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Why You Should Bring Yoga into Your Keto Lifestyle

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  Published on August 8th, 2022
  Reading time: 3 minutes
  Last modified August 16th, 2023
Woman on keto doing yoga post

There’s just something wonderful about yoga that can’t be explained. If you’ve practiced yoga, you’ll know how positive and calm it can make you feel. Each movement stretches and strengthens your bones, joints, muscles, and ligaments. The stretches and poses evoke unique sensations that seem to ignite a newfound vibrancy and energy. 

In other words, there’s good reason for the hype around this ancient practice. You’ve taken a huge leap with your wellness going keto, and now you’re considering yoga. Let’s look at the top reasons why you should bring yoga into your keto lifestyle.

What Is Yoga?

Originating in India, yoga is an age-old mental, physical, and spiritual practice. Yoga is a series of specific movements and physical poses. Yoga can involve group classes, individual, or the more traditional one-on-one sessions. The word yoga comes from the Sanskrit root Yuj, which means ‘to unite’ or ‘to yoke.’

The goal of yoga is to unify the body, mind, and spirit, as well as the individual self and universal consciousness. Yoga is considered a spiritual awakening and a meditative practice where you let go of harmful or ego-driven thoughts and behaviors.

Top Reasons for Practicing Yoga on Keto

Reducing Stress

Yoga is widely known to relieve stress and calm and focus the mind, particularly slower types of yoga like vinyasa. Stress alone increases your blood sugar, which can make it harder to stay in ketosis. Yoga and keto can help you stay on track with your health, fitness, or weight loss goals and manage your stress and blood sugar.

A keto diet regulates blood sugar and usually boosts your mood too. A ketogenic diet is also proven in studies to help with depression and other mental illnesses. Adding in yoga will also help your balanced mood.

Better Sleep

When you’re not sleeping, you’re more likely to have those nagging carb cravings that threaten your progress. Poor sleep can also negatively affect your blood sugar. Sleep quality and duration impact how your body metabolizes sugar and can lead to insulin resistance. [1] A good night’s sleep is key to a productive workday. Because yoga relieves stress and stretches muscles, people often report improved sleep quality. Your body is designed to move, and with happier muscles and a clearer mind, you’ll likely enjoy a better night’s sleep. 

Ketosis could also improve your sleep! For example, a small study of children found REM sleep increased when following a ketogenic diet. [2]  Better sleep on keto might also be due to improved blood sugar control.

Reducing Pain

People with arthritis and chronic pain conditions often report that yoga improved their pain. One of the main reasons people experience pain is because of inflammation. Yoga is a form of exercise that could reduce pain and inflammatory markers.

Compared to a low-fat diet, a keto diet is superior for lowering inflammatory markers. A ketogenic diet has shown promise in improving inflammatory autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis. [3] [4]

Woman doing a yoga pose as part of keto lifestyle

Since sugar and sugar-sweetened beverages have been shown to promote inflammation, it stands to reason that ditching that sugar on a healthy well-formulated keto diet reduces inflammation! [5] Together, yoga and keto can be a powerful pain-reducing combo.

Weight Loss

You don’t have to be running marathons and going hungry to lose weight. Weight loss can be achieved with healthy lifestyle changes like a well-formulated keto diet and incorporating yoga at least a few times a week. Yoga tones and stretches your muscles and boosts your strength, flexibility, and endurance, so working out becomes a little easier for you and you can start participating in more physical activities. With every yoga practice, as your mind becomes more focused and calmer, you gain the determination to get through your workouts and stay on track.

Better Physique

Over time as you continue your yoga practice and keto lifestyle, your muscles become stronger, and you’ll probably find your shape changing. Losing weight, trimming and shaping your physique, and boosting your exercise performance are just some of the many benefits of yoga!

Do You Practice Yoga on Keto?

What’s your favorite type of yoga? Share your thoughts and tips with the keto community.

Steph Green is a content writer specializing in and passionate about healthcare, wellness, and nutrition. Steph has worked with marketing agencies, written medical books for doctors like ‘Untangling the Web of Dysfunction,’ and her poetry book ‘Words that Might Mean Something.’ In 2016, after four years of struggling with her own health problems and painful autoimmune disease, Steph developed a life-changing and extensive knowledge of keto, nutrition, and natural medicine. She continues on her healing journey and enjoys helping others along the way.

References

1.

Hallböök, T., Lundgren, J., & Rosén, I. (2007). Ketogenic diet improves sleep quality in children with therapy‐resistant epilepsy. Epilepsia, 48(1), 59-65.

2.

Knutson, K. L. (2007). Impact of sleep and sleep loss on glucose homeostasis and appetite regulation. Sleep medicine clinics, 2(2), 187-197.

3.

Forsythe, C. E., Phinney, D., Fernandez, L., Quann, E. E., Wood, R. J., Bibus, D. M., Kraemer, W. J., Feinman, R. D., & Volek, J. S. (2007). Comparison of low fat and low carbohydrate diets on circulating fatty acid composition and markers of inflammation. Lipids, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11745-007-3132-7

4.

Fomin, D. A., McDaniel, B., & Crane, J. (2017). The promising potential role of ketones in inflammatory dermatologic disease: A new frontier in treatment research. Journal of Dermatological Treatment, https://doi.org/10.1080/09546634.2016.1276259

5.

Aeberli, I., Gerber, P. A., Hochuli, M., Kohler, S., Haile, S. R., Gouni-Berthold, I., Berthold, H. K., Spinas, G. A., & Berneis, K. (2011). Low to moderate sugar-sweetened beverage consumption impairs glucose and lipid metabolism and promotes inflammation in healthy young men: A randomized controlled trial. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 94(2), 479-485. https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.111.013540

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