Obesity and top killers such as diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer's and cancer have something significant in common — they're all rooted in insulin and leptin resistance.

In other words, the underlying problem is metabolic dysfunction that develops as a result of consuming too many net carbohydrates (total carbs minus fiber) and/or protein. Sugars found in processed foods and grains are the primary culprits, and the standard American diet is chock full of both.

Once you develop insulin and leptin resistance, it triggers biochemical cascades that not only make your body hold on to fat but produce inflammation and cellular damage as well.

Hence, whether you're struggling with weight and/or chronic health issues, the treatment protocols are the same. This is good news, as it significantly simplifies your approach to improving your health. You won't need a different set of strategies to address each condition.

In short, by optimizing your metabolic and mitochondrial function, you set yourself squarely on the path to better health. So how do you correct these metabolic imbalances? Your diet is key. The timing of your meals can also play an important role.

Nutritional Ketosis May Be Key to Optimal Health

By eating a healthy high-fat, low carbohydrate and low- to moderate-protein diet, you enter into what is known as nutritional ketosis: a state in which your body burns fat as its primary fuel rather than glucose (sugar). Mounting research suggests nutritional ketosis is the answer to a long list of health problems, starting with obesity.

In fact, emerging scientific evidence suggests a high-fat, low net carb and low- to moderate-protein diet (in other words, a diet that keeps you in nutritional ketosis) is ideal for most people.

In fact, endurance athletes are turning away from conventional high-carb strategies and adopting this way of eating because it boosts physical stamina and endurance.

Beyond insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, there are a number of applications for nutritional ketosis, including as a treatment for seizures, especially in kids who are unresponsive to drugs, and in neurological conditions such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Cancer is another area where ketogenic diets show great promise.

Other benefits include fewer hunger pangs and a dramatic drop in food cravings once you've made the shift from burning sugar to burning fat as your primary fuel. Being an efficient fat burner may also boost your longevity. Researchers have identified a dozen genes associated with longevity.

According to Jeff Volek, Ph.D., a registered dietitian and professor in the Human Science Department at Ohio State University, who has done enormous work in the field of high-fat, low carbohydrate diets and has authored several books on this topic, the primary function of one of these genes is to cripple the degradation of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), such as leucine.