Keto Diet for Women: Benefits, Food List & Tips to Overcome Side Effects

The Ketogenic diet is far from being a "new fashion food", where very low carbohydrates, high-fat diets - have been used by doctors since 1920 to treat patients with serious illnesses. In recent years keto diet has steadily gained more attention, because of how it increases weight loss by forcing the body to burn fat for energy. More than ever, a wider audience is now considering trying the keto diet, including those interested in benefits beyond weight loss. Examples include reduced risk of diabetes, increased energy and protection against age-related neurologic diseases.

One problem with the keto diet, however, is that to date, research studies aimed at investigating its efficacy and safety involve only men or animals (especially mice). Some people are skeptical that keto diet can work well for women. Others question whether it is a good idea for women to even try keto given the fact that female hormones tend to be more sensitive to dietary changes and lifestyle.

According to some women's health experts - such as Dr. Anna Cabeca, a double certified ob-Gyn and Regenerative and Anti-Aging Medicine - following an alkaline ketogenic diet may be one of the most helpful lifestyle of women.

From his experience, "The keto-alkaline diet appreciates the natural design of our body." Dr. Cabeca has personally treated more than 10,000 women through a combination of online programs and home care, seeing first hand the dramatic results that keto dietary bases can produce.

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Does Keto Diet Work for Women?

The answer is yes! In the years where Dr. Cabeca has been using keto diet to help care for women, especially in perimenopause or menopause, she hardly ever sees a diet failing to yield any benefits. Clients and patients experience weight loss, improved blood sugar control, better quality sleep and less menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes or night sweats.

Dr. Cabeca put forward the concept of combining an alkaline diet with keto diet after weighing the benefits of low-carb meals on the one hand, with some of the negative feedback he gets from clients on the other. Although many clients lose weight quickly and reliably while reducing their carbohydrate intake, many are reported to deal with side effects such as nausea, fatigue and constipation due to keto diet.

The keto diet involves getting up to 80 percent of daily calories from healthy fatty sources, a significant change for most of his patients who are used to running carbohydrates, caffeine and sugar for energy. It became clear that there were other things to be adjusted to prevent the side effects associated with keto diet. This is when he finds the idea to focus on restoring alkalinity first and foremost.

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FAQ About Keto Diet for Women:



1. How exactly does the alkaline diet fit into keto? And why is it so important for women?

While ketogenic diets help normalize blood sugar (glucose) levels and can help you maintain or achieve a healthy weight, an alkaline diet is beneficial for its anti-aging effects - especially decreasing inflammation, improving detoxification, and improving hormone, immune and even more. . Traditional ketogenic foods usually miss important factors to restore alkalinity. For many patients the key is to achieve basic pH first before starting keto so as not to feel anxious, anxious, uncomfortable or too hungry.

How does the alkaline diet work?

An alkaline diet supports overall health - including reducing symptoms associated with infertility, PMS or menopause - by helping to balance your internal pH level and improve nutrient absorption. Eating foods that contain essential but less acidic minerals can alleviate common symptoms or disorders by promoting a more alkaline environment, a natural, preferred state of the body. Research shows that maintaining more alkaline urine pH levels can protect healthy cells and improve intestinal health.

Also known as the "alkaline ash diet," reducing acidity (such as from coffee / caffeine, alcohol, refined grains or processed meats) has benefits for the cardiovascular system because of how to prevent plaque buildup in blood vessels, can help reduce kidney stones, bone mass and is useful for reducing muscle wasting due to aging.

What kind of negative effects might a pH level that is too acidic to contribute? Some of these include: bone loss, muscle loss, and higher susceptibility to frequent infections or diseases. One way to track whether your body is adapting well to an alkaline diet is to test your urine pH level. The pH scale ranges from 1 to 14, with seven neutrals and some higher than seven alkaline beings. The goal is to ideally have a urine alkaline pH level between 7.0-7.5 (slightly more alkaline than acid).

2. Does the keto alkaline diet prevent energy shortages and other side effects that some people feel when they try a low-carb diet?

Most likely, yes. A common finding is that focusing on eating an alkaline diet other than a low-carbohydrate keto diet will dramatically help reduce the side effects for many women (as well as men!). The reason is because of high nutritional intake, increase detoxification and reduce dependence on the "top" like caffeine (some even overdose on caffeine) and sugar for energy.

3. What other factors should be considered, other than a person's diet, which may affect their pH level?

Although it is a very important factor, your diet is not the only variable that affects your pH and hormone levels. Other factors that affect the alkalinity, in addition to the foods you eat, include: the level of stress you face each day, how much you sleep each night, the amount of sun exposure you get and the level of environmental poisoning you experience. exposed.

4. Intermittent fasting (IMF) is often recommended in concerts with ketogenic diets. But many are wondering whether the IMF is recommended or not.

According to Dr. Cabeca, "Fasting is a key aspect of a healthy diet and has many anti-aging effects." Dr. Cabeca recommends that fasting to women during or after menopause due to anti-aging effects. For example, a 2016 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that when women went 12.5 hours between dinner and breakfast (a common form of fasting), overnight fasting seemed to help improve the functioning immune system to the point of diminishing . their risk of breast cancer

Why intermittent fasting benefits women, especially if they are experiencing perimenopause or menopause? Fasting allows the body to take a break from digestive function and instead focus on important repair work and reap many other break benefits. In other words, during fasting, the body's energy source switches to restorative work (such as tissue repair and hormonal balancing) rather than the digestive process such as producing stomach acid to break food.

She has found that when women continue to eat lighter dinners, and then keep away from eating for about 13-15 hours between dinner and breakfast, they gain weight, control blood sugar, and others. She recommends that women try to avoid eating after 8 pm or experiment with eating only two meals per day, with tea or broth between meals to help overcome hunger. Another option is to try to skip dinner altogether 1-2 days a week. For most women, when trying the IMF, it is not advisable to eat between meals unless the woman is very active (like an athlete in training) or dealing with hormonal issues such as adrenal fatigue.

5. How long should the keto alkaline diet be followed?

The best way to approach these eating changes as a way to feel better and to be healthier, not as a "quick diet" or weight loss quickly. Dr. Cabeca recommends giving it six months to test its effect, keeping in mind that some trial and error is expected. The ideal diet should be approached in a wise way, focusing on alkalis first before adding in the fast and keto aspects.

Keto for women guide.

General Complaints or Side Effects of Keto + How to Overcome them

Tip # 1: Eat More Alkaline Food

How can women actually eat alkaline foods and keep them ketosis? Is there food to avoid eating albeit technically "low carb"? Dr. Cabeca feels very important to add a large selection of low carbohydrate (fruit and vegetable) carbohydrates to the ketogenic diet for optimal benefits and side effects prevention. He especially recommends nutrient-dense foods such as avocados and dark green vegetables.

Here is a list of foods without carbohydrates for low carbohydrate foods that women (as well as men) can include in the keto alkaline diet:

Green like kale, chard, green beet, dandelion, spinach, wheat grass, alfalfa grass, etc. Other non-starchy vegetables such as mushrooms, tomatoes, avocados, radishes, cucumbers, jicama, broccoli, oregano, garlic, ginger, green beans, endif, cabbage, celery, zucchini and asparagus.

Ideally, try to consume some of your products raw or just lightly cooked (like steamed), as raw foods can help supply high levels of alkaline minerals.

Add other super foods like maca, spirulina, sea vegetables, bone broth and a mixture of green powder containing chlorophyll.

Healthy fats such as coconut oil, mCT oil or virgin olive oil. Fats found in wild-caught fish, grass-fed beef, egg-free eggs, beans, grass-fed seeds and butter are also good dietary supplements.

Small amounts of flour plants such as sweet potatoes, turnips and beets can also be included in the diet, although they should normally be stored in lower quantities because they contain more sugar and carbohydrates.

If possible, try ingestion of alkaline water. Alkaline water has a pH of 9 to 11, making it a better choice than tap water or purified water that is more acidic.

To reduce your intake of toxins and chemicals, you should buy organic products whenever possible and pay extra for grass-fed livestock products. Plants grown in mineral solid organic soils tend to be more alkalizing and supplying the most bang-for-your-buck.



While they may be good at all times and then, it is generally not advisable to eat lots of high-carb fruit or vegetables that taste very sweet to keep ketosis. While working to achieve a more alkaline ketogenic state (ketosis), try to minimize or eliminate these foods:

- Grains (even grains)

- Most dairy products (sometimes yogurt in a little bit full / kefir or cheese can be fine)

- Try to have only eggs, lentils and nuts such as nuts in small quantities, because it is more acidic than other proteins. Avoid processed meats including cold cuts, or factory raising meat farms, which increase the acidity.

- Caffeine

- Alcohol

- Other processed foods are numerous containing sodium, sugars, synthetic materials and fillers

Tip # 2: Try "Crescendo Fasting" (or any other carb cycling type)

There are various ways to practice intermittent fasting, including some that tend to trigger side effects such as fatigue or cravings. Fast Crescendo gives you a break from fasting throughout your week, but it is still very helpful to make a profit from the IMF. Cabeca and other experts, such as Amy Shah, MD, advise their patients to check their urine ketone levels (using ketone strips) and to test positively ketones about three days per week.

Work for cycling on fasting so you fast for 2-3 consecutive days per week (eg Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday). Keep an opportunity for mild exercise or yoga on the day of fasting to reduce fatigue or hunger, maintain higher intensity activities for your non-fasting days. This approach allows more diet and lifestyle "moderation" because the goal is not to eat 100 percent "perfect" all the time.

Tip # 3: Managing Stress & Rest Enough

Overcoming the main source of physical and emotional stress in your life is very important for the healing of hormonal imbalances and fertility problems. Try to sleep 7-9 hours every night to rearrange your hormones every day. Lack of sleep can greatly affect your digestion, your appetite and your energy level!

Some ways to manage stress include: getting enough movement and moderate exercise, yoga and / or meditation, walking slowly outside, journaling or reading, becoming more social by joining some kind of group or team, resting more, praying, etc.

Tip # 4: Preventing Constipation With More Fiber & Water

If your body has trouble adjusting to keto diet, try eating more fiber from vegetables, nuts or seeds and also drink enough water to help hydrate the gut to relieve constipation. Dr. Cabeca recommends to start the day with a large glass of hot water with lemon and a pinch of cayenne pepper.

For the rest of the day try to drink half your weight in ounces of water every day (for example, 65 ounces or slightly more than 8 glasses if it weighs about 130 kilograms). Taking probiotics is also a great idea because of how it helps fix the intestines with healthy "good bacteria."

Precautions Regarding Keto Diet for Women

In addition to constipation and an early desire for carbohydrates or sugar, other side effects you may experience when switching to a keto alkaline diet (especially if you also start fasting) may include: bad breath, menstrual problems, adrenal or thyroid problems, fatigue or low energy levels

Although sometimes it gets worse before it heals, it should be treated within a few weeks to several months after following the tips and programs mentioned above. This is especially true if you try to stay active (walking, ideally outside, for at least 20-30 minutes each day), sleeping soundly and reducing stress. Drink plenty of water, herbal teas or bone broth to prevent dehydration, and exercise easily if you feel a shortage of fuel.

It should also be mentioned that if you have a history of irregular menstruation, any type of eating disorder, or thyroid disorder than it is best to start this type of diet program only when guided by your doctor or nutritionist. Pregnant women or those who are breastfeeding should not start a keto diet to be safe. A professional can help you relieve the keto alkaline diet in a moderate and safe way if you are not sure how to do this at your disposal, giving you feedback so the diet will not interfere with hormone production, appetite, sleep, or mental focus.

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The Final Thoughts on the Keto Diet for Women

According to most studies, women respond more strongly to dietary changes, including lowering their carbohydrate intake. Side effects on keto diet (very low carbohydrates, high-fat diets) can include fatigue and hunger, but incorporating a keto diet with an alkaline diet can alleviate this symptom for most women, as well as men.

An alkaline diet is a complete food that has a positive effect on blood pH levels and urine by lowering the acidity. The alkaline keto diet benefits women by increasing weight loss, detoxification, heart health, stronger bones, decreased swelling and reversal of nutritional deficiencies. Foods that are emphasized as part of the keto alkaline diet include non-starchy vegetables, raw foods, green juice, lean protein and lots of healthy fats. High-sugar foods, carbohydrates and acids to avoid include: added sugars, high-sodium foods, processed grains, too much meat and animal protein, milk and dairy products, alcohol and caffeine.

Referensi

Dr. Axe
Dr. Anna Cabeca