Benefits of Combining Keto with Intermittent Fasting

Both intermittent fasting and keto are powerful strategies that can help you burn fat, stabilize blood sugar levels, reduce the risk of insulin resistance, and promote overall metabolic health.

Discover how combining intermittent fasting, keto, and nutrient-rich foods can help you achieve your weight loss and health goals.

What is keto?

The ketogenic diet, also known as the keto diet, is a low-carb eating pattern primarily focused on limiting daily carbohydrate intake to 20 to 50 grams while increasing fat consumption. 

When carbohydrate intake is restricted, the body begins to deplete its glycogen stores, which are chains of glucose reserves found in the liver and muscles. 

Once glycogen stores are spent, the liver begins converting fatty acids into ketones, resulting in a metabolic state known as nutritional ketosis. This is the primary goal of ketogenic diets, as it shifts the body’s energy source from glucose to dietary fats and stored body fat.

Not only does ketosis facilitate fat burning, but ketones also serve as a highly efficient fuel for brain, heart, and muscle cells. In fact, ketones generate more adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is the primary energy source for cells, per carbon atom, than glucose. 

Moreover, because ketones don’t cause insulin spikes, they help prevent the energy crashes and fatigue often associated with high-carb diets. 

There are several variations of the ketogenic diet, including the classic ketogenic diet, the standard ketogenic diet, cyclical keto, and dirty keto. 

However, most of these variations predominantly focus on macronutrient ratios, often neglecting the significance of food quality and micronutrient requirements.

Research published in Nutrients highlights that overly restrictive or low-quality keto diets may lead to nutritional deficiencies, reduced gut microbiome diversity, and metabolic imbalances. 

Conversely, a well-structured and nutritious keto diet, such as Healthy Keto®, can offer notable health benefits.

Healthy Keto prioritizes high-quality wild-caught fish, grass-fed and pasture-raised proteins, organic full-fat dairy, non-genetically modified (GMO) vegetables, and healthy fats while keeping carbohydrate intake low.

By focusing on nutrient-dense whole foods and avoiding ultra-processed foods, Healthy Keto not only offers the benefits of carbohydrate restriction but also promotes optimal nutrient status, which is vital for maintaining a healthy body. 

Watch the video below to learn the health benefits of combining keto and intermittent fasting.

What is intermittent fasting?

Intermittent fasting is a time-restricted eating schedule that limits the hours in which meals are consumed. 

Some of the most popular intermittent fasting approaches are the 16:8 or 18:6 schedules, which involve fasting for 16 or 18 hours and eating within an 8 or 6-hour window, respectively. 

This approach aims to enhance and deepen ketosis and promote the body’s natural regenerative process, autophagy.

Autophagy is the body’s recycling system that removes damaged cellular material and repurposes it for energy and repair. 

This essential process can help protect against aging, disease, and neurodegeneration by cleansing cells, reducing inflammation and oxidative stress, and supporting optimal mitochondrial function.

3 benefits of combining keto with intermittent fasting

Combining keto and intermittent fasting is an excellent strategy to enhance metabolic health and accelerate fat loss.

Dr. Berg explains, “Together, keto and intermittent fasting give you the whole package–fat loss, anti-aging benefits, improved cognitive function, and a healthier body overall.”

Here are three benefits of combining keto and intermittent fasting.

1. Accelerated fat adaptation and weight loss

Intermittent fasting quickly depletes glycogen stores, helping your body enter ketosis faster. 

During fasting periods, insulin levels decrease, which allows the body to efficiently burn fat stored in adipose tissue for energy. 

Because insulin is the primary fat-storing hormone, maintaining low levels through carbohydrate restriction and fasting can support sustainable weight loss while preserving muscle mass. 

Combining fasting with a ketogenic diet can be highly effective in reducing visceral fat. This type of fat is particularly harmful, as it surrounds vital organs and is associated with an increased risk of heart disease and metabolic disorders.

2. Reduced food cravings

Keto and intermittent fasting work together to stabilize blood sugar levels, decrease insulin production, and suppress hunger hormones such as ghrelin. This combination helps control appetite and curbs sugar cravings.

Ketones also stimulate the release of satiety hormones, including cholecystokinin (CCK) and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), enhancing feelings of fullness.

These hormonal effects of fasting and keto help extend fasting periods, reduce cravings, and encourage continuous fat burning, all while preventing persistent hunger.

3. Improved cognitive health

Combining keto with longer fasting periods enhances ketone production and can trigger autophagy, promoting brain health and protecting against cognitive decline.

A study published in Autophagy highlights autophagy’s vital role in maintaining neuronal health and preventing neurodegeneration.

The study showed that deleting key autophagy-related genes in mice caused abnormal protein buildup, motor dysfunction, and rapid neuronal damage. 

This underscores autophagy’s essential cleansing effects in maintaining neuronal homeostasis and safeguarding brain function.

Additionally, ketones have been shown to reduce oxidative stress and promote the production of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein essential for brain health.

Ketones can also easily cross the blood-brain barrier, providing a steady and efficient alternative energy source for neurons when glucose is scarce.  

Research published in the British Journal of Nutrition found that ketones’ ability to supply energy to the brain may help mitigate poor cognition in individuals with mild cognitive impairment and early Alzheimer’s disease.

How to get started

If you’re new to keto and intermittent fasting, it’s best to transition gradually to allow your body to adapt.

Start by implementing a Healthy Keto eating plan and learning to identify and eliminate potential sources of hidden sugar and refined carbohydrates, which spike insulin and inhibit fat burning. 

Prioritize balanced meals that will provide your body with the essential nutrients it needs to keep you feeling satiated and energized. 

Focus on incorporating 7 to 10 cups of leafy greens or non-starchy vegetables daily to provide minerals and fiber, which can help prevent electrolyte imbalances and support digestion. 

Include moderate amounts of high-quality protein such as grass-fed beef, pasture-raised eggs, or wild-caught fatty fish seasoned with sea salt to support muscle maintenance, mineral balance, and satiety. 

Ensure that you include plenty of healthy fats, such as beef tallow and grass-fed butter. These are essential for supplying the fatty acids that keep your body energized.

To monitor your progress, consider testing your blood glucose and ketone levels. Tracking these markers helps determine how well your body is adapting to ketosis and can pinpoint foods that may disrupt fat burning.

When you’re ready to ease into intermittent fasting, start by reducing meal frequency and eliminating snacks between meals to encourage your body to tap into stored fat for fuel.

Most people begin by skipping either breakfast or dinner to extend their fasting period. While some prefer skipping breakfast to stay sharp during peak working hours, others skip dinner to improve sleep quality and maximize overnight fasting. 

Once you’re comfortable with fewer meals, the goal is to gradually consolidate your eating into a specific window. This will allow your body to experience longer, uninterrupted fasting periods that promote autophagy. 

An 18:6 pattern is an effective target for most beginners. This approach supports light autophagy, enhances fat burning, improves insulin sensitivity, and encourages cellular repair, all while maintaining steady energy levels. 

For more profound cellular cleanup, extended fasting periods, such as 20:4 or an occasional 24-hour fast, can further deepen autophagy and maximize the health benefits of ketosis. 

Key takeaways

Combining intermittent fasting, keto principles, and nutrient-rich whole foods is a transformative way to achieve your weight loss goals and optimize your health at a cellular level. 

Adopting keto and extending fasting windows triggers the metabolic shift to fat burning, which supports weight loss, helps stabilize blood sugar levels, and boosts energy levels.

Moreover, implementing a Healthy Keto diet that emphasizes high-quality, nutrient-dense whole foods while eliminating harmful ultra-processed options supplies your body with essential nutrients to support vital cellular functions and overall health.

FAQ

Sources

1. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8153354/ 
2. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15548627.2023.2250217#abstract 
3. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-of-nutrition