Well, according to the research, YES!!!
Our bodies are experts at converting the food we eat into energy our cells can use. The body uses a couple of different strategies (called metabolic pathways) to provide cells with energy, and it turns out that some pathways are healthier than others. A study published this month in the Annals of Internal Medicine provides support that one metabolic pathway called ketosis is associated with an array of health benefits including weight loss, loss of fat mass, and decreased cardiovascular risk factors.
Ketosis is a pathway used by the body during fasting states, when blood sugar is low. Every night our bodies naturally switch into a state of ketosis, and break down fat stores into something called ketone bodies that cells can use for energy. Our bodies leave ketosis after eating carbohydrate rich meals that cause blood sugar levels to increase.
In the study, which was conducted at the Tulane University School of Public Health, researchers had one group of participants follow a low-fat diet, and another group follow a low-carbohydrate diet which promotes ketosis. After 12 months, participants from the low-carbohydrate group lost more weight compared to the low-fat group; the great news is that most of that weight loss was from a decrease of fat mass.
Participants who followed the low-carbohydrate diet also experienced other health benefits like improved ratios of good cholesterol versus bad cholesterol.
You can help your body enter a state of ketosis by following a diet similar to the one used in the study–a diet low in carbohydrates and rich in healthy fats. We have a recipe for delicious morning coffee which will keep your body in ketosis!
