The keto diet and intermittent fasting are two very popular weight loss methods. Both have gained great popularity in recent years.
Both can put the body into a state of ketosis, leading to many of the same benefits.
However, scientists still investigate intermittent fasting and the keto diet, and it’s best to consult a doctor before making drastic changes to your eating habits, especially two changes at the same time.
The keto diet and intermittent fasting are two popular and effective ways to lose weight quickly.
Both methods cause similar changes in the body: more ketones, less blood sugar and, at least anecdotally, they improve mood and mental clarity.
Both also ask for fewer snacks, although the keto diet restricts the snacks you eat, while intermittent fasting restricts when you eat.
In general, it’s safe to experiment with the keto diet or intermittent fasting (although it’s always best to see a doctor first).
But how safe is it to combine the two? First, let’s take a look at what these two weight loss approaches do to the body and how those processes can interact.
To learn about this process in detail and other information on the keto diet, you can follow the keto forum and maintain the keto lifestyle appropriately.
The keto diet
In simple terms, ketosis is a metabolic process in which the body begins to burn fat for fuel instead of sugar (glucose).
Ketosis occurs naturally when the body does not have enough glucose to use for energy, so it is converted to stored fats, which are converted to ketones that are distributed through the blood to muscles and other tissues.
The keto diet triggers this process by requiring a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet, which produces lower levels of blood sugar and insulin.
Although scientists are still investigating exactly how ketosis affects the body, some studies suggest that keto diets can:
- Improve mood and mental clarity.
- Improve heart health
- Decrease seizures in patients with epilepsy.
- Helps in cancer treatments (potentially)
- Decrease acne
Cutting carbs is a sure way to put your body in a state of ketosis.
Intermittent fasting
Three meals a day is the norm in the developed world, but in terms of human evolution it is a relatively new idea.
The breakfast-lunch-dinner routine was probably set by Europeans, some of whom mocked “uncivilized” Native Americans who didn’t have rigid meal times and changed their eating habits with the seasons.
But, as Paul Freedman, a Yale University professor and author of Food: The History of Taste, argues, there is no biological reason to eat three meals a day at specific times.
Research shows that replacing routine eating habits with a controlled fast can be beneficial to your health.
Particularly through intermittent fasting, which can include fasting for several days at a time, fasting for 18 hours a day, and eating only for the remaining six, and similar approaches.
Studies suggest that intermittent fasting can:
- Increases longevity in animals and humans.
- Increases levels of human growth hormone, promoting healthy muscle growth and fat loss.
- Improves protection against cardiovascular diseases.
- Gently squeeze your cells and neurons, strengthening them.
- Promote autophagy: a natural process in which cells eliminate damaged cells and toxins.
A particularly interesting benefit of intermittent fasting is that it appears to be effective in increasing insulin sensitivity, which refers to how cells respond to insulin, the hormone that tells cells to allow sugar to enter for use. As fuel.
“The food we eat is broken down by enzymes in our intestines and eventually ends up as molecules in our bloodstream,” wrote Monique Tello, MD, MPH, for the Harvard Health Blog.
But for reasons that scientists don’t fully understand, our cells can become resistant to insulin, which can cause the pancreas to produce too much hormone, and then, after fatigue, it’s not enough.
Intermittent fasting could break that cycle by putting your body into a fasted state in which it doesn’t produce too much insulin, as Dr. Jason Fung told the Bulletproof Radio podcast:
“Resistance really depends on two things. It’s not just about the high levels, but the persistence of those levels.
What people have realized is that insulin resistance is because it depends on those two things, a period of time in which you can get very low levels of insulin. it is going to break that resistance because it breaks that persistence.
Not simply the levels, but the persistence of those levels. “
Combine the keto diet and intermittent fasting.
The main link between the keto diet and intermittent fasting is that both can subject the body to ketosis, which generally results in lower levels of blood sugar and insulin, and therefore weight loss. But are they safe to do together?
Intermittent fasting will surely help you achieve ketosis faster than a keto diet alone would, usually within 24 hours to three days.
It’s safe to say that, in terms of weight loss, the combination of these two approaches will likely improve the effectiveness of the other. But that does not mean that everyone should.
Intermittent fasting and keto diets have been linked to mood problems in the weeks after the start of one or the other: irritability, anxiety, depressive symptoms. (For ketogenic diets, it is often called “keto flu“)
It may not be surprising that a drastic change in eating habits leads to mood swings, and anecdotal reports certainly suggest that these symptoms tend to fade over time if people follow their new routines.
Still, it’s best to consult your doctor before making such a drastic change, especially if you already have a psychiatric condition or a condition significantly affected by blood sugar and insulin levels, such as diabetes.
If you continue to combine intermittent fasting with the keto diet, consider these Perfect Keto tips:
“Make sure you keep eating enough. Intermittent fasting helps you eat less naturally throughout the day, but be sure to keep eating nutritious keto foods to avoid metabolic problems or deficiencies.
Use a website or app to calculate your ideal calorie intake and keto macros for each day, then track to make sure you’re getting enough nutrition.
Measure your ketone levels. Although fasting can really help you stay in ketosis, it’s important to make sure you don’t eat too much carbohydrate or do anything to get out of ketosis.
Keep track of your ketones often to make sure you’re really in ketosis!
