The ketogenic diet sure is widespread, and many people are showing off their weight loss success all over social media. What’s different about this diet than just going on any low carb diet, however, is experiencing incredible changes in the body. Many people experience positive physiological changes due to a high fat, low carb diet. These benefits make this diet a lot more profound than just an average diet. We discuss how the keto diet can help with energy as well as provide a variety of other benefits in the Body Reboot book. It’s nice knowing that a low carb diet can lead to you experiencing better energy, performance, and more.

As we briefly mentioned above, many people on the keto diet enjoy having more energy, and their brain fog virtually disappears. The blogger on Low Carb Diem has something to say about the incredible effects of the ketogenic diet:

Many people begin to experience better mental concentration, less compulsive eating, and few or no carb cravings. Some experience it as a “fog lifting” that they didn’t even know was there.

Low carb dieters often report elevated moods, heightened feelings of alertness and less of a need for sleep.

Believe it or not, glucose (found in carbs) is not the preferred fuel source for the brain and body. The body and brain run most efficiently on fat.

After a few days of severely decreasing or banishing carbohydrates from the diet, most ketogenic eaters report improved moods and a sudden increase in energy to the point where they are bouncing off the walls.

Mary Dan Eades, M.D. discusses how a high fat, low carb diet may help improve those who suffer from sleep apnea as well as high blood pressure. For those who used a CPAP machine, they were able to discontinue using the device as well as experience other health benefits, such as feeling better and more energetic:

Interstingly, both sleep apnea and high blood pressure are components of the metabolic syndrome–i.e., they’re diseases of insulin-resistance. Consequently, solving the underlying metabolic disorder–the insulin resistance–will usually solve both of the problems. In our medical practice over the years, we had numbers of patients who, after having been tethered to their CPAP machine for years were able to discontinue its use by losing weight on a low carb diet. People with high blood pressure were usually able to control it and discontinue their medications on a low carb diet. And, as the U of Alabama researchers discovered, there’s a lot of overlap in these two groups.

I recall one of our patients (about whom we wrote in Protein Power) who had logged over 18,000 hours on his CPAP machine and whose blood pressure was barely controlled on two medications, a high-carb low-fat diet, and lots of exercise. In the course of roughly 6 months on low carb, he was able to lose about 100 pounds, discontinue his meds, and liberate himself from his machine.

No more CPAP tether, no more pills, just a sensible eating regimen. As we’ve always said: give the body the correct food to eat and, in most cases, it will heal itself.

The low carb diet is a potent therapy for these disorders, but with one caveat, and it’s a BIGGIE.
If you currently take medications for blood pressure or blood sugar or use a CPAP machine for apnea, ask your physician to help you adjust your medications or therapies when you’re ready to begin low carb.

It’s nice having more energy, especially if you’ve had issues staying awake in the past. Dr. Jockers discussions how a low carb diet can provide more energy and prevent brain fog from taking over.

You have increased amounts of energy for several reasons when following a ketogenic diet.

Lowered Inflammation
Upregulation of Mitochondrial Biogenesis
More ATP per Molecule of ketone vs glucose
Stable Blood Sugar
Combined, these benefits drastically increase energy output in the body. Mitochondria are basically your energy factories. So, taken together you get less inflammation, more efficient energy production, AND more energy production factories that result in an overall increase in energetic potential of your body.

Thrive Strive discusses how a ketogenic diet can help you feel more energetic because your body begins to burn fat as opposed to carbohydrates. It also gives you mental clarity and enables you to focus better.

The problem with carbs as an energy source is that they cause your blood sugar levels to rise and fall. Because the energy source isn’t consistent it’s harder for your brain to stay focused for long periods of time.

When you’re in ketosis and your brain uses ketones as a fuel source, it has a consistent fuel source that it can rely on which means you can focus for longer periods of time.

You also don’t have a cloudy mind.

It’s really hard to explain the feeling because when you’re eating carbs you don’t realize that your mind isn’t at 100%. Once you’re in ketosis you will begin to see the difference, especially if you spend a day or two eating carbs again.

Your body can only store so much glycogen and because of this, you need to constantly refuel if you want to maintain your energy levels.

However, your body already has plenty of fat to work with and it can store more fat so that means in ketosis it has an energy source that will never run out.

This means that you’ll find yourself with more energy throughout the day.

Can you imagine a world where you don’t feel like you need to take a nap after lunch?

That is the lifestyle of ketogenic.

Ruled.me also discusses how the keto diet results in more energy and less brain fog.

Following the consumption of a ketogenic diet, brain cells become more efficient, brain inflammation is reduced, and health-promoting neurotrophic factors are activated. This is caused by the combination of carbohydrate restriction and ketone use.

Ketones, in particular, give the brain the opportunity to balance the neurotransmitters called glutamate and GABA (gamma-Aminobutyric acid). Glutamate is the primary excitation neurotransmitter (promotes stimulation) in the body and GABA is the main inhibitory neurotransmitter (reduces stimulation) in the body.

Brain fog and a lack of focus can be caused by having too much glutamate and very little GABA. This will happen if your brain has to use glutamate and glutamic acid for fuel, which leaves little left over to be processed into GABA. By giving the brain another form of energy when you break down ketones, you’re able to balance out the neurotransmitter production.

This balance (increase in GABA production) helps to reduce the excess firing of neurons in the brain, leading to better mental focus. An added benefit of more GABA production is a reduction of stress and anxiety and an increased sense of calmness.

Perfect Keto mentions that you may be able to get rid of that afternoon coffee pick me up because typically, keto helps you overcome that mid-day slump!

Don’t be surprised if you’re able to eliminate that afternoon coffee from your routine after adapting to the keto way. Becoming a fat burning pro includes benefits like no more afternoon slumps, no more crazy mood swings, and elimination of weird shifts in energy levels that you might experience otherwise.

Plus, you’ll likely find it easier to go long periods of time without food. This is helpful for weight loss, stable blood sugar levels, and extended periods of fasting (which is one of the best ways to get into ketosis).

When a body switches over to burning fat as opposed to carbohydrates, it stimulates the mitochondria, which means it helps generate new mitochondria. What does all of this say? Well, according to Dr. Jockers, all of this can translate to us having more energy!

I briefly touched upon this benefit already, but this one is profound. Most of us have been using sugar for energy our entire lives, this is what our mitochondria are comfortable with. The initial phases of keto-adaptation actually act as a powerful stressor and stimulus to your mitochondria.

During the transition phase, as your cells are stimulated to burn fat, old and weak mitochondria die off. This may sound harmful, but it actually stimulates the growth of new and stronger mitochondria. This typically equates to a higher amount of energy production.

As we’ve talked about already, improved energy production has a broad beneficial impact on the body’s ability to heal and perform in general.

Having a lack of energy can get frustrating, which is why a low carb diet can be so beneficial. Many people reveal that they experience less brain fog and a higher amount of energy than they did before going on the keto diet. There are countless other benefits as well, and we’d love to share them with you. We desire to help others get healthy! At the time of writing this post, we're giving away free copies of the Body Reboot book. If you help us cover the cost of shipping, we’ll send you a FREE book. Go over to this page to see if there are any remaining copies.

Sources: Low Carb Diem, Mary Dan Eades, M.D., Thrive Strive, Ruled.me, Dr. Jockers