Diets
Most of us think of diets as being tools for weight loss. However, not all diets will help you to lose weight. There are hundreds of different diets out there and each one has a unique set of benefits.
Depending on your goals, you might choose a specific type of diet. For example, certain diets are beneficial for weight loss. Others may help to improve your heart and brain health and extend your lifespan.
By definition, a diet is described as a fixed way of eating and drinking. Everybody follows a diet, even if they don’t have a specific health or fitness goal.
But when you do have a certain goal that you want to reach or you’re aiming to improve your overall health and well-being, trying a new diet could be the solution. Whether you’re trying to lose weight, build muscle, or boost your metabolism, there is a diet out there that will cater to your goals.
Here are three incredible diets and the many benefits that they provide.
The Ketogenic Diet
The ketogenic diet is often shortened to the keto diet or just ‘keto’. It has recently gained popularity due to its health benefits.
The keto diet requires you to eat fewer than 50 grams of carbohydrates each day, alongside moderate amounts of protein and high amounts of healthy fats.
One of the major benefits of keto is weight loss. By consuming a low number of carbohydrates, it forces the body to switch into a fat-burning state.
Your liver begins to break down stored fats into ketones. These ketones can be used by your body for energy when glucose is lacking.
There has been a lot of research surrounding the ketogenic diet and cancer. Tumor cells require a lot of glucose to grow because they are anaerobic. By cutting down your dietary carbohydrates, you may be able to starve the cancer cells and cause them to shrink.
Another incredible benefit of the ketogenic diet is its potential use in the treatment of epilepsy. Some children became completely seizure-free when following a ketogenic diet for several weeks and others saw a significant reduction in seizure frequency.
Following a low-carbohydrate diet, such as a ketogenic diet, can prevent significant blood glucose spikes. Unlike carbohydrates, proteins and fats do not cause a significant insulin response.
By lowering the number of dietary carbs that are ingested, diabetics can more easily regulate their blood sugar levels and can lower their need for exogenous insulin.
The Vegetarian Diet
The vegetarian (‘veggie’) diet involves the removal of meat products from the diet. There are several subcategories of the vegetarian diet, including lacto-vegetarian, fruitarian vegetarian, ovo-vegetarian, and pesco-vegetarian.
Most vegetarians follow the macro-vegetarian diet. Unlike the vegan diet, animal-based products can still be consumed, such as eggs, dairy, and honey when you’re following this type of veggie diet.
Not only does the vegetarian diet help with weight loss but it may also improve cardiovascular health and lower the risk of cancer. Those who follow the vegetarian diet tend to have a longer life expectancy than meat-eaters.
Both red and white meat products are high in calories and saturated fats, and are also known to increase the levels of LDL cholesterol is in the blood. Cutting meat out of the diet can immediately improve your health and well-being by lowering blood pressure and inflammation.
Similar benefits are observed with the vegan diet with followers displaying improved biomarkers and extended lifespans. The vegan diet is also very beneficial for the environment as it reduces carbon and sulfur emissions.
The Atkins Diet
The Atkins diet has been around for years. It was first marketed as a weight loss diet and takes a low carbohydrate approach. Nowadays, it’s more commonly referred to as the ‘low carb diet’ and has a lot of overlap with the ketogenic and the paleo diets.
If you are following the Atkins diet, the goal is to consume a very low amount of carbohydrates and as much protein and fat as you like. Ideally, your carbohydrate intake should account for no more than a quarter of your total caloric intake.
Similar to the ketogenic diet, the aim of the Atkins diet is to switch the body from using glucose as its primary energy source to burning fats for energy. It can boost fat loss, improve muscular endurance, and help you to reach your physique goals.
This particular diet may be beneficial in helping diabetics to control their blood glucose and insulin levels. With fewer carbohydrates, it’s easier to control the levels of insulin in the bloodstream and
