Keto Diet Called a ‘Disease-Promoting Disaster’ in New Study
The popular fat-heavy diet is not safe nor effective for most people
Diets that become all the rage usually prove to have shortcomings, often serious ones. It’s no different with keto diets. A comprehensive new review of research finds that for most people — and yes, there are always exceptions — the risks of these restrictive, fat-rich diets outweigh any benefits, and for some people keto is downright dangerous.
“The typical keto diet is a disease-promoting disaster,” says the study’s lead author, Lee Crosby, a registered dietician with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a nonprofit research organization that promotes preventive medicine. “Loading up on red meat, processed meat, and saturated fat and restricting carbohydrate-rich vegetables, fruits, legumes, and whole grains is a recipe for bad health.”
Ketogenic diets, keto for short, come in many flavors. Essentially, they restrict carbs and emphasize fats (up to 90% of intake — with a license to bacon with abandon) with a goal of inducing ketosis, whereby the liver produces ketone bodies, which can serve as an energy source in lieu of glucose. The diets are promoted for weight loss and as a way to supposedly protect against various diseases, including cancer, heart disease…
