The Keto Diet for Men – How It Can Benefit Male Needs

The keto diet is a very popular option for anyone trying to lose weight. However, it involves eating a lot more fat and almost no carbohydrates. For the average active man, this can raise a lot of questions.

Can the body get all the energy it needs without carbohydrates? Will eating more fat increase a person’s body fat percentage? Can a ketogenic diet throw off your body composition and affect your testosterone?

These are great questions. What do you need to know about the keto diet for men? Does it even work for them? Well, that’s what we’re here to learn, so let’s get right to it.

What Is the Keto Diet?

The ketogenic diet, or keto diet, focuses on two main facets: very low carbohydrate intake and increased intake of healthy fats. Protein intake on the ketogenic diet is typically moderate.

The keto diet is most popular as a weight loss solution. However, you may be wondering how a high-fat diet can help someone trying to reduce their body fat.

A keto diet is an effective weight loss solution thanks to a bodily state called “ketosis.” 

The body normally relies on glucose for energy, which comes from the carbohydrates we eat. If you don’t consume enough calories, your body will store the excess energy and carbohydrates as fat, which is the typical way a person’s body weight increases.

The keto diet aims to eliminate carbohydrates and glucose as your body’s primary source of energy and use fat instead.

By reducing your carbohydrate intake as much as possible and replacing it with a high fat intake, your body will begin to use that fat for energy. These fats are broken down into “ketones” that can be used to fuel your cells. That’s when you’ve achieved ketosis.

Does Keto Work for Men?

From what was described above, it is clear that the keto diet reprograms, in a sense, how your body processes the food you eat. Your nutritional intake also changes considerably.

As a result, you might want to know, does keto work for men, or are you better off using an alternative diet?

Well, you’ll be glad to know that the keto diet does work for men, and it works just as well as it does for anyone else.

In fact, as a man, a keto diet may be right up your alley as it can help you burn fat while you still retain your lean muscle mass.

One study was able to show that it doesn’t only help with weight loss, but after just 6 weeks, it was able to significantly increase muscle mass.

If you’re interested in seeing all that the ketogenic diet can do for you as a man, you should spare 1 minute to do this quiz and see how fast this regimen can get you to your target weight.

Keto and Testosterone

The male body is able to maintain sufficient testosterone levels on a low-fat, balanced diet. On a low-carb keto diet, the composition of nutrients your body receives is significantly different. Does this have any effect on testosterone levels?

Research suggests that this might be the case. A very low-calorie ketogenic diet was given to 22 men with obesity, and testosterone levels were one of the variables observed after 7 and 28 days.

In both cases, this low-calorie keto diet showed a significant increase in the testosterone levels of these men.

While this study was observing a very low-calorie ketogenic diet, the same results have been seen in normal-calorie keto diets, too, though not as evident.

This means that keto for men can be used for weight loss but also to boost low testosterone.

7 Benefits of Keto for Men

If you’re a man, the keto diet may be perfect for you. There are so many benefits that you and your body can get from this low-carb diet.

Let’s talk about a handful of them to motivate you.

#1 Weight loss

Weight loss is the primary pull of the ketogenic diet for many people. This low-carb diet pushes the body to burn fat for energy instead of relying on carbs.

Whether you’re a woman or a man, you’ll probably find that fat loss is more accessible with this diet than it is with others. As a man, you might find it even more appealing since it can help make your muscular definition more prominent.

This diet is proven to help with weight loss, but exactly how much weight you lose will depend mostly on your level of physical activity and your caloric intake. The first week of keto will be the most noticeable as most of the weight loss is water weight.

#2 Builds muscle

Insulin is associated with blood sugar control, but it also contributes to muscle development. Because a reduction in total carbohydrates reduces how much insulin your body releases, you might expect keto to make muscle growth more difficult.

Conversely, the ketogenic diet has been shown to increase muscle mass. Coupled with its weight loss benefits, keto can be perfect for active gym-goers. Working out on keto is a good strategy to lose body fat and increase muscle mass.  

The Keto Cycle community has coaches and personal trainers to help you reach your goals faster.

#3 Helps treat hypogonadism

Low testosterone levels can be a result of a medical state known as hypogonadism, which is when the sex organs don’t produce enough of the sex hormones.

Studies have been able to prove that men who jump onto the ketogenic diet are very likely to experience a significant increase in the levels of their testosterone.

How does the keto diet work to do this, though? Well, there are two major mechanisms that are assumed to be responsible for this.

The first is that men who are overweight are more likely to deal with hypogonadism, so with the weight loss from keto, this cause can be eliminated.

The second is that increased sugar intake has been linked to low testosterone, so by cutting out sugar intake with a low-carb diet, you can eliminate this cause.

#4 Helps treat non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is a group of medical conditions where there is fat accumulation in the liver, but the cause is not due to the consumption of alcoholic beverages.

While keto may be able to treat a variety of other conditions, it is slightly surprising that increased intake of fats can positively impact a disease characterized by fat buildup in an organ.

Even after just 6 days of a keto diet, there were positive changes seen in the livers of patients who were being treated for this disease.

#5 Increased energy levels

Essentially everyone can benefit from increased energy levels, regardless of if they work a desk job or something more physically intensive. Increased energy doesn’t mean you’ll be bouncing off the walls, but it can be as mild as simply avoiding excessive fatigue.

Although it does not hit right away, once you stick to the keto diet for long enough and get past the keto flu, you’ll begin to feel a lot more energetic than you ever have.

#6 Increased HDL cholesterol

Cholesterol is usually thought of as a substance that only causes problems in the body and should, therefore, be kept as low as possible. This isn’t quite the case, however, as there are different types of cholesterol, and they have different functions in the body.

High-density lipoprotein, or HDL, cholesterol is also called “good cholesterol.” This is because it can help mop up the other bad forms of cholesterol from the blood.

The keto diet has been shown to decrease the triglycerides (fat) and bad cholesterol in the blood while increasing the HDL cholesterol.

#7 Stabilized blood sugar

The composition of the food you eat has a huge effect on your blood sugar and blood insulin. When carbs are the primary macronutrient you take in, you’re bound to see an increase in these levels.

By switching to a low-carbohydrate diet, your blood sugar is likely to reduce and stabilize because carbohydrates no longer have as much of an influence.

This can be very helpful for patients with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes who are trying to manage their condition with lifestyle changes.

Keto for Men vs. Women

Although it might not seem like it initially, there are some good reasons why you can’t look at the keto diet for men and women in the same way.

Below are the basic reasons for this:

• Hormonal differences. Men and women both have hormones such as testosterone and estrogen but at very different levels. For women, the keto diet can potentially cause mild symptoms, such as changes in their menstrual cycle.
• Different body goals. The body composition goal of many men tends to be low body fat with a significant amount of lean muscle mass. Very few women desire the same. As a result, a keto diet plan for men has them focus much more on the numbers, paying particular attention to their protein intake while still exercising regularly.
• Ease of losing weight isn’t the same. Simply put, men tend to find it easier to lose weight than women. This is due to individual body composition – men have a higher percentage of muscle, and muscle burns fat faster. Women’s bodies are biologically designed to have a higher percentage of fat.

Things to Know Before You Get Started

As attractive as the keto diet might seem and regardless of how much enthusiasm you have about it right now, you can’t just dive straight into a restrictive diet like this one. There are some very important things that you need to be aware of.

So, let’s talk about certain things with the keto diet for men beginners that will make this journey easier for you.

You’re likely to experience the keto flu

Most people’s bodies are used to a low-fat diet from early childhood through adulthood. When you suddenly switch to a diet like the keto diet, it’s no surprise that it can be a bit of a “shock” to your digestive system and body as a whole. As a result, many people experience “keto flu,” which is when you feel symptoms like nausea, drowsiness, fatigue, and constipation a few days after starting the ketogenic diet. You just have to push through the discomfort, and you’ll find that it goes away on its own.

Get ready for a lot of meal prep

The keto diet is very restrictive, and if you’re on a variation like a low-calorie keto diet, it gets even tougher. This type of diet can be very difficult to stick to if you’re not ready to prepare meals ahead of time. Meal prep can make things easier because you’ll have different dishes ready to go at a moment’s notice. Keto Cycle is designed for people following the keto diet and comes with over 10,000 recipes. This can really help beginners get started on this diet.

Everyone’s results will be different

If you have a friend who has gone through this diet and seen amazing results, you may expect to see the same results as quickly as they did. However, it’s important to remember that everyone is different, and even if you’re on a low-calorie keto diet with the exact same foods, your metabolism is not the same. This can contribute to how quickly you see results, so don’t be discouraged if you don’t see changes as quickly.

Don’t ignore fiber

Fiber is abundant in many carbohydrate-rich foods because it is technically a carb in itself. However, it’s not digested, so it doesn’t count toward your daily carbohydrate intake on the ketogenic diet. Fiber is important for digestive health, and there are many healthy sources that work in the keto diet. For example, you can find it in foods like cauliflower rice, avocados, nuts, and leafy greens like spinach.

Get ready for tough times

When you cut carbohydrates from your diet, a lot of your favorite foods go out the window. It goes without saying that the beginning of the keto diet can be hard to get used to, especially with the carb cravings that may hit you. It helps to go into this diet with the right mindset so you’re not blindsided by how hard it can be. Fiber-rich foods and adequate water intake are helpful tips to keep cravings at bay.

Ketogenic Diet Plan for Men to Get Started

Under normal circumstances, the ketogenic diet can be really hard to stick to. Meal prep makes things easier, but it can be hard to even come up with meal ideas.

Fortunately, you don’t have to stress about this. We understand how hard it is, and that’s one of the things Keto Cycle can do for you. With over 10,000 keto recipes, you’re sure to find plenty of delicious options that are perfect for you.

Below is a basic and free keto plan for men looking to get started on this diet. If you like what you see, just know that there’s plenty more where this came from.

You can also include some keto snacks in between the meals, such as: 

• Sunflower seeds
• Nuts
• Avocado
• Hard-boiled eggs
• Cheese 
• Vegetables with peanut butter or cream cheese
• Keto cheese chips

Take Advantage of the Keto Diet Plan for Men

The keto diet for men is a great choice because it can help them shed pounds quickly and maintain and even increase muscle mass.

It has also been shown to increase testosterone levels, which can be incredibly helpful for men with low T.

This kind of dietary regimen is restrictive, so it can be hard to follow. Fortunately, Keto Cycle is there for you. This app can take over the headache of meal planning for you, giving you the best keto diet for men. It can help you track your progress and give you an active and helpful community to support you along the way.

If you’re a man cautious about starting your keto journey, take a quick quiz to get your personalized plan.