Keto and Intermittent Fasting

Keto and intermittent fasting are two of the most popular diets right now. While both have solid research to back up their claims, many people wonder if combining the two is safe and effective.

Many people combine the two weight-loss techniques. This is reasonable. Many aspects of the keto diet and intermittent fasting are similar. The two actually complement each other quite well. Let’s take a look at why.

Intermittent Fasting and Keto

What Is Keto?

The keto diet works by replacing glucose with fatty acids as your body’s primary fuel source. We achieve this by consuming only low-carb and no-carb foods. The goal is to enter Ketosis so that all of the amazing fat-burning can begin!

A ketogenic diet, also known as a keto diet, is a low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet. You eat far fewer carbohydrates on a keto diet while maintaining a moderate protein intake and possibly increasing your fat intake. The reduction in carb intake puts your body into a metabolic state called ketosis after two to seven days on the keto diet, where fat from your diet and your body is burned for energy.

The ketogenic diet also has a number of advantages, including weight loss and improved physical and mental health. The goal is to increase the amount of ketones in your bloodstream. You’re eliminating all carbohydrates from your diet and subsisting solely on protein and fat. This forces you to burn your own fat while also releasing ketones into your bloodstream.

When you eat carbohydrate-rich foods on a regular basis, your body produces glucose for energy, which is then used to power your body’s processes. When you consume a high-carbohydrate meal, your body produces glucose and insulin.

Because glucose is the simplest molecule for your body to convert and use as energy, it will be chosen over any other source of energy. Insulin is produced to transport glucose from your bloodstream around your body for processing.

Fats aren’t needed because glucose is the primary energy source, so they’re stored. On a normal, high-carbohydrate diet, the body will typically use glucose as its primary source of energy. The body is put into a state of ketosis by reducing carbohydrate intake.

Most people lose their appetite and cravings for carbohydrates when they enter a state of ketosis and become fat adapted, and they discover that they can go much longer without eating, which is where intermittent fasting comes in.

What Is Intermittent Fasting?

Intermittent fasting is a type of eating pattern in which you alternate between eating and fasting periods. In other words, it’s a type of intermittent energy restriction that promotes weight loss while also providing a number of health benefits, including reduced inflammation, better blood sugar and cholesterol control, improved brain health, and so on.

The most common type of fasting is 16:8, which involves eating for 8 hours and then fasting for the remaining 16 hours each day.

If done correctly, intermittent fasting has numerous advantages, including weight loss, reduced inflammation, increased energy, a faster metabolism, and much more.

Why Combine The Two?

Intermittent fasting and the keto diet have a lot in common. Learn about the health benefits of intermittent fasting and why it’s so beneficial on a low-carb diet in the sections below.

In other words, intermittent fasting can actually enhance the keto diet’s advantages. The inverse is also true. Fasting can be made even easier with a keto diet. Fasting becomes easier as you become more fat-adapted. It makes a lot of sense to combine the two. Not only for weight loss, but also to boost both protocols’ other health benefits.

Intermittent Fasting Can Help You Enter Ketosis Sooner 

The following is a breakdown of how intermittent fasting works: When you go without food for a period of time, your body begins to burn fat stores for energy. Does this ring a bell? That’s because when you enter ketosis, you go through a similar process.

Ketosis is a natural state of the body that occurs not only when you eat a low-carb diet, but also when your body starts burning fat for energy, such as when you fast or exercise. Many people enter ketosis while fasting, so increasing the time between meals can help you reach ketosis faster.

Intermittent Fasting Can Help You Avoid The Keto Flu

Intermittent fasting can help keto newbies avoid some of the unpleasant symptoms of the keto flu, making the transition to a keto lifestyle much easier.

If you’re new to the keto diet, intermittent fasting can help you avoid some of the most common and unpleasant side effects, like the keto flu. When your body transitions to a fat-burning state, these unpleasant side effects are common.

The question now is: how can intermittent fasting help you avoid getting the keto flu?

Because keto flu is common when you first enter ketosis (and goes away once your metabolic switch flips), the faster you enter ketosis, the less likely you are to experience negative side effects. Because a short fast can help you get into ketosis faster, it can reduce your chances of getting the keto flu.

Perfect Keto

Intermittent Fasting Can Help You Lose Weight Faster 

Fat loss is one of the most common reasons people turn to intermittent fasting. Fasting can assist you in overcoming weight loss plateaus in a variety of ways:

  • Because your body can only take in a certain number of calories at a time, limiting your intake window reduces your total daily caloric intake.
  • The smaller eating window reduces unnecessary snacking, which is especially beneficial late at night.
  • Being in ketosis and eating a high-fat keto diet reduces appetite and increases satiety. When this is the case, it’s much easier to do intermittent fasting than it is to eat a diet high in carbohydrates, which only increases cravings and snacking.

Supplementing with intermittent fasting can help you reach your weight-loss goals if you started the keto diet to lose weight.

Intermittent fasting and the keto diet both encourage your body to burn fat instead of glucose for energy. As a result, combining intermittent fasting with a ketogenic diet can help you lose weight faster.

Intermittent Fasting Creates a caloric deficit 

Fasting eliminates at least one meal from your day, resulting in a caloric deficit — an important component of weight loss (unless you compensate with more food during the eating window).

Eating Keto Reduces Your Appetite Making Fasting Easier

On a keto diet, replacing carbs with fat reduces appetite, possibly due to changes in appetite-regulating hormones. You’ll find the fasting portion of intermittent fasting easier once you’ve fat-adapted to the keto diet and your appetite is lower than normal.

It Can Help Stabilize Your Blood Sugar 

One of the most important advantages of the keto diet is that it helps to keep your insulin levels in check. When you cut carbs and sugar out of your diet, you’re also cutting out the blood sugar spikes that come with them.

How To Get Started With A Combination of Keto and Intermittent Fasting

Starting with one diet at a time is the best way to begin combining the two. Both of these diets will require you to make changes to your eating habits, and doing both at the same time could be overwhelming and result in failure.

I was already on the ketogenic diet, which, in my opinion, necessitates more adjustments than intermittent fasting.

My body naturally lent itself to fasting in the evenings and having a late breakfast when I had reached a stage where I was fat adapted, which was ideal for me.

I made sure I was eating whole foods and fats that were good for me. Because I would be eating fewer meals, the meals I would be eating had to be nutritious, contain enough calories, and contain enough fiber to keep me from becoming constipated.

The beauty of intermittent fasting is that your sleeping hours are deducted from your fasting hours.

Remember that coffee with cream or milk contains calories and is therefore not permitted during the fasting period. In the evening, however, you can have a herbal tea or a black coffee first thing in the morning.

What A Day On Keto and Intermitting Fasting Will Look Like

At 5-6 p.m., you’ll need to eat a decent keto dinner, such as steak and salad or grilled chicken with vegetables.

Make this meal high in fat, moderate in protein, and low in carbs to keep you going until noon the next day.

You can drink black tea, black coffee, water, and herbal teas during your fasting period.

When you are on Keto and intermittent fasting, you will naturally find that you only eat one to two meals per day. This is normal because your appetite will decrease while your energy levels will increase!

If you still feel hungry, include snacks such as boiled eggs or avocados in your eating windows.

In Conclusion

Finally, anyone struggling with their weight, metabolic health, or inflammation-related conditions may benefit from the combination of a ketogenic diet and intermittent fasting. Try it!

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Sources:

  • (1)https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/intermittent-fasting-and-weight-loss
  • (2)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21410865/
  • (3)https://wikivivo.com/7-ways-to-do-intermittent-fasting-the-best-methods/
  • (4)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3017674/
  • (5)https://breast-cancer-research.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13058-016-0714-4
  • (6)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3943438/
  • (7)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5680777/
  • (8)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3680567/
  • (9)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3826507/
  • (10)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5329646/

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