Ketogenic Diet’s Health Benefits (Keto Diet)

The Ketogenic diet is actually one of the most researched diets, and numerous studies now indicate that this is not another fad diet. For the Ketogenic diet to work effectively, all food high in carbohydrate must be avoided and the total carbs intake calculated, including from medicine and supplements sources.

Studies have shown that the Principles used in the Keto diet can be used in the management of the following medical conditions;

       I.            Cardiovascular/Heart diseases: The keto diet can improve risk factors like body fat, HDL levels, blood pressure and blood sugar (32, 33).

     II.            Cancer: The diet is currently being used to treat several types of cancer and slow tumor growth (4, 34, 35, 36).

  III.            Alzheimer’s disease: The diet may reduce symptoms of Alzheimer’s and slow down the disease’s progression (5, 37, 38).

  IV.            Epilepsy: Research has shown that the ketogenic diet can cause massive reductions in seizures in epileptic children (3).  

    V.            Parkinson’s disease: One study found that the diet helped improve symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (39).

  VI.            Polycystic ovary syndrome: The ketogenic diet can help reduce insulin levels, which may play a key role in polycystic ovary syndrome (40).

VII.            Brain injuries: One animal study found that the diet can reduce concussions and aid recovery after brain injury (41).

VIII.            Acne: Lower insulin levels and eating less sugar and processed foods may help improve acne (42). 

Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20687386

   https://authoritynutrition.com

I must emphasize that as much as the Keto diet is a high fat diet, the dietary fat sources must be the healthy sources and most importantly, unsaturated, which explains why you need to be guided by a qualified Nutritionist before implementing this diet. 

     

The ketogenic diet’s health benefits with metabolic, neurological and insulin-related diseases have significant scientific backing. There are many diseases whose management we are struggling with including Cancer and Autoimmune conditions. We pump hefty funding in drug-related researches, while there lay many unexplored answers in Nutrition. Truth be told, sometimes the answers are simply hashed down and considering how much money the Pharma industry makes from Non-Communicable and Autoimmune diseases, the answers as to why these diets are hardly implemented are in black and white. 

NCDs and autoimmune diseases are very expensive to manage for patients, their families and governments worldwide and it is time we became cognizant of the fact that we need to go back to basics. The human body is 100% Nutrition. We however ironically ignore this and go to chemicals for answers. Now, I’m not saying that people should stop taking medicine, because unfortunately there are many instances where medicines need to be used to eliminate pathogens in the body, more so because the majority of people don’t have optimal immune function.

In addition to sugary foods and foods high in unhealthy fats, the Keto diet also limits fruits, legumes, pulses, grains, roots and tubers which are high in carbohydrates. This goes against Conventional Nutrition, and for that reason, the Ketogenic diet gets a lot of resistance from many quarters, in spite of all the evidence that shows tremendous health benefits.  

The most important thing to keep in mind even on the Ketogenic diet and any other prescribed meal plan is that Micro-Nutrient Supplementation must be done in order to support immune function and all body functions. A qualified Nutritionist/Dietitian must closely monitor and review the individual and the diet. More to this, all the medication the patient is using must be regularly evaluated to identify any negative reactions with the prescribed diet.