Intermittent fasting and the ketogenic diet are both incredibly effective ways to lose weight and improve your health. Both of these dietary patterns emphasize eating less frequently to encourage the production of fat-burning enzymes and hormones, increase insulin sensitivity, and boost fat burning while reducing fat storage.
When you combine these two nutrition strategies, they can have additive benefits in accelerating fat loss, improving insulin sensitivity, and promoting new fat-burning capabilities.
However, there is some disagreement among experts on whether combining a ketogenic diet with an intermittent fasting regimen is advisable or not. Some experts believe that IF helps to promote greater ketone production without restricting carbohydrates so much that it triggers a stress response in the body.
Others believe that IF should only be used as a technique once one has reached their ideal weight or body fat percentage as a means of preventing further weight loss by cutting down on excess calorie intake.
What is intermittent fasting?
Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern that involves alternating periods of fasting with normal or reduced-calorie intake. It is a dietary pattern that has been increasingly popular in recent years among individuals who are focused on improving their health and/or body composition through diet.
There are many different intermittent fasting protocols that people follow. Most of these protocols involve a 16-hour period of fasting and an 8-hour period of feeding each day.
There are several health benefits to intermittent fasting, including better insulin sensitivity, increased fat burning, reduced risk of certain diseases, and increased growth hormone secretion. Intermittent fasting may also facilitate weight loss.
One of the most common intermittent fasting protocols, the 16:8 diet, involves 16 hours of fasting and only 8 hours of eating each day.
What is the Ketogenic Diet?
The keto diet is a low carb diet that promotes the production of ketones in the body by restricting the amount of carbohydrates consumed. By doing so, the body shifts metabolic pathways away from glucose and towards fat burning.
By reducing the amount of carbohydrates consumed, the body is prompted to produce ketones as an alternative source of energy. Ketones are produced in the liver, and are a source of clean-burning fuel that is more efficient than glucose.
The keto diet also encourages the intake of dietary fats and high amounts of protein to maintain muscle mass while in a caloric deficit, which is a key component to losing weight and body fat efficiently.
How does intermittent fasting benefit the keto diet?
Both the keto diet and intermittent fasting work by boosting the production of certain molecules in the body that regulate fat burning, including the thyroid hormone, adiponectin, and growth hormone. By combining the two diets, you can achieve greater fat burning and improved insulin sensitivity.
Intermittent fasting boosts the production of growth hormone, a fat-burning hormone that prompts the body to break down fat and build muscle by as much as fifteen percent, while ketogenic diets increase levels of adiponectin, which is a hormone that transports fat out of the bloodstream to be used as energy.
By combining these two diets, you can increase the amount of fat broken down and used for energy.
When can you combine Keto with IF?
There is no one right way to go about intermittent fasting, and the same goes for the ketogenic diet. Some people may be more suited to one diet over the other, while others may do better combining the two dietary patterns and their benefits.
If you like and enjoy both, then by all means, use them together. Just keep in mind that you may need to make some adjustments to both dietary patterns if you decide to do so. For example, once you decide to add a ketogenic diet to your intermittent fasting regimen, you will want to make sure that you are consuming enough protein to prevent muscle loss.
By increasing your protein intake, you may need to reduce your overall calorie intake to prevent excessive weight loss.
Are there any drawbacks to combining these two dieting techniques?
There are no specific drawbacks to combining these two diets, although it is important to note that not all foods will be compatible with both dietary patterns. For example, you will likely have to avoid eating too many high-fat or high-protein foods while combining these two methods.
Depending on your goals, you may also have to consider the number of calories you consume during your feeding window. If your intermittent fasting and ketogenic dieting efforts together cause you to consume too few calories, this could result in weight loss plateaus or even weight loss reversals.
Who should not use these two diets together?
There are no specific conditions or diseases that warrant against combining an intermittent fasting diet with a ketogenic diet. However, people who are insulin-resistant or who have diabetes may want to proceed with caution when combining these two dietary patterns.
While the ketogenic diet and intermittent fasting can help to improve insulin sensitivity in many people, diabetics may need to monitor their blood glucose levels more closely when combining these two diets due to the risk of hypoglycemia.
Bottom Line
Intermittent fasting and the ketogenic diet are two incredibly effective dieting methods. If you like and enjoy both diets, by all means, use them both together. Just remember that you may need to make some adjustments to both dietary patterns if you decide to do so.
For example, if you decide to add a ketogenic diet to your intermittent fasting regimen, you may need to increase your protein intake and reduce your overall calorie intake to prevent excessive weight loss.
