Although I think that everyone can benefit from a Ketogenic lifestyle, it is more advantageous for women and especially today. So why would Keto be more beneficial for women and whats the significance of "today" in this scenario?
Women in general face more struggles than men on a regular basis. Cravings, acne, mood swings, period cramps, PMS, irregular periods, cysts, PCOS, fertility issues, do any of these sound familiar to you? Now tell me, would you ever associate any of these conditions to your diet? I know I did not. We cannot fathom that such discomforts could be related to the food that we eat today. It was not until I "tried" Keto for few weeks that I noticed the impact of food on hormones, the result changed my life.
No matter how much we try to ignore it, fact remains that a woman's body is far different from a man's in its looks, needs and functions. Hormones play more roles and hence need more regulation in a woman's body due to their monthly menstrual cycle. This is the reason women can be more susceptible to hormonal imbalances. Today, not just our lifestyle but our diet is also screwed up. Not only are we living a pretty sedentary lifestyle, we are screwed up in the nutrition department as well. Misinformation has shifted our focus away from nutrient rich foods that our body needs such as dietary fat and vegetables. Media has scared people from eating healthy Fats when actually they should be scared of eating Carbs. In the name of health, people shell out more money on buying fruits while they can get far more nutrients by eating more vegetables. Misleading dietary guidelines have pushed everyone towards frequent meals and binge eating. All sorts of hormonal imbalances and weight gain have been associated with high carb diets and frequent eating which is a common lifestyle today. This lifestyle is proving more detrimental for women because they have more players in the hormonal field.
Hormonal imbalances are so common in women today that we have started to take them as the new "Normal". Even doctors will tell you that common painful PMS symptoms like breast pain, menstrual cramps are Normal. I wonder, since when is Common = Normal? These conditions are a result of hormonal imbalance which is common but in no way normal. And no, you do not have to struggle and live with any kind of hormonal imbalance.
So what can women do to lead a healthy life today? Especially for a woman, consumption of healthy dietary fat is crucial because their bodies need more of it to regulate the hormones. Consumption of healthy fats combined with elimination of high carb foods by substituting them with healthy carbs like vegetables will correct most of the hormonal imbalances. You must be wondering, how do I know that this will work? I know because of my own personal experiences! .
As a teen I had horrible acne throughout my body and it got worse as I entered adulthood. I tried everything from blood purifying tonics to various lotions to low fat diets and nothing worked because the culprit behind my acne was hormonal imbalance. I would have never guessed that because I lead a very active lifestyle and my periods were so regular. My doctor prescribed treatment with Birth control pills and it made a big difference but he discontinued the treatment when I questioned him about the scary side-effects specified on the pill's leaflet. Gradually my acne returned and I had to learn to live with it mentally and physically. If you have never had bad acne, it may sound petty to you but let me tell you that it is a psychological and physiological struggle! Having your face, arms, chest and back covered in acne does no good to your self esteem especially when people cry out "OMG what happened to your skin?" every time they see you, not to mention the constant pain and itch with blood and pus oozing out from time to time.
Despite the acne, I had considered myself healthy because of my strictly regular periods. My acne was something which I considered superficial while I was surrounded by women who had worse hormonal imbalances, they had irregular periods, worse PMS than me, painful periods, cysts and even PCOS. I never associated hormonal imbalance with diet because low-fat diet as suggested by many did not help me but doses of external hormones worked and were prescribed for other hormonal imbalances to my friends as well. So I thought that hormonal imbalance was something you just have to live with unless you are willing to take the massive risks that come with hormone therapy. As a result, I struggled with these issues all my life.
It was not until I turned 30 that I started having irregular periods which alarmed me and my "FAT" doctor asked me to reduce weight. "Can't you take out 30 mins from your day to do some exercise?" Not a bad advice, but why would I consider weight loss advice from a Doctor who cannot control their own weight? And if their own advice is not working for them, what are the chances that it would work for me? :-P. Still, I pushed myself to be more active in coming months but my periods were still fairly irregular. This continued till I decided to try Keto diet due to its publicized massive benefits in brain performance. To my surprise, just with 2 weeks on Keto my periods were back to regular and my PMS was gone. I had an epiphany and realized how much impact food can have on our hormones. After a few months I noticed that my skin was clearer. My acne, something I struggled with ALL MY LIFE was gone in a matter of months and I haven't seen a single pimple since then.
Why does Keto work? One of the major reasons that Keto works in balancing hormones is due to the elimination of Carbs. Since our bodies are not meant to deal with so much of carbohydrates that we intake today, years and years of excessive carb consumption has screwed up our hormones so when we eliminate the carbs, the levels of all hormones get back to baseline. Keto eliminates all the harmful foods and shifts focus to actual healthy and nutrient rich foods that your body needs to function efficiently and this ends up correcting hormonal imbalances.
If you have any kind of hormonal imbalance:
- Before you give up : Consider Keto
- Before considering risky hormone therapy : Consider Keto.
- Before spending thousands of bucks on medicines : Consider Keto.
Consider Keto. It may change your life like it changed mine.
