The Keto Diet for Women: Are Women Suited to a Ketogenic Diet?

The ketogenic diet mimics the effects of a fasting diet. Optimising your cognitive focus, sense of smell, taste and hearing so that you can hunt and gather more effectively during a period of scarcity.

Ketosis is a metabolic survival mechanism which primes you for catching your next meal—think of your Palaeolithic ancestors.

For women, this can sometimes be problematic. A short-term keto diet for women can be excellent for eliminating inflammation, optimising energy and increasing fat loss. However, following a ketogenic diet long term essentially tells the woman’s body that they are living in a time of scarcity and stress…which can cause increases in cortisol and can negatively disrupt the fertility cycle.

It can be more beneficial for women to cycle a ketogenic diet or follow a low carb diet, as women do need more carbohydrates than men, particularly during the luteal cycle (just before a period). Here is a link to some research on male and female rats on a ketogenic diet.

The Keto diet for women works brilliantly short term for fat loss, reducing inflammation, alleviating neurological issues, stabilising blood sugar levels and increasing insulin sensitivity, can initially reset hormones and clear up skin.

However, long term we believe a low carb diet is more suitable for women—in general. Obviously, activity levels, ancestry, geographic location, age and overall health are important factors to take into consideration when adapting lifestyle changes.

The Keto diet for women: Learn how to adapt the ketogenic diet for you here.

Want to learn more about your hormones? Follow @ketosupplements @whealth.co  @drannacabeca @thefunctionalforce @drcarriejones @drfionand @drnasha over on instagram.

Are you a woman following a ketogenic or low arb diet? Let us know your experiences in the comments below.