Can Keto Make Your Heart Healthier?

Many people are familiar with how a ketogenic diet (aka keto) can help people lose weight. But can cutting sugar and carbs and sticking to higher fat food help with heart disease? Keep reading to find out more about what it's like to go keto, and the potential benefits it can have for your heart!

What Is A Keto Diet?

Simply put, a ketogenic diet is one where you cut out carbs and sugars in your daily intake, replacing it with fat. By doing this, you make fat your body’s main source of fuel instead of the glucose that it gets from breaking down carbs. This makes the body enter a state called ketosis, where it produces ketones that lower blood sugar and insulin levels.

Ketosis gradually helps you burn your body’s fat reserves and helps you lose weight. But here’s how it may be able to help your heart fight off cardiac diseases.

A Ketogenic Diet Reduces Inflammation

Elevated insulin levels can lead to greater inflammation in your body – and inflammation is the root cause of many heart problems. Because a keto diet can help you lower your insulin, you reduce inflammation and can reduce the risk of developing certain heart diseases!

Keto Diets Lower Oxidative Stress

Free radicals are substances that can be dangerous when they accumulate in the body, making it difficult to flush out harmful toxins. This causes higher cell oxidation and is called oxidative stress.

Oxidative stress increases body inflammation, elevating the risk of developing cardiac disease in the future. However, ketones can help fight off oxidative stress, protecting your heart and keeping it healthy.

The Way You Choose To Go Keto Will Make The Difference

Now that you’ve read these benefits, you may wonder why high-fat, low-carb options like bacon are still cut out of diets for heart health. That’s because unhealthy fats are still a root cause of heart disease.

You can still increase your fat intake and cut your carbs while getting all the heart-friendly help from keto, but you need to make smart food choices. Here are some simple tips for how you can go keto on “good” fat versus “bad” fat sources.

Avoid processed foods. “Dirty keto” is known as going keto without cutting out highly processed foods. For dirty keto adherents, as long as you’re low on carbs and high on fat, you’ll still get the benefit of losing weight. However, dirty keto is not a good option for those who want to lose weight on keto and have a healthy heart.

Choose healthy fats. There are plenty of fat sources that are keto-friendly and heart-friendly. Stick to more natural options such as olive oil, salmon, and nuts.

Supplement your diet with leafy greens. Keto also encourages veggie consumption, as long as it’s low on carbs and sugar. Eat plenty of leafy greens such as spinach, kale, and broccoli to combat inflammation, get valuable micronutrients, and stick to your keto plan! Bonus: many of them are full of antioxidants that are also good for your heart!

A Keto Lifestyle Has Many Health Benefits

It may seem like a drastic change to your everyday life, but keto could make your body leaner and healthier. Start gradually cutting carbs and sugars and switching to keto-friendly, heart-healthy foods – over time, you’ll definitely see the results!