Ketogenic Diet Research: Is It Really Better For Weight Loss Than Other Diets?

It’s important to remember that you can’t defeat the calorie balance equation, including the ketogenic diet. To lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you absorb.However, there are two mechanisms by which a ketogenic diet may help: you may consume less because you may bore you with fewer calories, and it’s your body. May increase the speed of burning energy

Does Keto actually do those things?

If you are of a certain age, you may remember that low-fat diets have their own theory, much of which dates back to the 90’s. Because fat is high in calories (9 calories per gram, 4 calories for carbohydrates and protein), a high-fat diet leads to overdose. Hall’s study wanted to test the theory of fighting by directly comparing diets.

Twenty subjects admitted to the NIH facility were given either a ketogenic or low-fat diet for two weeks before switching to the other so that all consumption could be monitored. (These studies are very expensive and tend to be small and short.)

Which diet led to less consumption?

low fat. Lots: About 700 calories per day. This was Hall telling me “through the roof”, despite the fact that insulin levels on a low-fat diet were. The low-fat group also lost a little more fat (about £ 1 alone is not enough for statistical significance). The Keto group has lost more fat-free mass, but Hall points out that a major component of it is water, which you always lose when you cut carbs.

Wait a minute! This is not the last nail in a keto full casket. Hall emphasized the fact that the keto diet reduced consumption by 300 calories a day in the second week, probably due to the onset of satiety. Did the longer the study, the further the consumption decrease? There is no way to know, but it is certainly possible. A 2015 meta-analysis A study of satiety on keto and other diets showed that keto was certainly somewhat bored. Hall told me that the theory that having ketosis suppresses hunger can also explain why some subjects in hunger studies report that they are not hungry.

Another piece of evidence comes from Hall’s previous study, about processed foods.

According to Hall, the energy density of the ketogenic diet in the new study was comparable to the energy density of the highly processed diet in the previous study, but the ketogenic diet subjects did not overeat and the processed diet subjects overeat. I did.

It is no exaggeration to say that the predominance of evidence indicates that the ketogenic diet can certainly be more satisfying than some other diets.

Now let’s move on to the second question: Does eating keto increase your energy expenditure?

Hall also studied it.In the research he did, he discovered it Energy consumption increased by 57 calories There was no accompanying fat loss, but per day on a ketogenic diet.so Review He did other research, but he found no advantage.

There is the study The ketogenic diet has been found to increase energy consumption, and the problem is highly controversial. Scientists are discussing methodologies and accuracy, as well as different ways to measure energy consumption, but I don’t think there is a clear consensus. I absolutely believe that energy consumption can vary with different diets as our bodies process different foods in different ways, but the difference can be so important. I think it’s low. If your ketogenic diet burns hundreds of calories daily, it’s not too difficult to detect in the lab.

So where does it leave us? A ketogenic diet can suppress appetite, at least a little, and can help burn more calories. But in reality, it doesn’t do much better than other diets in the long run. In the short term A few the study Ketogenic dieters have been found to lose more weight. 2013 Review In a study that followed people for at least a year, it was found that ketogenic dieters lost about two pounds more than low-fat dieters. The author states that “it has little clinical significance.” 2019, US Open Conclusion: “Low CHO [carbohydrate] And a very low CHO diet is no better than other diet approaches for weight loss. “

I talked to Gary Taubes about this. He is a journalist who has long written about low-carb diets, and his latest book is “In the case of Keto, “It came out in December. The ketogenic diet is very attractive to him. This is because I was able to manage my weight on a low carb diet after failing on other diets.

He pointed out that the diet test does not test the diet. They test dietary advice. Unless you lock people in and control what they eat, that’s something you can only do for a short period of time, but part of what you’re testing on a diet test is how well someone follows the program. Is it possible?Almost all diets fail because people can’t follow them, and Keto is no exception.. I asked Christopher Gardner of Stanford University, who conducted some of the most powerful diet trials ever done, and Stephen Guinette, an obesity researcher.Hungry brain“Whether they think the ketogenic diet is better than the other diets in weight loss tests, and both said no. (Although there may be benefits in managing diabetes and other medical conditions, I’ve run out of all 1200 words about weight loss.)

However, Guinette added that the ketogenic diet test established something important. “If you go back 20 or 30 years ago and ask the average obesity researcher or doctor about a diet high in fat and low in carbs, they say it’s disastrous and leads to obesity and heart disease. I’m going to do it, “he told me. “The biggest update is that it’s not. It’s not catastrophic to your health, and it may have some benefits. The predicted negative effects haven’t happened.” There isn’t enough information to be confident that Keto is safe in the long run, but so far it’s okay.

There is another one. Looking outside the controlled trial, there are many very enthusiastic supporters of Keto. “Where did this passion come from?” Taubs asked me, and I think it’s a good question. For successful people, Keto is very, very compelling — as everyone on social media is likely to hear. Finding a supportive and encouraging online community must help some people stick to it, and their continued success resonates with enthusiasm. But sometimes the community crosses the line and there are many quirky Keto claims. Guyenet told me that he received a thank-you note from former Ketoa, who “helped them get out of the cult.”

I hope Keto works! If not, you are not alone. The only sure thing about a diet is that as soon as everyone gets tired of this, there is something new.