New research suggests that the keto diet may increase the risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and irritable bowel disease.
Although the study was small, its results may make people wonder whether the keto diet is worth the trouble.
The research team, led by researchers at the University of Bath (UoB) in the UK, asked 53 healthy adults to follow one of three dietary treatments for four to 12 weeks. Low Carb Ketogenic (Keto) Dieta low carb diet, or a moderate sugar and carbohydrate diet.
Researchers have found that the keto diet increases cholesterol, reduces good gut bacteria, decreases the body’s tolerance to sugar, and shifts the body’s source of energy from glucose to fat.
Both low-carb and keto diets have led to fat loss without affecting people’s physical activity levels, so people looking to achieve a leaner figure may be better off cutting added sugars from their diet instead of carbohydrates.
“Ketogenic diets are effective for fat loss, but they have different effects on metabolism and the microbiome and are not suitable for everyone.” explain Dylan Thompson, a physiologist at UoB;
“In contrast, sugar restriction supports government guidelines to reduce discretionary sugar intake and promotes fat loss without obvious adverse health effects.”
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Keto dieters got less than 8% of their calories from carbohydrates. Low-carb diets got less than 5% of their energy from free sugars (those added to food or drinks, or found in fruit juices, syrups, and honey).
These were compared with a control diet containing moderate sugars and carbohydrates, in which free sugars made up about 18 percent of energy intake.
By the fourth week of the keto diet, participants’ gut bacterial diversity had changed: Bifidobacteria, As you know, Probiotic Heroes.
These bacteria rely on dietary fiber, which is reduced by 40 percent on the keto diet compared to a moderate sugar and carbohydrate diet, and the fact that this shift in the gut ecosystem persisted into week 12 of the keto diet is evidence that the diet can wreak this internal chaos.
The effect of the keto diet on cholesterol was of particular concern to researchers, and participants on the low-carb diet actually saw a decrease in their total cholesterol levels by the 12th week of the study.
“Despite reducing fat mass, the ketogenic diet increased levels of harmful fats in participants’ blood.” say Aaron Henggeist, nutritionist at UoB;
“If it continues for many years, [this] There may be long-term health effects, including an increased risk of heart disease and stroke.”
Although the keto diet lowered fasting blood sugar levels, it also reduced the body’s ability to process carbohydrates from the diet, the researchers said. explain.
“When we measured protein in muscle samples taken from the participants’ legs, we found that this was likely an adaptive response to reducing daily carbohydrate intake and reflected insulin resistance to storing carbohydrate in muscle.” say UoB human physiologist Javier Gonzalez.
People on the keto diet have increased levels of the enzyme PDK4 in their skeletal muscles, which may explain why Type 2 diabetesThe diet also lowered enzyme levels AMPK And protein GLUT4which plays an important role in glucose metabolism.
“This insulin resistance is not necessarily a bad thing for someone following a ketogenic diet, but if these changes persist when they return to a high-carb diet, it could increase their risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the long term,” Gonzalez says. say.
This study Cell Report Medicine.
