The Role of the Keto Diet for Health

Posted by Master, Doctor Mai Vien Phuong - Department of Examination & Internal Medicine - Vinmec Central Park International General Hospital

Keto diet has recently become a keyword that many girls search for to diversify their diet menu. In addition to the effect of improving physique, many studies also prove that this diet is also very good for health! What are the benefits of a keto diet for your health and physique?

Keto diet (Ketogenic) is a diet low in carbohydrates (carbs) and high in good fats. The Keto menu helps the body burn more energy without the need for strict diets.
When you regularly cut carbs in your diet, your body will enter a state of "Ketosis". At this time, the body increases energy burning. At the same time, the pancreas will also convert fats into ketones, providing energy for the brain. The Ketogenic diet can significantly lower blood sugar and insulin levels. This can bring a lot of benefits to your health.
Keto menu with many beneficial fats, low in carbohydrates can lower blood sugar and insulin levels, affect the body's metabolism and limit fat storage.

Ketogenic diet:
Carb intake is limited to 50 grams or less per day. Protein is often limited. The main goal is to increase blood ketone levels. On a standard low-carb diet, the brain will still depend largely on glucose, the type of sugar found in your blood, for fuel. However, the brain can burn more ketones than with a typical diet.
In the ketogenic diet, the brain is mainly fueled by ketones. The liver produces ketones when carb intake is very low.
In a nutshell
Low carb and ketogenic diets are similar in many ways. However, the ketogenic diet contains even fewer carbs and will lead to a significant increase in blood levels of ketones, which are important molecules.
Ketogenesis
Glucose is usually the main fuel of the brain. Your brain, unlike muscles, cannot use fat as a fuel source.
However, the brain can use ketones. When glucose and insulin levels are low, your liver produces ketones from fatty acids.
Ketones are actually made in small amounts whenever you go for hours without eating, such as after sleeping all night.
However, the liver increases ketone production more when fasting or when carb intake drops below 50 grams per day,
When carbs are eliminated or minimized, ketones can provide up to 75% of the brain's energy needs .

Epilepsy is a disease characterized by seizures associated with periods of overactivity of brain cells. It can cause uncontrolled jerky movements and loss of consciousness.
Epilepsy can be very difficult to treat effectively. There are several types of seizures, and some people with them have multiple seizures per day.
Although there are many effective anticonvulsants available, these drugs do not effectively control seizures in about 30% of people. The type of seizure that doesn't respond to medication is called refractory epilepsy.
The ketogenic diet was developed by Dr. Russell Wilder in the 1920s to treat drug-resistant epilepsy in children. His diet provides at least 90% of calories from fat and has been shown to mimic the beneficial effects of starvation on seizures.
The exact mechanisms behind the antiepileptic effects of the ketogenic diet are unknown.

To understand why the Keto diet is trusted by many people, let's take a look at the following 3 outstanding benefits:
Keto diet helps to lose weight
This is an effective way to lose weight and limit Reduce your risk of gaining weight. Many studies show that Keto dishes for weight loss have outstanding advantages over conventional low-fat diets. The dishes on the Keto menu will make you feel full faster. So you can lose weight without having to count or keep a close eye on the calories from food in each serving.
One study found that people on the Keto diet were able to lose weight 2.2 times faster than those on a strict low-fat and reduced-calorie diet. The amount of triglycerides (main component in vegetable oils and animal fats) and HDL cholesterol (HDL is a form of healthy fat) also improved significantly.
Many other studies also show that people who eat the Keto style also lose weight 3 times more effectively than those who follow the regular diet as recommended by the British Diabetes Association.
Keto diet helps the body burn fat, reduce calories and increase satiety more than other weight loss menus.
Keto menu to lose weight to help prevent diabetes
Diabetes is a disease that occurs when the body has a change in the energy metabolism that causes the accumulation of excess fat. At this time, the patient has a high glycemic index and impaired insulin function. Meanwhile, Keto dishes can help you burn excess fat, which is closely related to diabetes, prediabetes and metabolic syndrome.
Some scientific studies also show that the Keto diet for weight loss can increase insulin sensitivity by up to 75% – a very high number. People who follow the Keto diet can lose up to 11.1kg of weight compared to only 6.9kg compared to the group consuming a lot of carbohydrates. This is very important in weight control to prevent diabetes.
In addition, 95.2% of the group that followed this diet were also able to reduce or completely stop their diabetes medication compared to 62% in the group that consumed high-carbohydrate foods.
Keto menu can increase insulin sensitivity, help reduce body fat, bring great benefits to people with type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes.

This sample Keto diet is a good example of a day of the Keto diet. You can rely on the basic principles of this diet to design your daily menu.
Breakfast: 2 fried eggs with olive or avocado oil, 1 slice of salmon. Mid-morning snack: Almonds or cashews. Lunch: Chicken breast, bell pepper, mixed vegetables with oil. Mid-afternoon: Cheese Dinner: Beef, vegetables, mushrooms. As with any Keto diet, persistence is also an important factor for beginners to achieve the highest possible results. In addition, you should also not forget to combine exercise and reasonable rest with nutrition to maintain a healthy body.

When switching to a low carb or ketogenic diet, you may experience some side effects. You may have a headache or feel tired or lightheaded for a few days. This is called the “keto flu” or the “low-carb flu.”
Conclusion
According to the available evidence, the ketogenic diet can have powerful benefits for the brain. The strongest evidence concerns the treatment of drug-resistant epilepsy in children.
There is also preliminary evidence that a ketogenic diet can reduce symptoms of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Research is underway on its effects on people with this and other brain disorders.
In addition to brain health, there are also studies showing that low-carb and ketogenic diets can help with weight loss and help manage diabetes.
These diets are not for everyone, but they can benefit a lot of people.