6 Benefits of Keto Diet for Men
Below, you’ll find more specific keto diet results in men by looking at its advantages.
1. Keto diet for men causes weight loss
Weight loss becomes harder to attain as we age. That’s no secret. You pack more fat and lose muscle as you get older, especially if you’re not exercising and optimizing your protein needs.
That is why the keto diet plays such a big role in helping you reach your weight loss goals. A randomized controlled trial involving 63 obese men and women showed how a low-carb diet was effective in achieving weight loss in 6 months compared to a conventional diet.
As for how much weight you can lose, that depends on various factors like activity, stress, and specific food choices. A safe weight loss rate would be 1-2 pounds per week, according to the CDC.
2. Keto diet for men preserves and builds muscle
A common myth about the keto diet is that it leads to muscle loss and strength due to the lack of carbs. That’s because carbs cause the release of insulin which supports muscle growth. But that doesn’t paint the whole picture.
If done correctly, by making sure you get optimal amounts of protein, keto preserves muscle mass. You can even use the keto diet to build muscle, strength, and improve your overall physique.
For example, in a study, 12 healthy men switched from their regular diet to a carb-restricted diet for 6 weeks.
As mentioned, make sure to eat enough protein to optimize muscle and strength gains on keto. Aim for 0.8 to 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight.
3. Keto diet for men may boost testosterone
Wondering if the keto diet can fix low T levels?
As it turns out, the answer is yes. Being overweight or obese increases your risk of having low testosterone.
In a study involving 1,667 men ages 40 and above, it was found that every 1-point increase in BMI was related to a 2% decrease in testosterone.
The ketogenic diet improves your testosterone levels in two ways. One is the reduction of carbs leading to weight loss. Second is an increase in dietary fat will support hormone production.
4. Keto diet for men may reverse non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is when you have fat in your liver. Obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, and smoking increases your risk of this condition. NAFLD is strongly associated with insulin resistance.
A lifestyle change such as keto reduces insulin resistance, helping prevent or even reverse NAFLD. In a small study, 5 patients with fatty liver were required to follow the keto diet for 6 months with a daily intake of less than 20 grams of carbs. This intervention resulted in weight loss and an improvement in fatty liver.
5. Keto diet for men reverses type 2 diabetes
Going low-carb can help people with diabetes by inducing weight loss, controlling blood sugar levels, and improving insulin sensitivity.
Virta Health developed a 1-year program in which T2D patients reduced their carbs and were also closely monitored. This resulted in a decrease in A1C and medication use. Other positive effects included a decrease in triglycerides and an increase in good cholesterol. Their blood pressure also improved.
As you probably already know, food plays such a huge role in affecting your blood sugar. Eating high amounts of carbs raises blood sugar to above-normal levels. As long as you maintain a low-carb diet, you won’t have to worry about diabetes returning or worsening.
Before you go keto, discuss with your healthcare provider. They may have to create a personalized plan so you can do this as safely as possible.
6. Keto diet for men increases energy levels
Optimal energy gets you through the day. It boosts your sense of well-being. If you’re often struggling with tiredness, you might want to reconsider your food choices. Your high-carb diet, to be specific.
While carbs can give you an extra edge in sports and fitness activities, overindulgence causes fatigue. Switching from carbs to fat as your primary energy source helps you to have stable energy.
Take note that better energy doesn’t happen overnight. Those who go keto for the first time will experience temporary fatigue as part of the keto flu. Once you get past this transition phase, you’ll feel better than ever.
Keto Diet for Men vs. Women
How women follow the keto diet can look different from men. Some of the factors that affect their progress or results include the following:
Female hormones
Women’s hormones can be very sensitive to changes in their diet.
Re-evaluate your keto diet. Are you doing it properly? For example, are you prioritizing nutrient-dense, whole foods? Are you getting enough calories? You might also need to examine your lifestyle. Maybe you’re under a lot of stress that’s also affecting your hormones.
Men tend to lose weight faster than women
When it comes to weight loss, men seem to achieve it more effortlessly. One good reason is that men pack more muscle than women. Muscle is metabolically active. It burns more calories even at rest(8).
Women pack more fat for a purpose: To prime their bodies for childbearing.
However, don’t let this discourage your female friends or partner from pursuing keto. Aside from maintaining that healthy low-carb life to continuously burn fat, incorporate weight-bearing exercises to develop lean body mass.
Men want to look bigger, leaner, and stronger
Men, in general, would like to look strong, thus the interest in bodybuilding. If you’re looking to use the keto diet for body recomposition (lose more fat, build more muscle) then you need to get keen on the numbers.
Know your macros. Take your protein requirements more seriously. Experiment with higher carb days or carb cycling. Find a strength training routine that you enjoy and can give you the best possible results. You might want to check out this great resource Ketogains for more in-depth knowledge.
Final Thoughts
The keto diet results in male health, fitness, and performance. I personally believe that this way of eating can change the lives of a lot of men worldwide.
One final note: Sex differences on keto shouldn’t serve as a hindrance in reaching your goals, whether you’re a male or female reading this article. Get the most out of your low-carb journey by following a personalized approach. Do what works for you in a healthy, sustainable way.
Why It’s Harder for Women to Lose Weight (+ Why Ketosis May Help)
If you and a man start a weight loss program together, exercise the same and stick to your calorie goals, that man is way more likely to not only lose more weight, but also do so faster.
No, it’s not fair; it’s science.
Women have more obstacles standing in their way to weight loss, including:
- Evolutionary makeup. As a female always preparing for potential pregnancy, you naturally have at least 10% more body fat stores and less muscle mass than males.
- And since muscle burns more calories than fat, guys typically have a higher metabolism as well. This means they get to burn more calories at rest than women, making weight loss easier for them.
- Undiagnosed PCOS, or poly cystic ovary syndrome, is the most common endocrine disorder affecting almost 10% of the female population yet 70% of women affected don’t know they have it.
- This hormonal imbalance causes irregular periods, insulin resistance, weight gain and difficulty staying out of the overweight/obese range.
- Menopause also causes the pounds to pack on, specifically in your lower abdomen. Your slower metabolism and your decreasing hormones create what’s affectionately referred to as a “meno-pot”, or menopause pot belly.
- These are just a few big reasons why you’ll have a harder time losing weight as a woman. But this doesn’t mean keto doesn’t work for you.
- In fact, doing keto as a woman can be excellent for your health when you do it right.
- Start keto and you’ll switch your body from running on carbs (and using glucose for energy) to running on fat (and your muffin top reserves).
What this means as a female is you get to:
When your body becomes fat-adapted it will recognize fat cells as a fuel source, meaning you can eat fewer calories while letting your body work off your fat stores for energy.
Improve insulin sensitivity. By reducing the amount of sugar (and insulin) in your bloodstream, you may naturally resolve PCOS, fertility and insulin resistance issues preventing your weight loss.
Restore your hormones. Carbs and excess sugar in your diet have serious effects on your hormonal balance. Reset your hormones with keto and you’ll start to see the scale budge in your favor.
Here’s the only hiccup: studies on keto are limited as is and a wide majority of them have only been performed on male participants and lab mice.
So even though research on keto for women is still emerging, let’s discuss what we know so far.
How Is Keto for Women Different than for Men?
Women have to think about and juggle these seven situations men don’t usually have to deal with when they go keto:
#1. Hormones
Female hormones are tied to everything from reproduction to stress to metabolism. They also fluctuate based on menstrual cycles, lack of sleep, and fewer carbs.
So even though guys have hormones too, yours are especially sensitive to dietary and lifestyle changes.
And since the keto diet is a fairly drastic switch for your body to handle, you can wreak havoc with your hormones if you’re not careful.
You may notice:
Lower estrogen levels on a keto diet if you’re in your baby-making years.
You’ll want to watch this as low estrogen levels can lead to a lower sex drive, vaginal dryness, and disruptions in both your sleep and mood.
Higher estrogen levels if you’re in menopause or the time right before it. Your estrogen levels are naturally declining during this time so a high-fat diet like keto is actually a good thing here.
Increased cortisol. Known as a stress hormone, cortisol goes nuts when it feels there isn’t enough glucose in your system to handle stress.
But when you have more sugar floating around in your blood, you’ll also increase insulin and that blocks weight loss.
#2. Your Period
No matter what you call it, periods suck. And women have to deal with them and those uncomfortable PMS symptoms every month (if they’re regular).
What makes PMS so difficult on a keto diet?
Cravings for sweets are much more intense, which obvi makes staying in keto a next-level challenge.
You feel bloated and weigh more since you’re holding on to more water.
Digesting food is a serious struggle because you’re so bloated and pain seems to be radiating from your belly down so you’re probably not even hungry.
Headaches are no joke and can compound into a keto headache if you’re not watching your water and electrolyte balance.
Cramps. Just the word alone makes you angry and want to huddle over with a box of chocolates, a plate of nachos or a pint of ice cream.
Guys get a pass on all these issues so it’s way easier for them to stay in ketosis all month while you’re miserable for two weeks.
Know what else can make you feel crummy?
#3. Going Too Low Carb Too Fast Can Make Life Worse
While eating too few carbs isn’t recommended for men on keto, you definitely can’t let this happen as a woman.
Since your body is super sensitive to dietary changes, the sudden decrease in carbs may send your body into the proverbial “starvation mode” where it will shut down fat burning and hold onto all your calories because it thinks you’re in a famine.
This shock to your system will not only cause hormones like cortisol to stall weight loss, you may actually gain weight in the process.
Simply adding a bit more carbs to your diet may give your hormones the green light that everything’s ok and it can start the weight loss process instead of hoarding your fat.
You’ll need more carbs in your diet if you are:
- Very active during the day
- Crushing killer workouts at moderate- to high-intensity at least 3x a week
- Bodybuilding/putting on lean muscle
- Having trouble recovering after your workouts
- In a weight loss stall
- In the prime no pause or menopause stage
- Pregnant or breastfeeding
We’ll talk more about how to control carbs the right way later. But you also need to watch your calories and not in the way you may be used to.
#4. Danger:
You May Not Eat Enough Calories
A keto diet naturally suppresses your appetite so you’re hungry less often.
You may think that sounds amazing, but it’s pretty unhealthy.
Yes, you need to create a calorie deficit in order to lose weight, but you also need to give your body an adequate amount of calories to perform its many important jobs.
So get over your fear of fat and embrace it in the name of weight loss.
While you’re diligently cutting carbs, you may need more fat on a keto diet as a woman if you’re:
- Active and burning off a lot during your day or workouts
- Pregnant or breastfeeding
- Experiencing irregular periods
- Suffering regular brain fog
- Prone to bacterial infections like UTIs, SIBO and yeast infections
- Craving sweets and caffeine on the regular.
#5. Pregnancy and Breastfeeding
Trying to get pregnant and not finding any luck?
A ketogenic diet is one of the most helpful ways to improve your chances of conceiving.
Most women learn they have fertility issues stemming from PCOS, which can cause your ovaries to stop ovulating and make pregnancy pretty impossible.
But in a study on women with PCOS, two women who previously struggled with infertility became pregnant when they switched to a low-carb keto diet.
What about keto during pregnancy?
You can use keto with a bun in the oven.
Our guide on ketosis during pregnancy covers this topic more in-depth so here’s a quick recap on what you need to do:
- Don’t aim for weight loss while pregnant. Your growing baby needs all the nutrients and calories possible to form vital parts of their body.
- Skip intermittent fasting, again because your baby will be starved of the nutrients it needs to grow and fully develop.
- Up your carbs because glucose is necessary for building muscles and other critical internal structures.
- Don’t cut calories when breastfeeding as that’s what’s responsible for your milk production. You’ll notice less milk supply the fewer calories you eat.
- Our final reason keto is harder for ladies hits in the feels.
#6. Mealtimes Can Be Tough
If you’re responsible for cooking and preparing
This will quickly take a toll on your willingness to stay in keto if you don’t have help to prep all your meals and those for everyone else.
Plus, since women tend to view mealtimes more as social gatherings than refueling sessions, it can feel isolating sticking to your keto guns while everyone around you happily gorges on your old faves.
So is all hope lost for women wishing to achieve success on keto?
Not on our watch!
How to Nail Keto for Women
A keto diet for women doesn’t have to be a fail for your body — it can be the biggest step up for your health.
Start with the biggest tip you’ll need to follow for a keto diet to work first:
#1: Limit Your Carbs Slowly
Unlike dudes who can decide to start a keto diet any random day and go from 300g of daily carbs in the Standard American Diet (SAD) to 25g, women need a little more time to adjust as we discussed.
If you haven’t started a keto diet yet, begin by tracking your regular food intake.
This will not only give you practice for measuring your food and tracking your macros in keto, it will also give you an average carb baseline for your body.
Let’s say you’re a typical American gal eating 250g of carbs per day.
Though you’ll get into ketosis faster the fewer carbs you eat, it doesn’t take drastic measures to find success.
When 24 women followed a low carb diet for eight weeks, they lost an average of 19 pounds and experienced significant reductions in their blood sugar levels, insulin resistance, triglycerides and free testosterone levels by simply limiting their net carbs to 70g per day.
That shows you don’t have to stay under 25g right off the bat to see results. Try this blueprint to ease your hormones into low-carb living:
Week one of your keto diet should begin with a goal of no more than 150g of daily net carbs. See if you can finish this first week somewhere near a daily 100g mark.
On week two of your keto diet, do the same thing; start around 100g early in the week and end close to 50g per day.
By the third week, you’ll be well on your way to the under 25g zone and near or in ketosis.
This gradual carb reduction will let your body adjust and adapt while you see what life is like with fewer carbs. Just make sure to listen to your body.
If you’re feeling tired, unable to finish your workouts and hungry often, you may need to add a few more carbs to your day until you’re fat adapted.
This next tip also works wonders for breaking weight loss stalls.
#2: Try Intermittent Fasting
How do women bust through their evolutionary fat reserves and kickstart weight loss ASAP?
With intermittent fasting.
Intermittent fasting is when you go 14–18 hours without eating any meals or snacks.
The most common type of intermittent fasting (IF) is the 16/8 method, which is when you fast for 16 hours of the day and only eat during a specific 8-hour window.
Intermittent fasting gives your body a break from the tiresome work of digesting foods.
During this time off, your body will work on repairing itself and balancing your hormones instead of going through the rigamarole of digestion.
And when your body finishes all these chores and gets a bit peckish, it will use your fat reserves for energy so you don’t take in more calories than you burn.
Fasting helps you reach ketosis faster so you lose weight sooner. One study showed over 84% of participants practicing IF saw significant weight loss results in just two months.
IF also preserves muscle mass while encouraging pure fat loss. When participants were split into groups in another trial, they consumed the same amount of calories but some used IF while others skipped it.
Researchers noticed IF participants not only lost more weight, they kept their muscles and lost pure fat instead.
Since we know muscles increase your metabolism and burn more calories at rest, this is a double whammy of greatness.
Research also shows intermittent fasting can lower your:
- Heart disease risks
- Cholesterol levels
- Inflammation
And in one study of close to 2,500 ladies, researchers had women extend their overnight fasting and learned:
Those fasting less than 13 hours had an increased risk of breast cancer compared with those who fasted 13 hours or more.
Each 2-hour fasting increase was associated with lower blood sugar levels and longer nighttime sleep.
The easiest way to get into intermittent fasting is by eating a light dinner before 8 pm, tucking in for a full night’s rest and not eating when you wake up until you’ve hit the minimum 14-hour fasting mark.
Since you should be getting eight hours of sleep every night, you’re already halfway through your fasting portion by the time you wake up.
Try to fast every other day.
To learn more about IF on keto, check out our intermittent fasting guide after this article.
#3: Learn How to Smartly Feed Your PMS Cravings
We’re not all the same when it comes to PMS food cravings, but generally women around this time of the month dream of chocolate, carbs and high-calorie junk food.
Luckily the Perfect Keto kitchen has you covered. Try one or more of these keto recipes for PMS when the storm hits:
Sweet:
- Keto Bars
- Healthy Homemade Keto Chocolate Bars
- Chocolate Keto Chia Pudding
- Chocolate Mint Keto Ice Cream
- Keto Chocolate Mug Cake
- Keto Brownies with Peppermint Crunch
- Chocolate Chip Keto Cookies
- Chocolate Sea Salt Peanut Butter Bites
Salty:
- Crispy Kale Chips
- Creamy Keto Cauliflower Mac and Cheese
- Keto Jalapeño Poppers
- Creamy Keto Spinach Artichoke Dip
- Celeriac Everything Oven Fries
And by all means stay away from the scale before and during your period week for your mental and emotional health.
But try not to ignore the gym — exercise does help with cramps, after all.
#4: Add Resistance Training
Consciously building muscles won’t turn you into a jacked meathead.
Having more muscles will boost your metabolism, burn more calories at rest and make your physique look better despite not losing any weight.
Plus, strength training led to better reproductive function and decreased belly fat in a four-week study of 45 sedentary women with PCOS, which is no easy feat.
So work out with weights at least twice a week for 20–30 minutes.
You can keep track of all your workouts in your keto journal.
#5: Track Your Food Intake and Keep a Keto Journal
You’ll need to track your food intake on keto to make sure you’re hitting all your macros (and not going over your carbs or protein).
But you should also consider keeping a keto journal.
Since the female body is so sensitive to changes, you can use this space to record how you’re feeling in keto life.
Here you’ll be able to monitor stats and changes like your:
- Body goals
- Weight
- Body measurements
- Exercises
- Moods and emotions
- Energy levels
- Workout recovery
- Cravings
Even though you may not feel like tracking all this stuff, it will be astoundingly helpful for your doctor or gyno over the long term. You may be able to pinpoint patterns or even foods you don’t tolerate well.
And if your body needs extra supplements, you’ll have a better understanding of which ones will help the most.
#6: Consider Keto-Friendly Supplements
Women are more prone to urinary tract infections (UTIs) but the go-to cranberry juice prevention and remedy has way too much sugar to be keto-friendly.
Don’t stop taking this powerful antioxidant, just find a low-carb cranberry extract supplement you can pop for all the same benefits.
You can also add collagen protein to your diet for better hair, nails, skin, joints, and digestion.
If you don’t know all the benefits of collagen, now’s the time to find out.
Exogenous ketones can help you reach ketosis faster when you’re just starting keto or coming off a cheat day so they top the list as one of the best keto supplements money can buy.
With all this information on keto for women, you’re ready to take control of your life and get started!
Though keto for women takes a bit more homework and paying attention to get right, it can be the best decision you’ll ever make for your health, appearance and well-being.
Follow today’s keto tips for women and try not to beat yourself up if you don’t lose as much weight in the beginning as other keto success stories.
Your scale victory will be worth the wait if you put in the effort and educate yourself with the right resources.
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