One of the most common reasons that people switch to the high-fat diets including keto is a diet for weight loss. However, beyond that, the keto diet has several other benefits and advantages. It’s the opposite of a low-fat diet in that it burns fat and proteins instead of carbohydrates. In that, it’s a low-carb diet which benefits the human body immensely.
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t gain a lot of calories from fat. You actually can gain much more from carbohydrates. That’s why increasing your fat intake can be good for your body as a source of energy.
However, does keto lower blood pressure? What are its effects on blood pressure?
Let’s find out.
Does Keto Lower Blood Pressure In People?
Blood pressure is a measure of the force that blood exerts on the walls of your blood vessels. It is composed of two parts. The first is systolic blood pressure and the second is diastolic blood pressure. Your doctors will probably tell you that good blood pressure is around 120/80 (systolic blood pressure/diastolic pressure). However, a third of Americans suffer from high blood pressure. It’s a result of the weight gain that has occurred over the last half century. If you’re one of them, you’ll need all the help you can get.Luckily, clinical studies have shown that the high fat diet can benefit you and improve high blood pressure. It can even lower the risk of obesity.
Low Carb Diets Impact on Blood Pressure
There are several blood pressure medications, but recent studies have shown that low-carbohydrate diet regimens can be very effective or more effective at lowering blood pressure. Of course, the keto diet plan is one of the most popular diets among the low-carbohydrate diet types. It’s one of the best options you have to lower blood pressure and get you to optimal blood pressure. Medical professionals recommend it highly.
Why Keto Lowers Blood Pressure
The keto diet lowers blood pressure as a result of the weight loss that occurs. Ketosis allows the body to munch on excess fat without the carbohydrate intake common to most diets. If you keep at it, this will reduce the pressure needed for your body to pump blood around your blood vessels.
The keto diet usually associated with appetite suppression. The increased energy expenditure and the lowered insulin levels which causes more fat to be burnt. All of this contributes to fighting hypertension and by extension, reduction in average blood pressure. This also increase insulin sensitivity in the body and takes care of the excess carbs in the body.
This can result in lower risk of cardiovascular disease and improved heart health. It also improves diabetes management among people with type 2 diabetes.
7 Other Health Benefits of Keto Diet
Eating right and following the keto diet which includes eating your green vegetables and reducing fast food can do great things. it can reduce the various cardiovascular risk factors and improve your overall health. Here are 7 other health benefits of the keto high fat diets than improvements in blood pressure.
Appetite Suppression
One of the biggest known effects of the keto diet is the loss of appetite that one experiences. There is nothing wrong with this or unhealthy about this. It’s one of the reasons why the keto diet works wonders for weight loss.
If you’re trying to lose weight and don’t mind the appetite loss, then you can sit back and watch the pounds melt away. You can enjoy the hunger free ride. There is no evidence that all areas of the body experience the impacts of ketosis equally. However, the evidence suggests that people on the keto diet do experience a loss of hunger.
Keto diets come under the category of KLCD (ketogenic low-carbohydrate diets). They have been shown to reduce a desire to eat and to produce lower levels of hunger. These absolute changes in hunger are registered gradually over the course of the keto diet. The energy restriction which occurs during the keto diet is directly known to prevent an increase in appetite despite continuous weight loss.
Individuals may find themselves less hungry or more full or satisfied this way.
Reduction in Triglycerides
One of the most predictable effects of the keto diet on the human body is the reduction in triglyceride levels. For people with elevated levels, there is a noticeable drop in the beginning of the diet. On average, those people with metabolic syndrome, they see serum triglycerides reduced by half when they start the ketogenic diet. Even obese persons can notice a drop in their triglyceride levels.
High Levels of Good HDL Cholesterol
Research and a randomized trial has shown that the keto diet produces modest reductions in triglycerides as demonstrated above. The changes occur when the high-density lipoprotein or HDL which is considered the good cholesterol increases.
The quality of the keto diet largely shows these results to be true. Since there is no single ketogenic diet that is recommended for everyone, the research differs. Depending on the types of fats and proteins that a person eats, the increase in HDL can be nominal or significant.
A review published in Nutrients in May of 2017 showed that people of normal weight and obese persons on the keto diet are generally associated with a reduction in total cholesterol. They are also generally associated with an increase in HDL and a decrease in LDL and triglycerides.
Lower Blood Sugar Levels and Insulin Levels
Research carried out by the ETH Zurich researchers and the University Children’s Hospital Zurich showed keto diets don’t allow the body to use insulin properly. Hence, elevated blood sugar control doesn’t occur. This leads to insulin resistance in the body.
However, since the keto diet also reduces carb intake, it reduces the body’s blood glucose levels as well. This is a good combination for those suffering from diabetes and can even benefit them. To find out more about how the keto diet can benefit sufferers of diabetes and improve diabetes control, you can click here.
Effective Against Metabolic Syndrome
Eating low-carb vegetables and following the keto diet has shown to improve health for those suffering from metabolic syndrome. Ketogenic diets have shown improvements in weight loss and lowering body fat percentage in a randomized trial. They also decrease HbA1c levels. With exercise, there is an even greater chance of the keto diet benefitting health.
Lower Bad LDL Cholesterol Levels
Most research and clinical trial runs have shown that keto diets have reduced the total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels in people. In some cases, however, this may not be true. LDL cholesterol levels can rise in the short term if the right diet is not followed. In the long term however. If you have preexisting high cholesterol, then you’ll need to adjust the structure of the diet to prevent from raising your cholesterol levels.
For the keto diet to have the best effects on you, you should avoid trans fats, processed meats, and fried foods. These can raise your risk of heart disease.
Therapy for Brain Disorders
Keto diets don’t just reduce the risk of heart attacks or coronary heart disease risk. In fact, the diet dependent on a medium source of protein and high fat intake is great for the brain. One of the best long-term effects of the dietary fat intake in the keto diet is the reduction in brain disorders. Keto diets have powerful benefits for the brain. They can even treat drug resistant epilepsy in children. There is also good evidence that ketogenic diets can reduce symptoms of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.
While you need to be wary of the sources of fat you consume and the grams per day of carbohydrates you have, the keto diet is beneficial for lowering blood pressure. It lowers excess weight and the maximum pressure on your blood vessels.
