Weight-loss from low-carb/keto diets is mostly water; no lasting health benefits
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Just a few minutes ago I posted about a study showing that l0w-carb diets increase risk of developing Afib and, thus, cardiovascular disease (CVD). Other studies have already corroborated the negative effects of such diets on the cardiovascular system. Now, the study below debunks one of the most-often cited benefits of the keto diet – i.e. the rapid weight loss one experiences while on it. As I have discussed on many podcasts and in other posts, cutting carbs works just like diuretics, so the weight-loss on low-carb/keto diets is likely mostly water loss (i.e. anti-edematous effects), since people who stop the low-carb-keto diet rapidly regain the lost weight despite the fact that their total body fat percentage does not change (and cannot significantly change in a matter of just 1-2 weeks, which is what it takes to regain the lost weight on low-carb/keto after starting carb intake again) and their fat intake does not change either.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38232923/
https://www.vogue.com/article/new-study-shows-the-keto-diet-may-actually-be-harmful-to-health
“…The ketogenic diet rose to popularity in the early 2000s with the mantra “fat is not the enemy.” But a study covered in the March 2024 issue of Current Problems in Cardiology suggests that the diet—which focuses on foods high in fats and deemed very low in carbohydrates—is perhaps something of a Trojan horse. The paper, published by Joanna Popiolek-Kalisz, MD and PhD, found a few issues with the diet’s parameters. The first was weight-loss related: While many people who followed it experienced rapid weight loss (typical of making any significant diet change), it was likely mostly water weight and failed to yield any permanent positive health changes within the body. “The ketogenic diet does not fulfill the criteria of a healthy diet,”