Keto was originally introduced as early as 1862 when William Banting found himself unable to move from obesity. Dr. William Harvey then for the first time, prescribed him a diet that contained a high level of ketones in the blood through an excess of fat and a lack of carbohydrates.
In the 1920s as a treatment for epilepsy, when modern physicians tried to come up with a way to mimic the metabolism the body goes through while fasting. It was not until the 1960s when keto became popular with weightlifters and finally mainstream when people started to shave weight in the 1800s way.
Since the human body gets energy from primarily glucose, learning to access the excess fats stored and use it for energy results in sustainable weight loss. Now here comes the twist; It is not just weight loss that keto enables but combatting a variety of ailments as well; I guess the Victorians knew what they were doing.
Certainly, sugar is mostly the problem. Average sugar intake today is 55 kg per year which explains the global maladies trends today. In this scenario, ketones act as a clean burner fuel, where much of the glucose is reduced and the body finally starts to wake up and repair the damage previously caused to the cells of the body.
Apart from obesity, the ketogenic diet has given hope to people who suffer from several other afflictions and yes, it has been repeatedly proven by science. So, if you are suffering from any one of the below, you can try doing a well-planned keto diet:
- High blood pressure
- Diabetes, Type 1 and Type 2
- Elevated CRP
- High cholesterol, high triglycerides, and low HDLcholesterol
- Obstructive sleep apnea
- Inflammatory bowel syndrome
- Seizures, epilepsy
- Migraine
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Parkinson’s disease
- Esophageal Cancer (ketones helps prevent proliferation of cancer cells)
The unique thing about keto is it is a sustainable form of losing weight, like you do not have to fear gaining back all the weight you lost if you decide to stop doing keto. In fact, doctors have themselves recommended doing keto at a stretch for a maximum of 6 months and then switching your body back to a normal portions-controlled diet. It is important to remember that keto works differently for different people, so if you do not see results immediately, you could be just under the keto flu which lasts about a week. According to KetoClarity, keto diet has helped people control their appetite, stabilized blood sugar and lowered heartburn, decreased anxiety levels, and improved immunity overall.