Few carbohydrates, little time: If you follow the keto diet and interval fasting at the same time, you could lose weight in record time. But how healthy is the combination?
If you’ve tried to lose weight lately, you’ve probably heard of the keto diet. But intermittent fasting – also known as interval fasting or IF for short – is also one of the current diet trends you can’t get past.
Both methods work and are proven to be successful but have completely different approaches and rules. But basically, they pursue the same goal: to lose weight.
So it makes sense to combine the two diets to lose weight even faster. We’ll tell you how beneficial the combination of interval fasting and keto is after we’ve taken a look at the basics and basic rules of the two food trends.
How does interval fasting work?
Almost everyone is probably familiar with the term fasting and knows that it involves a strict abstention from food for several days or weeks.
With interval fasting, the fasting phases are much shorter and therefore more suitable for everyday life: with the 16:8 method (you may also know it as the 8-hour diet), for example, you may only eat for 8 hours and then fast for 16 hours.
So you could eat breakfast at 10 am and have to finish your dinner by 6 pm. You can set the time window as you like, depending on whether you like breakfast or always skip it anyway. Intermittent fasting is therefore primarily about the limited time for eating, not about the food itself.
Theoretically, anything that tastes good is allowed, but at the end of the day, your calorie deficit determines whether and how much you lose weight.
If you don’t constantly exceed your calorie needs during the 8 hours and eat more calories than burn, you will lose weight naturally with the help of Intermittent Fasting.
How to lose weight with the keto diet?
While intermittent fasting limits your food intake to a specific time, the ketogenic diet is all about eating as few carbs as possible.
So low carb? Well, no, not exactly. Keto is also known as the no-carb method because you are only allowed a maximum of 50 grams of carbohydrates per day.
For comparison, a low-carb diet allows you to eat up to 120 grams a day. The lack of carbohydrates forces your metabolism to change and go into what is called ketosis.
So your body does not get its energy from carbohydrates (sugar) as usual but from fat. This is converted in the liver into ketone bodies and then used as an alternative for energy production.
Instead of Carbs come with Keto followers; therefore much protein and plentifully fat on the table.
Can you combine keto and intermittent fasting?
Of course, it’s possible, but we wouldn’t recommend it. Why?
Moreover, both diets have their own rules to follow, especially the keto diet is quite strict and not always easy to follow through.
Following one diet form is exhausting. Going through two at the same time is a real challenge and means stress for your body. That’s why, for example, you may end up with vitamin or mineral deficiencies due to the strict nutritional rules of the ketogenic diet.
You are so focused on eating as few carbs and as many fats and protein as possible that you forget to eat enough vegetables. But they contain many healthy ingredients, such as essential vitamins and phytochemicals, which can even protect you from diseases.
Choose a weight-loss method.
Combining keto and IF means one thing above all: stress for the body and mind. And there is nothing to stop you from trying out one of the two diet strategies if you want to lose more wight.
The 8-hour diet, for example, can be easily integrated into everyday life and is easy to follow. It is also not a “diet” in the classic sense, but a form of nutrition you can follow for years without health risks.
Combining two strict diet concepts sounds like it holds better, but it backfires because it overtaxes the body. Choose one principle for yourself and test it. If you don’t like it, try the next one.
