Top 5 Hormonal Benefits of the Ketogenic Diet
Could going on the keto diet help to balance your hormones? Let’s jump into the world of the high fat, low carb way of eating known as the ketogenic diet, and see just how it may be able to support people with low testosterone or other hormonal imbalances.
1. How Does a Keto Diet Help with Weight Loss and Hormone Balance?
Alright, so let’s kick things off first with a little bit about what the ketogenic or “keto” diet is, and what effects it may have on the body! What is the keto diet? The key elements of a keto diet are that is quite high in fat, very low in carbohydrates, and containing a low to moderate amount of protein. The typical macro percentages for a keto diet are 70% fat, 25% protein, and just 5% carbs. What happens when you eat this way? When the structure of your macronutrients changes to roughly this ratio, your body enters a state that is called ketosis. This is where the potential benefits of the keto diet come into play! In ketosis, your body
Did you know that some of the hormones in your body are literally made up of cholesterol found in fat? That’s right! Fats are the building blocks of some of the main hormones in the human body, such as estrogen, testosterone, cortisol, and progesterone! Providing your body with an adequate source of what we call “healthy fats” can be crucial in the production and balancing of these hormones! And hey, on the keto diet, you will not be in shortage of usable fats!
When you start to consume such a low amount of carbs (roughly less than 50 grams per day), your body should run out of fuel in the form of insulin to burn as energy within 3 to 5 days. Your body then begins to rely of ketones, as well as breaking down fats as its fuel source. Tada, your body is now in the metabolic state called ketosis! While the keto diet may be favorable to those who want to lose weight but feel more saturated on high fat foods, it may also have benefits for those who are on HRT (hormone replacement therapy) or who wish to improve their hormone levels.
There is also a great deal of promising research in groups of people with diabetes! Let’s hop in to our second benefit of the keto diet, which deals with insulin sensitivity and blood sugar levels.
2. How Keto can Improve Insulin Sensitivity to Prevent Insulin Resistance and Diabetes
First off, what is insulin? Insulin is a master hormone which is responsible for regulating and controlling blood sugar. When your blood sugar levels are consistently too high, you may be at risk for developing type II diabetes.
So what is insulin sensitivity? Insulin sensitivity refers to how sensitive the body’s cells are in response to insulin. If the body is able to utilize blood glucose more effectively, blood sugar levels will be reduced. As we know, lowered blood sugar levels help to reduce the risk of developing diabetes in the first place!
Increased insulin sensitivity in the body can also have other exciting benefits as well, such as lowered risk of cardiovascular diseases, lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, improved bone health, and even having an easier time staying fit and lean! Sounds pretty great to us!
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3. How Does Ketogenic Diet Help Reduce Cravings?
One of the worst parts about trying to eat a healthy, balanced diet can be the overwhelming cravings we often feel for foods that don’t best support our goals! If you feel like you are constantly battling cravings that throw your progress off track, you may want to look into some of the craving-reducing effects of the keto diet!
Fat is innately very satiating. Thing about it— if you were to consume a cup of full-fat yogurt, 2 eggs, some spinach, an avocado, and some crispy bacon, how would you feel afterward? Pretty full, right? That’s because the high fats levels found in all of these foods, combined with the low carb yet high fiber spinach, will provide you with long-lasting fullness! When you feel full, you are much less likely to experience crashes in energy and resulting cravings. Fat may be calorically dense, but odds are after consuming 75% of your calories from fat sources, you won’t feel the urge to splurge!
4. Does a Ketogenic Diet Help Improve Testosterone Levels?
Do you feel as though you may have low testosterone levels? Here are some of the common symptoms of low testosterone levels in men to be on the lookout for:
- Night Sweats
- Bone density loss
- Inability to lose weight
- Weight gain
- Low libido
- Depression
- Lowered motivation and drive
- Increased cortisol production/stress levels
- Muscle loss
- Inability to gain muscle mass
If you have one or more of these symptoms, it may be worth getting your blood tested to see if you need to start hormone replacement therapy! Hormone replacement therapy, or HRT, can help to increase your testosterone levels, balancing your hormones, and helping you feel great and perform at your best. Gym gains, here we come! If you would like to look into testosterone replacement therapy for yourself, fill out our form and speak to one of our experts today!
The keto diet is often recommended in combination with HRT. The ketogenic diet is innately high in fat. “Good fats,” or “healthy fats,” are critical in the production of sex hormones such as progesterone, estrogen, and you guessed it, testosterone! If you want to get the full potentially hormone-balancing effects of the keto diet, aim to get your fats from these “healthy fat” sources:
- Nuts and seeds
- Avocados
- Eggs
- Butter
- Unrefined, cold pressed, extra virgin coconut oil
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Olives
- Fish, such as wild caught Alaskan salmon
- Ghee
- Full-fat yogurt (try Greek yogurt for more muscle-friendly protein!)
Eating plenty of these healthy fats can help to support healthy hormone levels and production in the body. Even though gram for gram, fat does have more calories than carbs or protein, it is a crucial macronutrient for our bodies, and it can do so many wonderful things for us! Many of our hormones are actually constructed of the stuff, so imagine how hard it is for our bodies to create enough of each hormone when we deprive it of building material! Not only that, but fat is incredibly satiating, and can really help many of us to feel satisfied while dieting for once. Satisfaction is so important, because even just the experience of restriction can set us up for overeating later, resulting in a “failed” diet in the long run. So yeah, let’s leave the ultra low-fat craze in the 90s, okay? Okay.
5. How to Burn More Fat on the Keto Diet
If you are trying to burn even more fat while on the keto diet, you want to make sure a few things are checked off.
First of all, since we are talking about the keto diet in terms of hormone balance, we need to take note of the positive effect of maintaining a healthy weight when it comes to balancing hormones. Weight gain can put us at risk of many diseases, and it is linked to hormonal imbalance. A hormonal imbalance may also be the cause of weight gain, so it’s important to look at the full picture when it comes to health!
If you want to use the keto diet to simultaneously improve hormone levels and burn fat, check out these tips!
- Increase the amount of non-exercise energy expenditure throughout your day! Of course, it’s vital to continue to crush it in the gym, or your favorite form of exercise, but that’s not all! Think about optimizing every chance on movement throughout your day that you can. Whether that’s taking a walk every time you have to make a phone call, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, choosing to shop in person rather than online— it all adds up to collectively burning more calories!
- Choose high-fiber carbs for the few carbs you’re eating! Fiber not only keeps things regular, but it also helps keep us feeling fuller for longer. Adding in those dark leafy greens and other high fiber, low carb veggies will keep you feeling better on the keto diet, as well as consuming less without feeling too restricted or hungry!
- Try a thermogenic supplement! Thermogenic supplements help to increase fat burning potential, so it may be worth checking out of you need an extra boost! You can buy Semaglutide right here at Elite Health Online. See if adding in a thermogenic or a prescription such as Semaglutide could benefit you by talking to one of our specialists today!
We look forward to speaking with you, and helping you get yourself on track to crush your elite lifestyle goals!
Stay strong, warrior!
