Is Keto the Best Diet for Weight Loss?
Written by Pamela Gomez
Edited by Christine Yee
Jan 23rd 2022
Edited by Christine Yee
Jan 23rd 2022
Robert C. Atkins, cardiologist and creator of the Atkins diet claimed that decreasing carbohydrate consumption is a key component of weight loss. After his beliefs and diet gained popularity, many other varieties of his diet were created. People believed that by limiting carbohydrate intake, weight loss would follow. Despite lack of evidence on the effectiveness of a low-carbohydrate diet for weight loss, people around the world continue to follow these diets. But what does science say?
A randomized controlled trial study was conducted by researchers from the Center for Health Services Research in Primary Care in order to examine whether or not a low-carbohydrate diet, such as the keto diet, or a low-fat diet would be more effective in treating people with obesity and/or hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol). The research pool consisted of 120 generally healthy obese, hyperlipdedmic particpants who were evenly and randomly divided into either the keto diet group or the low-fat diet group. Individuals in the keto-diet group were instructed by researchers to limit carbohydrate intake to less than 20 grams per day with unlimited animal and fat consumption. Participants of the low-fat diet group were instructed by a registered dietitian to limit their daily fat values with no carbohydrate consumption restrictions (Yancy, 2004). After the course of 6 months both groups showed interesting results.
Participants who followed the keto diet lost more weight than those on a low-fat diet. Despite these results however, the keto diet proved to show some negative effects. According to the lipid levels recorded, LDL cholesterol, otherwise known as the “bad cholesterol,” seemed to increase within the participants following a low-carbohydrate diet. Researchers noted that due to an increase in LDL cholesterol, adverse health effects could occur in the long-term such as developing heart disease (Yancy, 2004). Additionally, although the keto-group did lose more weight, the majority of the loss was found to be from fat-free mass such as water weight. It is crucial to understand that although diets promise fast weight loss they may not produce long-term results. Seeing that much of the weight lost came from water weight, it is possible for individuals in this group to regain any lost weight. With further research being conducted, low-carbohydrate or keto diets may not always be the best choice, especially for long term weight loss (Yancy, 2004). If you’re interested in trying diets for yourself, make sure to ask a primary care doctor or registered dietitian for the safest recommendations.
Works Cited
Yancy, W. S., Jr, Olsen, M. K., Guyton, J. R., Bakst, R. P., & Westman, E. C. (2004). A low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet versus a low-fat diet to treat obesity and hyperlipidemia: a randomized, controlled trial. Annals of internal medicine, 140(10), 769–777. https://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-140-10-200405180-00006
Image Source: Healthy-Weight-Loss_593670_large by mahmoud99725 licensed under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/