The top killers in America are heart disease, obesity, cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease. Want to know something interesting? All of these diseases are linked to insulin and leptin resistance. To put it more simply: there is an underlying problem that is caused by eating too many carbs and/or protein.
Processed foods and grains, which Americans consume like they’re going out of style, are loaded with sugars. By eating all of these sugars, the body develops a resistance to leptin and insulin, and that makes the body hold on to fat. Additionally, this resistance can trigger inflammation and cellular damage.
How can you fix this?
It may be time to have your body enter into nutritional ketosis. This means that your body starts burning fat instead of glucose (sugar). As more research has surfaced, studies indicate that a ketogenic diet could be the answer for many health problems, including cancer, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s.
A ketogenic diet is a very low carb diet that primarily consists of healthy fats, omega-3 fatty acids, and omega-9 fatty acids. You can get most of these from foods like sprouted nuts and seeds, avocados, coconut oil, or olive oil, in addition to many others. The goal with this diet is to eliminate glucose entirely, except from whole fruits and vegetables, so that your body begins burning fat for energy. The body only burns fat for energy once glucose is no longer available. Not only does this aid optimal health, but it helps you lose weight more efficiently, considering that your body is constantly burning fat for energy.
There are certain people who should not jump right into a ketogenic diet. If you are a diabetic on medication, take medication for high blood pressure, or are breastfeeding, there are certain extra measures you need to take, so do a little research before starting the diet.
The Benefits of Nutritional Ketosis
Weight Loss
By switching to a ketogenic diet, you are essentially turning your body into a fat burning machine. Your body uses fat more efficiently than carbs, and burning fat usually helps establish a healthier metabolism.
Fighting Cancer
Cancer cells feed off sugar. That’s a fact. By eliminating sugar and carbs from you diet, you may be able to effectively prevent or fight cancer. Unlike the cells in our body, cancer cells cannot switch to use fat for energy. By starving the cancer cells of sugar, which they need to multiply, they essentially starve to death. Ideally, you want a diet that is 70% healthy fats (not junk food), 20% protein (ideally not from meat), and 5% healthy carbs (legumes, nuts, whole grains, or whole fruits and vegetables).
Improves Brain Health
More and more medical studies are revealing that a ketogenic diet can be a natural cure for Alzheimer’s disease. By entering your body into natural ketosis, you establish a natural flow of ketones (small fuel molecules) to your brain. Eating certain foods negatively affects your brain, so it makes sense that foods, which nourish your brain, can improve cognitive function. The diet also increases your focus and mental performance.
Take note that healthy carbs are still an important part of your diet. Bread, chips, and loads of junk food are not the carbs you need, though. The healthy carbs mentioned in this article are great in moderation on the ketogenic diet. When transitioning to this diet, it is important that you stay hydrated. Your body also may need a two week transition period for it to start burning fat.
Vincent Stevens is the senior content writer at Dherbs. As a fitness and health and wellness enthusiast, he enjoys covering a variety of topics, including the latest health, fitness, beauty, and lifestyle trends. His goal is to inform people of different ways they can improve their overall health, which aligns with Dherbs’ core values. He received his bachelor’s degree in creative writing from the University of Redlands, graduating summa cum laude. He lives in Los Angeles, CA.
