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Is Keto Healthy?
Looking at Keto Effects on Blood Lipids
When looking at Ketogenic diets, an issue that we have seen raised is whether or not being on a ketogenic diet will have adverse effects on your blood lipids (cholesterol, apoB, etc.). We have no doubt that going on a ketogenic diet can help you lose weight, lose body fat, and reduce blood sugar. However, is there a potential downside to all of these benefits? That’s what we decided to look at on this episode of the podcast/newsletter.
We began with a look at this study, which was a meta-analysis looking at several studies of normal weight adults on a very low-carbohydrate or ketogenic diet. They defined this as someone where the carbohydrate intake was about 20-50 grams per day. The results of these studies demonstrated that these diets significantly increased total cholesterol, significantly increased LDL cholesterol, and significantly increased apoB (see our previous newsletter on apoB). The authors of the study concluded that the ketogenic diets produced unfavorable effects on cholesterol in normal-weight adults.
We then looked at this study, which was a meta-analysis of overweight individuals with Type 2 Diabetes on a ketogenic diet. It concluded that the ketogenic diet helped reduce body weight, reduce waist circumference, reduce A1C, reduce triglycerides, and increase HDL. We found it interesting that even though the study touts the benefits of a ketogenic diet on blood lipids, it does not mention total cholesterol, LDL, or apoB.
We concluded that we do not feel that this evidence is cause to be a keto hater. After all, if you look at the 5 aspects of metabolic syndrome (increasing belly fat, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, low HDL, and high triglycerides) you can argue that a ketogenic diet can help with all 5 of them, which is a great thing. We think this is mostly something to be aware of, and if you are considering embarking on a ketogenic diet, perhaps periodic checking of your blood lipids would be wise. Also, it is possible to choose your fat wisely within a ketogenic diet. Less animal fat and butter and more extra virgin olive oil, nuts, seeds, and avocados would probably help negate some of these possible adverse changes in blood lipids.
Simplified Takeaways…
There is evidence that being on a low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet can significantly increase your total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and apoB.
This could in turn raise your risk of cardiovascular disease.
A low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet has also been shown to help reduce body weight, reduce body fat, reduce A1C, and increase HDL cholesterol.
If you are going to try going on a ketogenic diet, routinely checking your blood lipids is most likely wise.
Also, choosing healthier fats within a ketogenic diet could also help maintain healthy blood lipid levels.
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