Yoga is the union of the soul with the functioning of the body, which leads to mental peace and stability by uniting your spiritual being with your physical and mental health. Yoga, if combined with a healthy diet, can be far more effective.
When you decide to diet, you’re making a decision that involves more than just deciding what you can and cannot eat. To be truly effective, your diet must become a lifestyle. Today we’ll look at one of the most popular diets: the ketogenic diet.
Both yoga and the ketogenic diet have their own advantages. If you want to try the ketogenic diet, you should make lifestyle changes that will help the diet work more effectively. As such, I recommend incorporating physical activity into your daily routine, and yoga is a great exercise to work with the ketogenic diet. This combination can help you achieve better results while also improving your overall well-being.
So, how do you combine yoga and a ketogenic diet? These two have been shown to be a perfect match and a great combination for achieving a healthy, happy mind and body. You can read about keto for athletes on PlanKetogenic’s page, and in this article, we’ll explain how to combine keto and yoga more closely.
What is the ketogenic diet?
The ketogenic diet is a diet that contains low carbohydrates, adequate proteins, and high fat. It was first used to treat epilepsy. When carbohydrates are limited in the diet, the body cannot use glucose, which is its main energy source. Then, due to the change in the body’s metabolism, energy is obtained from fats as an alternative fuel.
How does the keto diet work?
Generally, your carbohydrate intake is reduced to less than 50 grams per day and the body’s main energy is supplied from fats. Protein intake is as needed.
What are the main benefits of combining keto and yoga?
The ketogenic diet, when practiced in the right way, can help to maintain a healthy weight and minimize risk factors for various medical problems and diseases. It is an effective way to lose weight without counting calories or devoting too much attention to food tracking.
What health benefits would a yoga practitioner obtain on keto? Let’s look at five advantages.
1. Keto is compatible with yoga as a form of exercise.
One of the debates surrounding the ketogenic diet is whether it impairs physical performance. As a fuel source, your cells switch from glucose to ketones. People may become fatigued when their body’s resources change. When you first start a low-carb diet, it’s known to cause symptoms such as nausea and weakness.
In particular, people who participate in explosive power exercises as a sport are concerned about this situation. For example, doing extensive anaerobic exercises requires short, sharp bursts of energy. The source of these bursts is carbohydrates, which burn faster than fats.
This is why the ketogenic diet is ideal for workouts that do not require carbs. Yoga is an aerobic form of exercise, partly focused on flexibility, that can be done daily. As a result, you can take your energy from fat while combining a ketogenic diet with yoga.
2. They help you reach the ideal weight.
Many people believe that yoga is only about stretching and meditation. This may seem like a reasonable assumption, but there’s a lot more going on beneath the surface:
- In particular, yoga supports you in reaching your ideal weight. First, yoga does this by improving your mental strength, by assisting you in developing determination so that you stick to your routine.
- Also, yoga gives you the chance to become extra athletic. The stretching exercises in yoga strengthen your muscles. This can lead to the muscle flexibility and strength necessary for any exercise. In addition, healthy muscle mass has the effect of increasing your base metabolism. As such, it can protect you from obesity.
In this way, you can use keto to reach your ideal weight and combine it with your healthy yoga sessions.
3. They help you reduce stress.
One of the most noticeable advantages of yoga is that it improves your perspective on life. Yoga practitioners frequently show a high level of optimism and happiness.
Yoga is an excellent form of exercise for people who live in stressful environments. Those prone to anxiety can learn stretching and breathing exercises. Also, there are various yoga poses that can help you deal with your worries in life.
So, how does this work in conjunction with a ketogenic diet? The goal of the keto diet is to make you feel good, light, and free. When you start moving your body more easily, maintain your ideal weight, and eliminate refined products from your life, you will feel a lot better.
This is completely normal because maintaining a healthy weight and high mobility are significant accomplishments. Physically active and fit people are less prone to stress and depression. With this in mind, it’s not a stretch to see that combining keto and yoga will be beneficial.
4. You can improve your sleep with these two.
How well you sleep is closely related to your overall lifestyle, which includes your eating habits and physical activities:
- Yoga’s mind-body union helps to relieve stress, allowing you to sleep better. The exercises and poses can fill you with positive emotions and help you forget about your worries. As a result, you sleep significantly better.
- People who stick to the keto diet for a few months report getting much deeper and healthier sleep.
5. Combining a ketogenic diet and yoga can reduce inflammation.
- With keto, eliminating sugar and carbohydrates from your diet is an excellent way to reduce inflammation levels in the body. Inflammation is at the root of nearly every disease. Also, inflammation is often associated with an increased level of physical pain.
- Yoga can help with both chronic and acute pain. Yoga, in particular, may help people suffering from arthritis, migraines, or back pain.
Which type of ketogenic diet with yoga is recommended?
There is no single “standard” ketogenic diet with a specific ratio of protein, fat, and carbohydrates. Instead, there are variations. Here are some types of ketogenic diets:
- 4 Medium-Chain Triglycerides (MCT) diet
- Modified Ketogenic Diet (MKD)
- Low Glycemic Index Therapy (LGIT)
In particular, an MKD or LGIT combined with yoga are two great starters.
What is the Modified Ketogenic Diet?
This diet is a modified version of the Atkins diet. It’s a diet that allows free protein intake, is very low in carbohydrates, and requires a large intake of fat. 75% of daily calories come from fats. The diet is generally followed by individuals who cannot cope with the restrictions of MCT diets.
Advantages:
- Provides free protein and flexible calorie intake.
- Foods are not weighed, and household measurements are used.
- It is an easier way to include individuals who find the ketogenic diet difficult.
Disadvantages:
- It still requires high fat and low carbohydrate intake.
- Diet management can be difficult because there is no control over calories.
- May require more professional support in the creation of meals.
What is the Low Glycemic Index Treatment?
This diet is designed to limit increases in postprandial blood glucose levels. 60% of total calories come from fats, 30% from proteins, and 10% from carbohydrates. In particular, only low glycemic index foods (GI < 50) are used as carbohydrates.
Advantages:
- Foods are not weighed, and household measurements are used.
Disadvantages:
It still requires high fat and low carbohydrate intake.
What are the side effects of the ketogenic diet?
The negative side effects of the ketogenic diet can be classified as short-term and long-term. The most common and relatively short-term side effects are fatigue, headache, dizziness, insomnia, nausea, vomiting, constipation, and lethargy.
These side effects are associated with what’s called the “keto flu”. You may experience this when you first start the diet. To remedy these side effects, it’s recommended to stay hydrated and, after a few days, your body will adapt.
So with this information handy, you now know how to combine keto with yoga, and the advantages of doing so. So you can look forward to a healthier, happier, slimmer you.
