Combining intermittent fasting and the ketogenic diet kickstarts ketosis. Intermittent fasting is the fastest way to get into the fat-burning state of ketosis, which means the keto diet will start working faster.
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Two of the hottest trends right now for weight loss are the keto diet and intermittent fasting, but most people want to know if the two should be combined.
There are many health-conscious people who use these methods to help drop pounds fast and even control health conditions.
While both can have numerous benefits to your health and overall well-being, many people wonder if the two should be combined, and here is a little bit about both and whether combing them is a good idea.
What’s Intermittent Fasting?
Many people aren’t aware of what intermittent fasting is; simply put, it’s a method of eating that involves eating for a set amount of time and then restricting your boy from calories.
There are several different types of intermittent fasting, including the 5:2 method, the 16:8 method, and the Warrior Diet.
The most common method used is the 16:8 method, which involves eating all of your calories in an - hour time frame and then fasting, or not eating, for 16 hours.
This type of eating technique has been used by millions as a way to lose weight.
Many research studies have shown that intermittent fasting can have many benefits in other ways as well.
For instance, intermittent fasting helps to improve brain function, decrease inflammation, and even control blood sugar levels.
What’s the Keto Diet?
The ketogenic diet is probably something you all have heard of.
It involves a diet that is high in proteins and fats while restricting carb intake for the day.
Your daily total carb intake is typically less than 50 grams which force your body to use fats rather than sugars as its source of energy.
In the state known as ketosis, the body will break down fats to form ketones which serve as a fuel source for the body.
This diet is designed to help you lose weight, but there are also a number of other advantages to it as well.
There are many people who have used this diet to treat epilepsy, and it is also beneficial to those who have neurological disorders.
It helps to reduce blood sugar levels, reduce the risk of heart disease, improve insulin resistance, and can help control triglyceride levels.
Some people have also seen an improvement in symptoms that come with Alzheimer’s disease.
Benefits of Doing Both
If you are going to commit to the keto diet and intermittent fasting, there are a few benefits to doing both at the same time.
Smooths the Ketosis Path
Intermittent fasting may just help your body reach ketosis a lot quicker than if you did just keto alone.
That’s because you are restricting the body from even more carbs allowing your body to use fat as a source of energy allowing you to burn even more fat off.
During fasting, your body’s insulin levels and glycogen storage levels decrease, and this allows your body to burn fat for fuel allowing you to lose more weight.
For those who struggle to reach a state of ketosis while doing the keto diet, you can add in intermittent fasting to help kickstart the process and get you there faster and easier.
Aids in Additional Weight Loss
By combing these two methods, you may burn a lot more fat than if you dieted alone.
That’s because intermittent fasting helps to boost your metabolism by helping to promote thermogenesis or also known as heat production, and this means your body burns fat reserves.
Intermittent fasting powerfully burns and helps you drop excess fat.
In an 8-week study that was done among men who strength-trained and tried the 16:8 method, lost nearly 14% more fat than those who followed a normal eating pattern.
Also, intermittent fasting can preserve muscle mass while losing weight and can improve energy levels.
This is helpful for those doing the keto diet and looking to improve performance and with dropping body fat.
Additionally, intermittent fasting can help with decreasing hunger and cravings that people struggle with as well.
Feeling full is easier, and this also helps with weight loss.
Should They Be Combined?
For the most part, combining the keto diet and intermittent fasting is safe.
However, if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, you may want to avoid intermittent fasting.
The same goes for those who have an eating disorder.
If you have certain health conditions, including heart disease or diabetes, you might want to talk to your doctor before giving intermittent fasting or the keto diet a try.
While it’s safe to do both of these methods, you might want to keep in mind that it might not work for everyone.
Each person’s body reacts differently.
If you are doing the keto diet, it might be difficult for you to fast as well, or you might experience some adverse effects.
This means on some days, you might feel cranky or irritable, you might overeat on those non-fasting days, and you might even have some increased fatigue.
Intermittent fasting won’t necessarily get you into ketosis faster, but for some people, it can get you there when combined with the keto diet.
Following a keto diet can be enough for anyone looking to cut down on carbs to help them with weight loss.
When you combine the keto diet with intermittent fasting, you may reach ketosis faster than if you did the keto diet alone. It can also help with greater fat loss.
However, this method might work wonders for some people but do nothing for other people.
Some people should avoid this combination altogether.
Some people find that experimenting with both can help them determine what one is going to work or if neither one is going to give them results.
Some people have luck with one or the other as well.
Each person’s body will react to these methods differently.
As with any big lifestyle change, make sure you speak with your healthcare provider first to determine if either of these methods is safe or not for you.
Free Keto IF Meal Plan
Check out our free keto intermittent fasting meal plan if you want to see the benefits of combining the keto diet with intermittent fasting. It has everything you need to get started on keto, lose weight and improve your health!
