The ketogenic diet gained popularity in the early 2000s with the slogan “fat is not the enemy.” However, a study published in the March 2024 issue of the journal Food and Nutrition found that Current Issues in Cardiology They suggest that the diet, with its emphasis on foods that are supposedly high in fat and very low in carbohydrates, is perhaps something of a Trojan horse.
A paper published by Joanna Popiolek-Karis, MD and PhD, found several problems with the diet’s parameters. The first concerns weight loss. While many who followed the diet experienced rapid weight loss (as is common with any drastic dietary change), it was mostly due to water loss and likely did not result in any lasting positive health changes in the body. “The ketogenic diet does not meet the criteria for a healthy diet,” Popiolek-Karis wrote in her paper. In fact, quite the opposite is true: when it comes to overall heart health, “low-carbohydrate patterns are more beneficial than very low-carbohydrate (including ketogenic) diets.” Due to the emphasis on fats in the keto diet, people following the diet usually have higher LDL cholesterol levels, which are associated with a higher risk of heart disease, atherosclerosis, and death.
Low-carb diets include the Atkins diet, the Paleo diet, and the South Beach diet. Other studies have also suggested that the keto diet may lead to significant vitamin and mineral deficiencies (including excess amounts of fat-soluble vitamin K, which is bad for the heart) and an increase in kidney stones.
According to an annual survey by the International Food Information Council, more than half of Americans follow a diet or a specific eating pattern, but the popularity of the high-fat keto diet has declined 4% compared to 2023. This trend is likely to continue to decline in the future.
