Ketogenic diets started being in use in the 1920s for treating epilepsy under strict medical supervision. A ketogenic diet means having 20-50g of carbohydrates a day – to put things into perspective 2 slices of bread are about 30g of carbs and 1 medium sized apple is 20g. This clearly shows that in order to follow such a low carbohydrate diet you would have to cut out/reduce the amounts of some very important food groups, which are wholegrain carbohydrates, fruits as well as pulses, which are very important in providing high levels of fibre in our diet.
In the case of a ketogenic diet, 70-80% of calories come from fat. Our body’s preferred fuel source is carbohydrate so in the case of not having enough our body uses fat, which is broken down into ketones and used as a fuel instead.
Through the media and the misinformation out there many people started using a ketogenic diet for weight loss. Studies have shown that there is no unique advantage following a ketogenic diet compared to other methods for weight loss in the long term.
What really worries healthcare professionals is the effect such diets have on cholesterol levels. Inevitably, the amount of saturated fat (bad fat) increases when 70-80% of your calories come from fat. As a consequence, LDL (bad-chol) increases. A study was done on healthy males, which showed a 44% increase in LDL after following a ketogenic diet. It is scientifically well recognised that elevated LDL causes atherosclerosis, which is the clogging of the arteries with fat deposits.
For the above reasons, Heart UK does not recommend a ketogenic diet as there is no evidence it can help with lipid profile management, its long term effects are unknown and it challenges all the guidelines available on cardiovascular risk. This is also a shout out to someone who have high cholesterol levels and familial hypercholesterolemia to avoid following a ketogenic diet.
