mix.