- Unfortunately for those who wish to believe there is magic in a ketogenic diet, this experiment confirms what other experiments, and practical experience have found: the "advantage" of ketogenic diets only applies to people with damaged glucose metabolisms. For everyone else--and or people with blood sugar problems who normalize blood sugar one way or another it is all about the calories. The main benefit of the ketogenic diet to dieters with abnormal glucose metabolism is that it eliminates the hunger that makes dieting so difficult. Lowering insulin production can sometimes also result in improved weight loss, for a while, but after time this effect often fades out. But people with normal glucose metabolisms can lose as well on any diet as they can on LC if they cut down on calories. Since these studies are done with healthy volunteers, they won't find any advantage. Blaming it on the fat % ignores the many other studies that find a similar result.
- @Jenny I tend to agree that ketogenic diets may be most beneficial to those whose glucose tolerance is significantly impaired but unfortunately no studies have been done (that I can find). From a strictly personal experience (normal FBG & weight before) based on a short term experiment (2years), the benefit of LC/HF appears to be (as you say) the ability to eat a much lower calorie intake without discomfort. My BMI has dropped from 23.5 to 21.5 and my energy intake from 39 to 27kCal/kg of body weight. I remain agnostic about the reasons for the health marker improvements I have seen as well as the permanence of the benefits but I am unwilling to risk losing them. I would be very interested in hearing form others (who were not previously obese) about their caloric intake, BMI and changes in health markers, and particularly negative ones (which are seldom mentioned) over time but this does not appear to be of general interest. I find fault finding with studies not at all persuasive. Contrary conclusions or more accurately beliefs are not supported by the errors and repeatedly pointing out erroneous studies does not strengthen the case to the contrary.
- @Jenny and Sidereal, ketosis is a completely normal state metabolic for mammals - even amongst obligate vegetarians such as cattle. The CNS functions more efficiently on ketone bodies than on glucose. The primary fuel for the heart is palmitic acid - saturated fat. All mammals evolved from insectivores. Some mammals stayed as carnivores and some mammals later used bacteria to convert dietary carbohydrates to fat and protein. In the case of humans we went from being insectivores to mostly vegetarian and then back to carnivores. This study is complete rubbish. a) Nobody is going to eat 35% protein. b) Nobody will adapt to a ketogenic diet in six weeks. The "problems" with ketogenic diets are primarily due to a lack of electrolytes (particularly potassium and magnesium) and not allowing a long enough adaptation period. Realistically you can't completely switch from a SAD to a VLC diet (unless you are young and healthy) in less than a year.
- blogblog said...
- @Morris, this is my slant on VLC diets. I'll be 49 years in two months. Most people think I'm in my mid 30s (or even late 20s). I don't have any obvious wrinkles and no hair loss at all. The only real clue to my age is a fair few grey hairs. I'm healthier than I was 30 years ago but not quite as fit (my resting heart rate was around 45 then). My BP is ~95/70 with around 3-4g of salt intake a day. If I significantly cut back my sodium intake my BP will quickly become so low (80/60) that I suffer severe postural (othostatic) hypotension. I also have 15% bodyfat (considered the ideal body fat level for males - low body fat lvels are unhealthy) and a BMI of around 27. My teeth have zero tartar or scale and no gum disease despite minimal oral hygiene (no flossing, a quick brush each night and I haven't needed a visit to the dentist for a decade). My teeth were quite disgusting on a SAD diet with rampant plaque and lots of cavities. All this is thanks to a VLC diet.
- Galina L. said...
- Sometimes I wonder why mood-altering drags are given right and left while ketosis seems to be suitable only for a very seek people or for a very short intense weight-loss. Based on a personal experience, I can tell that after I started to use ketosis in order to control my migraines, I found it to be a wonderful tool to manege all sort of female's mood and well-being issues associated with PMS and pre-menopause. It significantly widens the possible application pool, unless it may be use as a tool to prove that all females are mentally unstable at least sometimes. On the top of it, since I went on a VLC diet, my autoimmune issues got sorted out and I stopped having seasonal flues and urinary tract infections. Previously, when I lost weight by just eating less, I never had even close results even with more significant weight loss. There is some magical about the ketosis, and I didn't mention an increased mental clarity yet.
