The keto diet is often revered as a ‘fad’ diet that’s used to help people lose weight, but then why do people who are already skinny still do it?

There’s actually a lot of reasons. Many people that lose weight through a keto diet will often stick to it because of the other types of benefits that come from it. These benefits are often so compelling, that staying in a state of ketosis makes it completely worth it.

Keto Benefits That Aren’t Weight-Related

• Reduces rates of acne

While it often isn’t viewed as a potential remedy for skin conditions, there’s actually ample evidence that suggests that the keto diet can be beneficial for reducing acne.

For many people, acne is closely tied to diet, and following a keto diet naturally will help you get more natural, anti-inflammatory foods into your diet, because most processed foods are too high in sugar and carbs to ever be keto-friendly in the first place.

A recent study found that there was a direct result in lowered rates of acne after studying a group that followed a low carb diet.

Another study also found that following a low glycemic diet, which is part of the keto diet, is another great route to reducing rates of acne. High glycemic diets lead to fluctuations in blood sugar levels that can throw many systems in our body out of balance, including our skin and sweat glands.

• May be able to improve brain functioning

We’re only really beginning to scratch the surface of all of the potential benefits that keto poses for our brain functioning and overall brain health.

While more research still needs to be conducted in order to have scientifically founded results, a lot of recent studies are starting to indicate that the keto diet contains ‘neuroprotective benefits‘. These benefits mean that the keto diet may be able to help treat, prevent, or manage symptoms of neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and certain types of sleep disorders.

One recent study in children actually found that the keto diet was able to directly improve cognitive functioning.

• Offers heightened levels of focus and mental clarity

One benefit that’s a little harder to measure, but is still widely accounted for in medical research is that the keto diet is able to help boost one’s ability to focus and provide mental clarity.

Those same neuroprotective benefits of following a low carb diet that I mentioned earlier have also been linked to improved ability to concentrate, improved mental clarity, and generally improved productivity throughout the course of the day.

This can be for a few other reasons outside the brain as well. Once you get over the hump of the keto flu, rates of insomnia within keto dieters tend to decrease, meaning you’ll likely have more energy throughout the day.

Additionally, it’s been widely recorded that carbohydrates are often responsible for sluggish feelings throughout the day, so eliminating them could be exactly what your body needs to help stay at its most sharp.

• Has been linked to improved health in women with PCOS

Because polycistic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is such a complex and inhibiting condition, more research definitely needs to be conducted, but there is a present trend from clinical studies that indicates that the keto diet can help relieve its symptoms.

PCOS is characterized as a disorder of the body’s endocrine system that results in enlarged ovaries that bear cysts in women. Following a diet that’s high in carbohydrates has been linked to negatively impacting and exacerbating the symptoms of PCOS.

One recent study of eleven women who were restricting to under 20 grams of carbohydrates per day found that the keto diet helped reduce flare ups of PCOS symptoms, and also helped promote weight loss and blood glucose level stabilization.

• May potentially reduce seizures

The keto diet has been linked to preventing the onset of seizures in epileptic patients because of those same neuroprotective properties.

One study out of the Emory University Health Sciences Center found that epileptic children who were following a high fat, low carb, low calorie diet were able to get more accurate treatment for their seizures. This is because energy metabolism in the brain was altered, allowing scientists to identify the specific molecular or genetic targets for each unique case of epilepsy, leading to more effective treatments for each individual.

More research still needs to be done, but this is a promising first step toward getting more custom fit treatment plans for those struggling with epilepsy.

• Can improve heart health

Even if you’re not following the diet to lose weight, everyone should try to be more conscious about the state of their heart’s health. This includes monitoring blood pressure, cholesterol, resting heart rate, and blood glucose levels.

Heart-related conditions can affect people of any weight class, especially as both men and women start to get older in age. That’s why something like the keto diet can be beneficial for any type of person when it comes to heart health.

When a keto diet incorporates high levels of healthy fats (such as from an avocado or coconut oil), it can drastically help lower bad (LDL) cholesterol levels and increase good (HDL) cholesterol levels.

Dangers of Keto for those Underweight

• Unwanted weight loss

If you’re following the keto diet for other types of benefits, you may want to watch out for any amounts of unwanted weight loss, especially if you’re coming into this diet with a low or below average body weight to begin with.

The keto diet is often hailed as a great catalyst for weight loss in people who are overweight or obese, but it’s not always great for people that actually are looking to gain weight.

A good way to circumvent this is to have calorie targets in mind to make sure that you aren’t under-eating. I like to use calorie trackers like MyFitnessPal and NOOM to help stay on both my macronutrient targets and my general calorie targets every day.

• Fatigue

Fatigue is no joke when it comes to the keto diet, and people who are below average weight are already much more susceptible to getting daily fatigue than those who are in a normal target BMI range.

The keto diet doesn’t make this any easier by being a source of both stress-induced adrenal fatigue, as well as general fatigue because of a lack of important nutrients, electrolytes, and most importantly, a lack of sleep.

There are a few ways to circumvent this.

I find that most of my fatigue and light headedness on the keto diet is directly due to my electrolyte intake. I’d say that magnesium and potassium are the hardest to get through diet alone when following the keto diet, which is why I like to use electrolyte supplements like Keto K1000, which you can get on sale over at Amazon.com

To help fix the lack of sleep that often comes from the early phases of the keto diet, I’d recommend looking into melatonin or CBD to help you sleep throughout the night.

I’ve had the most success with Sleep Support melatonin personally, and when it comes to CBD, I’m a big fan of CBD + Melatonin from Diamond CBD to help maximize those benefit.

• Muscle loss

Lastly one of the most frustrating side effects of the keto diet, especially for those who don’t have a lot of extra body weight, is unwanted muscle loss.

While the clinical evidence is fairly limited, there is ample anecdotal evidence if you poke around keto forums or YouTube that indicates that the keto diet makes it pretty difficult to build on muscle.

There are a few ways to get around this however, mostly through workout routines and supplementation.

As far as workout routines go, I’ve found that HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) is the most effective for me at helping keep my workouts dynamic, and make sure that I’m not letting any muscle groups go without necessary training.

When it comes to supplementation, I always try to focus on whey protein and creatine.

Both of these types of supplements have had proven track records at helping people build muscle fast, and naturally provide your body with energy that helps get it through sterenuous workouts.

For whey protein, I’m a big fan of Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard, which is usually on sale over at Amazon.com.

When it comes to creatine, I like to supplement it with Perfect Keto’s Perform, which has less caffeine than standard sports drinks, and still comes packed with valuable ketones and MCTs to help maintain a state of ketosis.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, there’s more than a few reasons one would want to consider trying out the keto diet even if they’re not looking to lose any pounds.

As long as you make sure that you’re getting all of the nutrients that your body needs, and are getting ample amounts of rest to help fight off the keto flu, you should be in a great position to reap all of the mental and physiological benefits that come from a healthy state of ketosis.