Some athletes may consider keto diet to reach better performance levels. However, reaching a state of ketosis is not easy and you may first feel a bit bad. To understand whether keto diet is good for athletes or not, we must first understand how this works. We will also discuss the alternative option most athletes turn to, which is a keto supplement.
Understanding the Workings of a Keto Diet
During a keto diet, a person limits their intake of carbohydrates. The aim is to limit it to the extent that the body starts burning fat for energy. This is the natural process of the body. When there are not enough carbohydrates in the body, it will turn to fat for fuel. This can happen during starvation, fasting, and prolonged exercise. This is why people use K
Why Do Athletes Turn to Keto Supplements?
It has been known for a while that the state of ketosis can improve performance. But reaching this state through the keto diet is not something everyone enjoys. First of all, a lot of eating habits have to be changed when you are on the keto diet; even for an athlete.
On the other hand, the body can require some time to adjust to the low intake of carbs. This means that you may not feel your best and won’t be able to perform well. Therefore, the athletes take the shortcut of keto supplements. However, to know whether these will boost your performance depends on what type of athlete you are.
Endurance athletes may find the state of ketosis beneficial but strength and power athletes such as football players and sprinters will not. It is about how the energy system of the body is used. It will perform better with burning carbohydrates for fuel, especially for smaller periods of time.
Should You Take Keto Supplements as an Athlete?
Apart from taking the supplements accruing to the type of athletics, one should also be ready for certain drawbacks weighed against the benefits. If you take keto supplements while taking carbs too, workouts will last longer without requiring extra energy. These may also help the ketogenic athlete to take energy from the at reserves. But these may also lead the body to actually store fat than burn it for fuel.
If you are ready for this risk, then you could take the keto supplements. However, these supplements don’t offer any additional health benefits.
Keto Diet Could be the Better Option
Instead of seeking to boost your performance with keto supplements, you should consider the keto diet. You may feel a bit lethargic for some time but it pays off once you reach the state of ketosis just with a food-based diet.
The body will naturally turn to the fat reserves of the body when there are no supplements involved. This will work better because the body is designed to store considerable more fat than the carbs to use as energy during longer periods of workouts.
