How Does Ketosis Lower Cholesterol?

Understanding how the human body uses its own biochemical processes assists in making choices about changing health issues. Ingesting too many carbohydrate-heavy foods full of starch, fats and sugars produces "bad" cholesterol, or lipids. Causing slow blood flow in arteries with lipid build-up, the body risks heart attack or stroke. Staying away from foods high in carbohydrates results in a chemical reaction causing the condition called ketosis where the body's use of stored fats takes over. This process directly affects lipid production as well as using the lipids already in the body.

Low Carb Affect

• Dieting on foods low in carbohydrates (carb) reduces cholesterol. Eating less sugar and starch-based foods lowers the production of glucose. Serving as the main source of energy to the liver, brain and outer muscles including the heart, glucose produces insulin. Without glucose production resulting from low-carb diets, the body eventually has to change to a different source of energy.

Body Fat Energy

• Metabolizing body fat for energy on a low-carb diet causes ketosis. Breaking down existing body fat in the liver produces ketones in the blood. When ketosis sets in from a change in diet, the effects on cholesterol are immediate.

Ketones

• Experiencing less insulin with a lower carbohydrate intake, body ketone levels measure higher than normal at the beginning of the low carb diet. Absorbing bad cholesterol fats, ketones reduce the lipids in the bloodstream and arteries.

Dietary Fats

• Eventually the ketones produced from ketosis lessen on the low-carbohydrate diet after the body becomes accustomed to using dietary fats for energy instead of glucose carbohydrates and cholesterol laden-foods produce.

Health Benefits

• Immediately when ketosis sets in from a low carbohydrate diet, the body experiences the health benefits. Lower carbohydrates and cholesterol levels slow or even stop age-related degenerative diseases caused by high levels of these two components of the human diet.