The Blues Have Gone Buh-Bye!
You feel awesome, and maybe you’ve even dropped a few pounds and/or inches.
Woo! Now let me tell you why restricting carbohydrates and eliminating grains, gluten, and sugar is a lifestyle worth keeping.
Keto is sometimes referred to as the “happy diet”, and it has less to do with being happy with the amazing food, and more with achieving a stable, euphoric mood. There are several reasons why eating keto is boosting your happiness:
Studies have shown that people following the ketogenic lifestyle have experienced positive changes in their brain-energy profile. We also know that keto is an effective therapy for those with epilepsy.
Cerebral hypometabolism (when the brain isn’t able to use glucose as its primary fuel) is seen in the brains of people who are manic or depressed. Giving the brain healthy fats for fuel is a must to function!
When the body is in ketosis, the extracellular changes that happen may decrease sodium concentrations within the cells. This is a common effect of the most popular mood stabilizers used.
We’ve seen that inflammation—like that caused by leaky gut—and depression fuel one another. Treating inflammation and depression at the same time with a ketogenic lifestyle will help overall recovery.
It is clear that ketones improve brain function, which boosts mood and fights depression.
Sit Still and Focus
Low dopamine causes difficulty learning, remembering, and sitting still. Someone with low dopamine will seek the increase in dopamine by “thrill seeking” – possibly through being interruptive, needing to be constantly active, picking fights, etc.
By loading up on healthy proteins (Omega-3 fatty acids through proteins like salmon are ideal), fat and fiber, blood sugar remains stable. Raising the level of ketones in your blood will then reduce the impact of insulin and the release of insulin in the body.
Healthy Heart
Eating keto naturally provides more copper, vitamin D, magnesium and selenium because the foods it emphasizes are higher in those nutrients.
Additionally, a ketogenic lifestyle improves the metabolic markers for heart disease risk. It’s that simple. When the carbohydrate intake is lowered, and saturated fat intake is increased via a ketogenic lifestyle, metabolic markers for heart disease risk improve.
Fight Cancer!
Cancer cells have ten times more insulin receptors on their cellular surface.
If glucose is consumed as a primary diet source, cancer cells will continue to thrive and spread.
By following a ketogenic lifestyle, lowering carbohydrates will reduce levels of glucose and will assist in depleting cancer cells of their energy supply. Intermittent fasting, which happens naturally when we become keto-adapted, also increases ketone production and will starve cancer cells!
Eliminate Age-related Cognitive Decline
Just as we’ve learned in recent years that conditions like heart disease can be reversed through diet, there is promise for the potential to slow or reverse symptoms of brain disorders like Alzheimer’s if the risk factors are caught early enough and addressed. Making sure we’re eating a diet that’s high in brain-supporting healthy fats and anti-inflammation is one good place to start!
Inflammation, diabetes, high cholesterol, and other poor health signs are all major risk factors for developing Alzheimer’s.
These are all conditions that can addressed with a balanced, well-planned high-fat and low-carb ketogenic lifestyle.