Intermittent Fasting and Low-Carb Diets

When you start researching intermittent fasting, you might notice that it is often 
mentioned or recommended to people who are on low-carb diets like Keto or Atkins. 
While intermittent fasting can definitely be done for anyone, regardless of your way of 
eating, it is very popular in low-carb communities. Here is more information about the 
link between intermittent fasting and being on a low-carb diet.

Why Low-Carbers Like Intermittent Fasting

There are many reasons people on a low-carb diet will go for intermittent fasting, but a 
lot of this depends on the type of diet you are doing. With a low-carb diet, you are 
consuming less carbohydrates, and either moderate or high protein. If you are on keto, 
you have moderate protein, high fat, and low carbohydrates. Atkins prefers higher 
protein and slightly more carbohydrates than the ketogenic diet.

For someone on a low-carb diet, you are often adjusting to your varying sugar levels, 
attempting to stay full in between meals. With intermittent fasting added in, you learn to 
stabilize those sugar levels, so you aren’t craving sugar and carbs, which you can’t 
have on the low-carb diet.

Intermittent Fasting and Keto

If you are on the ketogenic diet, or keto, you have probably come across intermittent 
fasting. It is particularly popular for keto followers due to the unique benefits it provides 
you. With keto, you enter a state of ketosis. This is when your body begins burning fat 
for fuel, instead of carbohydrates. You can really increase the fat burning potential if you 
are also doing intermittent fasting, burning nearly twice as much fat as you normally 
would. Plus, intermittent fasting allows you to more easily control the amount of carbs 
you consume.

Try Low-Carb First

It is really important that you not start intermittent fasting on the same day that you start 
your low-carb diet. These should be spread apart so that you adjust to one thing before 
the next. It is ideal that you start your low-carb diet first, then remain on it for at least 2-3 
weeks. Once your body has adjusted and adapted to the lower amount of carbs, you 
can then start transitioning into your preferred method of intermittent fasting. This gives 
you enough time to adjust to one big change before making another big change. It is 
also good to try it after you have become fat adapted on a keto diet, which takes a few 
weeks.

