Low carb diets like a keto diet, are often about balancing blood sugar levels. Aside from losing weight, some people go on a low carb diet in order to keep their blood sugar stable and to stay within the normal healthy level.
In order to fully understand how a keto diet balances your blood sugar, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with how your body processes blood sugar in the normal state and explore how this is affected by some health problems, such as diabetes.
Carbohydrates and Blood Glucose
Carbohydrates are directly related to your blood glucose. All carbohydrate foods such as rice, bread and potatoes are broken down into simple sugars by the process of digestion when they get into your body. They eventually all get broken down to glucose which is then absorbed across the gut lining into your blood circulation and is often referred to as blood sugar or, more correctly, blood glucose. This process is what normally makes your blood glucose rise.
The carbohydrates found in most starchy foods, such as bread and potatoes are simply a collection of long chains of glucose that get broken down quickly and makes your blood sugar increase.
What Happens When Your Blood Sugar Is High?
When the level of your blood sugar (glucose) goes up, your body will respond by secreting insulin in order to reduce it back to a normal level. The glucose, if not used for energy, is taken out of your blood and converted to and stored as fat.
The main function of insulin is in facilitating the storage of extra glucose in blood as fat. In the early stages of diabetes or pre-diabetes the cells become resistant to the effect of insulin so blood glucose remains at a high level. If this continues eventually the pancreas will become unable to produce insulin. If your blood sugar remains high, your organs will eventually get damaged and some other bodily functions will be affected.
How a Keto Diet Balances Blood Sugar Level
As you no doubt know, the keto diet is the kind of diet that restricts daily consumption of carbohydrates. Restricting your carbohydrate consumption will force your body to use fat as fuel place of glucose, a process known as the ketosis. When your body is in the ketosis state, your level of blood sugar will decrease and your A1C (a common blood test used to diagnose type type 2 diabetes and pre-diabetes) level will also drop.
Related reading: 5 Amazing Health Benefits of a Keto Diet
The ketogenic diet can help to naturally lower your blood sugar level as long as you strictly adhere to it. Sure, an occasional cookie will not kill you, however, eating a high amount of sugar every single day could eventually cause you to suffer from diabetes. High simple carbohydrate foods and drinks such as, such as cookies, cake, white bread, and sodas, could make your level of blood sugar increase and this is toxic to your body.
Luckily, the insulin in your body can help to lower your blood sugar by shuttling the sugar to your cells before it can lead to health problems. Indeed, insulin is a very important hormone in your body but, if you eat a lot of high carbohydrate foods, it may not be able to keep up. This is why it’s very important that we help our bodies to maintain a healthy level of blood sugar. By going on a keto diet, your carbohydrate consumption will be lowered, which leads to the lowering of your blood sugar and improving your health.
Conclusion
The keto diet is truly an effective diet if you’re trying to lower your level of blood sugar. As a matter of fact, a lot of diabetics who have gone onto a keto diet have stopped taking their medications completely.
If you want to lower your blood sugar even quicker, it’s a good idea to also include blood sugar lowering foods in your diet such as blueberries, red cabbage, broccoli sprouts, onions and lemon. Performing high-intensity exercises each week, drinking more filtered water and getting enough sleep are also a huge help.
Related reading: What Are the Best Low Carb Vegetables?
Related reading: 5 Healthy Fruits You Can Eat On A Low Carb Diet
Want to learn more about the Keto Diet? Check out the 3-Week Ketogenic Diet. A Simple, Science-Based Diet That’s 100% Guaranteed To Melt Away 3-9 Pounds of Stubborn Body Fat In Just 21 Days.
