Benefits of Low-Carbohydrate and Ketogenic Diets

Low-carbohydrate diets have been debated for decades. Some people claim that these diets raise cholesterol and cause heart disease due to their high fat content, but extensive scientific studies have proven that low-carbohydrate and ketogenic diets are healthy and beneficial.

Low-carbohydrate diets reduce your appetite.

The worst side effect of dieting is hunger. This is one of the main reasons why many people feel unhappy and eventually give up. However, a low-carbohydrate diet can reduce appetite. This leads to an automatic decrease. Studies consistently show that when people cut out carbohydrates and eat more protein and fat, they consume significantly fewer calories.

Low-carbohydrate diets initially lead to greater weight loss.

Cutting out carbohydrates is one of the simplest and most effective ways to lose weight. Studies show that people who follow a low-carbohydrate diet, low-fat diet Studies show that people lose weight faster and more significantly compared to those who follow these diets. This is because low-carbohydrate diets remove excess water from your body, lower insulin levels, and lead to rapid weight loss in the first week or two.

Studies comparing low-carbohydrate and low-fat diets have shown that people restricting carbohydrates sometimes lose two to three times more weight without feeling hungry.

A study of obese adults found that a low-carbohydrate diet was particularly effective compared to a traditional weight-loss diet for up to six months. After that, the difference in weight loss between the diets was insignificant.

In a one-year study of 609 overweight adults who followed either low-fat or low-carbohydrate diets, both groups lost a similar amount of weight.

Most of the fat loss comes from your abdominal cavity.

Not all fat in your body is created equal.

Where fat is stored determines how it affects your health and risk of disease.

The two main types are subcutaneous fat, which is fat that lies beneath your skin, and visceral fat, which accumulates in your abdominal cavity and is typical for most overweight men.

Visceral fat tends to accumulate around your organs. Excess visceral fat is associated with inflammation and insulin resistance, and can lead to metabolic dysfunction, which is very common in the West today.

Low-carbohydrate diets are very effective at reducing this harmful abdominal fat. In fact, it seems that a larger proportion of overweight people who lose weight through low-carbohydrate diets come from the abdominal cavity.

Over time, this leads to a significant reduction in the risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

Triglycerides tend to decrease significantly.

Triglycerides are fat molecules that circulate in your bloodstream.

It is well known that high fasting triglycerides (levels in the blood after fasting overnight) are a strong risk factor for heart disease.

In sedentary individuals, one of the main drivers of high triglycerides is carbohydrate consumption.

When people cut out carbohydrates, they tend to experience a dramatic drop in blood triglycerides.

On the other hand, low-fat diets often lead to an increase in triglycerides.

Increased HDL (Good Cholesterol) Levels

High-density lipoprotein (HDL) is referred to as “good” cholesterol.

The higher your HDL levels are compared to LDL, which is bad cholesterol, the lower your risk of heart disease.

One of the best ways to increase HDL levels, which is good cholesterol, is to eat fatty foods, and low-carbohydrate diets contain a lot of fat.

Therefore, it is not surprising that HDL levels increase significantly on healthy, low-carbohydrate diets, while they tend to increase only moderately or even decrease on low-fat diets.

Decreased Blood Sugar and Insulin Levels

Low carbohydrate and ketojenik These diets can also be particularly beneficial for people with diabetes and insulin resistance, conditions that affect millions of people worldwide.

Studies show that cutting out carbohydrates significantly lowers both blood sugar and insulin levels.

Some diabetics who start a low-carbohydrate diet may need to reduce their insulin doses by almost 50% immediately.

In a study of people with type 2 diabetes, 95% reduced or stopped their glucose-lowering medication within six months.

If you are taking blood sugar medication, talk to your doctor before making any changes to your carbohydrate intake, as your dosage may need to be adjusted to prevent hypoglycemia.

It can lower blood pressure.

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a major risk factor for many diseases, including heart disease, stroke, and kidney failure.

Low-carbohydrate diets are an effective way to lower blood pressure, which reduces your risk of developing these diseases and helps you live longer.

Effective against metabolic syndrome.

Metabolic syndrome is a condition highly associated with your risk of diabetes and heart disease.

In fact, metabolic syndrome is a collection of symptoms that include the following:

• Abdominal obesity
• High blood pressure
• High fasting blood sugar levels
• High triglycerides
• Low HDL cholesterol levels

However, a low-carbohydrate diet is incredibly effective in treating all five of these symptoms.

With such a diet, these problems almost disappear.

Improved LDL Cholesterol Levels

People with high LDL levels are much more likely to have a heart attack.

However, particle size matters. Smaller particles are associated with a higher risk of heart disease, while larger particles are associated with a lower risk.

Low-carbohydrate diets have been shown to reduce the total number of LDL particles in your bloodstream while increasing the size of LDL particles.

Therefore, reducing your carbohydrate intake can improve your heart health.

Therapeutic for Various Brain Disorders

Your brain needs glucose because certain parts of it can only process this type of sugar. Therefore, if you don't eat any carbohydrates, your liver will produce glucose from protein.

However, a large part of your brain can also process ketones, which are produced during fasting or when carbohydrate intake is very low.

This is the mechanism behind the ketogenic diet, which has been used for decades to treat epilepsy in children who do not respond to medication.

In many cases, this diet can treat children with epilepsy. In one study, more than half of the children who followed a ketogenic diet experienced a reduction of more than 50% in seizure frequency. 16% became seizure-free.

Very low carbohydrate and ketojenik Diets are now also being researched for other brain conditions, including Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

References;

Wood RJ, Volek JS, Liu Y, Shachter NS, Contois JH, Fernandez ML. Carbohydrate restriction alters lipoprotein metabolism by modifying VLDL, LDL. HDL subfraction distribution and size in overweight men. J Nutr. 2006 Feb;136(2):384-9. doi: 10.1093/jn/136.2.384. PMID: 16424116. McBride PE. Triglycerides and Risk for Coronary Heart Disease. JAMA. 2007;298(3):336–338. doi:10.1001/jama.298.3.336 Daly ME. Paisey R. Paisey R, Millward BA, Eccles C. Williams K, Hammersley S, MacLeod KM, Gale TJ. Short-term effects of severe dietary carbohydrate-restriction advice in Type 2 diabetes–a randomized controlled trial. Diabetes Med. 2006 Jan;23(1):15-20. doi: 10.1111/j.1464-5491.2005.01760.x. PMID: 16409560.

Important Notice: Habit Gıda AŞ bears no responsibility for the content of this article. This article is for informational purposes only, translated from English to Turkish, and is not intended to provide any health advice. Habit Gıda AŞ cannot be held responsible for any health problems that may arise in readers as a result of this article. Readers should not take any action based on the content of this article without consulting their doctor regarding their health condition. You should always consult your doctor about all matters related to your health.