Is the Keto Diet Effective?

The New York Times ^ | Jan 2, 2020 | Dawn MacKeen

[BobL]

A recent survey of registered dietitians named the low-carbohydrate keto diet yet again as the most popular diet in the United States. Powering this diet is fat, and loads of it — all the way up to a hefty 90 percent of one’s daily calories.

Its fans (and marketers) feed social media with before and after photos, crediting the diet for life-altering weight loss or other effects. They swirl butter into their coffee, load up on cheese, and eat lonely burgers without its bestie, the bun. Staples like whole grains, legumes, fruit and starchy vegetables are being largely pushed off the plate as devotees strive for ketosis — when the body begins to burn fat instead of glucose as its primary energy source.

“America is in a state of carbophobia,” said Whitney Linsenmeyer, a spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

The diet is hailed for dropping pounds, burning more calories, reducing hunger, managing diabetes, treating drug resistant epilepsy, improving blood pressure, and cholesterol, as well as triglycerides, the major storage form of fat in the body. People have reported improved concentration, too. “We see pretty dramatic benefits,” said Dr. William Yancy, director of the Duke Diet and Fitness Center.

[daniel1212]

Well, after 8 months...down 30 lbs. Cholestrol slightly down, but within the margin of error. Triglycerides down, HDL up, blood pressure without meds down to 120/80 (versus 155/105) - and my BP WITH medicine was 135/90.

Just pinging metmom in case she would be interested.

[TexasTransplant]

*** “ Fudge! I just saw peanut oil in there! Drat!” ***

Yeah, I feel ya
It used to be my fav fry oil ... but it brought me back to Real Lard (we have a Butcher Shop just out of town) I can also get Beef Tallow. (Live in Texas so Pork and Beef Fats are about it ... Amazon allows us to get Duck, Goose and Lamb but they are spendy)

[Yaelle]

Animal protein as your staple at each meal comes with natural fat. You don’t need to add tons of fat. Just enjoy the normal amount of fat you cook with and make sure it’s healthy fat. Eat healthy animals. Get at least 80% of your diet organic to avoid toxins.

Keto works for conditions (including obesity) but isn’t necessary for ongoing health. Low carb is. You don’t have to be constantly in ketosis if you don’t have one of the conditions it fights (epilepsy, obesity, cancers, metabolic diseases). You will be in ketosis off and on. No big deal. Low carb, some intermittent fasting, and you’re good.

[gathersnomoss]

We are getting back on the keto diet, starting Monday. It’s true.... It’s true!

[TexasTransplant]

*** “Low carb, some intermittent fasting, and you’re good” ***

I agree to a point .. do KETO for a period of time first and then feel it out, I was probably an un-diagnosed Diabetic and really needed to fix myself first (I was in bad shape) general maintenance for me is <50 carbs, getting better (normal) is <30 Carbs and burning Fat (losing weight) is <20 Carbs

I have a string with a loop and a knot that measures what my Belly used to be ... I am 11” less today, if I was 10.5 less next month I’d tighten up on KETO again (Fatty Liver aka Beer Belly is an inexpensive diagnostic tool for some of us)
Unlike “dieters on TV... for me it isn’t How Much I Eat ... it is What I Eat and How Often ;^)

[Yaelle]

You sound very in tune with your body! Sounds great. I can tell when I have eaten too many carbs that day, if I wake up hungry. I still don’t eat before noon, but it’s harder if you having the gnawing hunger that comes from eating too many carbs the night before. 50-70g is all I need.

[BobL]

“I went home and a couple of weeks later increased my fat to protein intake ratio.”

There was an Arctic explorer dude who lived with the Eskimos for a year and ate EXACTLY what they ate, meaning no carbs and tons of fat. He told everyone about it (this was around 100 years ago) and they didn’t believe him. He said fine, and ate the same diet in a controlled, hospital, setting for another year to prove it. His health, of course, was perfect - but with one exception - he too went protein heavy and it was messing him up. Once he corrected, he was fine.

[itsahoot]

Now tell me what you have seen in "black and white?"

What does it matter I have seen it in black & white we are all going to die in 11.2 years.

[itsahoot]

Being motivated isn’t the problem, it’s just tough to figure out what and how much to have, and how to stay out of the easy sandwich “rut”.

Have you looked at the Chaffle Fad? You can even get salad bowl type cookers that make excellent sandwiches or wraps.

[itsahoot]

Eat a little,expend alot, lose BF, gain muscle. Diet? Uh huh.

Hitler certainly demonstrated the effectiveness of that approach but sadly the people stayed uncontrollably hungry.

[itsahoot]

You can make an excellent low carb breakfast

There are numerous ways to make a low carb pizza crust. One guy makes his crust out of canned chicken others use cauliflower but the one you would probably find useful is the Chaffle, basically cheese and egg cooked in waffle maker. Look on YouTube there are many low carb pros there along with amateur cooks to medical pros.

[nagant]

>>Yes, PUFAs are said to cause inflammation. [Canola oil, soybean oil, cottonseed oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, peanut oil, and corn oil, are all classified as polyunsaturated fatty acids].<<

I think the fat saturation level is shown to pretty meaningless now. It’s merely a determination of how hard the fat is at room temperature. Bile acid dissolves fats regardless of hardness.

I think Plant oils are unhealthy because they have no omega 3 or even omega 6 in some cases. Cells can’t use them.

[nagant]

>>There was an Arctic explorer dude who lived with the Eskimos for a year and ate EXACTLY what they ate, meaning no carbs and tons of fat. He told everyone about it (this was around 100 years ago) and they didn’t believe him. He said fine, and ate the same diet in a controlled, hospital, setting for another year to prove it. His health, of course, was perfect - but with one exception - he too went protein heavy and it was messing him up. Once he corrected, he was fine.<<

You would be referring to Vilhjalmur Stefansson

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilhjalmur_Stefansson

Stefansson returned to Europe and reported to his colleague that there was no cancer among the Inuits along his exploration route. His colleague was a doctor, and went back to the Northern American tier. He examined Inuits for years, and confirmed Stefansson’ observation.

After exposure to the western diet, of course, the Inuit have equally high cancer rates with everyone else on the same diet.

[Boomer]

I know someone who beat cancer by eliminating all grains. He firmly believed Monsanto farms used chemicals to kill the bugs and fast grow the foods treated with their products which ended up feeding cancer cells. He went on a totally organic diet and starved the cancer cells. Pretty much how keto folks think of refined sugar and grains/flour/processed foods in general.

We don’t know for sure if there was little to no cancer thousands of years ago but we do know there’s been an uptick since food product such as flour has been processed rather than ground slow without chemicals to speed up the process.

These days fruits, veggies, and livestock are treated with all kinds of chemicals and hormones to fast grow them and/or prevent bugs from ruining a percentage of the crops. We are what we eat...

[LouisianaJoanof Arc]

Yep. Keto works.

For me, it started as a diet. I’ve lost all the weight I wanted to and now it is just my lifestyle

Feel so much better.

[TangledUpInBlue]

Yep, I totally agree. I’ve been going for 2+ years and I’m in better shape than I’ve ever been. Have almost never seen the same workout twice and there are a few coaches in my studio that really get me going.

I can see and feel the changes in my body. Especially now - it’s a) hard to get into the orange and b) how fast I crash to green or blue once I stop.

#morelife

[Jane Long]

Tangled....maybe you should start an OT thread and walk past/not disparage Keto, or other diet threads, that you don’t support.

Happy New Year.

[BobL]

“Keto works for conditions (including obesity) but isn’t necessary for ongoing health. Low carb is...Low carb, some intermittent fasting, and you’re good.”

I don’t have an issue with the above advice. It was funny, a couple of months ago there was a guy here saying that not only were carbs fine (in any amount), but so was refined sugar. I traced him down to likely being a food lobbyist in DC (or he had been).

[nagant]

In 1931 Otto Warburg won a Nobel Prize for his discovery that cancer survives by fermenting sugars. He spent the remainder of his life trying to prove that the transition of cells from burning fat or sugar to fermenting sugar defines cancer. Modern research has completed Warburg’s research, and confirmed his hypothesis.

Human cells can survive on fat or sugar. Cancer cells can only survive on sugar. I can’t understand why this simple concept is so hard for most people to grasp. They think the things which allow them to eat what they are addicted to.

[doctor noe]

Sounds like you were able to successfully fine-tune things. Different for everybody, & most don’t have the patience to experiment. The concern that excessive protein is bad for the kidneys is largely a red herring for most people. There is no one-size fits all protocol, but to preach about getting moderate protein is not a good idea, especially if you’re trying to gain/preserve lean mass. To clarify, I was only referring to excessive amounts of added fat, not fat from meat/eggs/fish & other whole-food sources.