The keto diet for weight loss: Pros and cons

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Scientists from the University of Alberta reviewed the pros and cons of the keto diet, a popular diet for weight loss.

The study is published in Atherosclerosis and was done by Blair O’Neill and Paolo Raggi.

Diets for weight loss and well-being have been at the center of debates for decades.

Many claims have been made in one direction or the other by supporters of opposite camps, often with limited evidence.

At times the emphasis has been put on a single new aspect that the previous diets had overlooked and the new one was to embrace in order to.

But very few clinical studies involving diets have addressed the combined question of weight loss and heart health outcomes.

In the study, the team reviewed the health effects of the ketogenic diet.

The diet requires a rigorous limitation of carbohydrates while allowing liberal ingestion of fats (including saturated fats) and has generated debates with many taking the pros position and as many taking the cons position.

The team found that the ketogenic diet causes a rapid and sensible weight loss along with favorable biomarker changes, such as a reduction in serum hemoglobin A1c in patients with type 2 diabetes.

However, it also causes a substantial rise in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels and many physicians are therefore hesitant to endorse it.

In view of the popular uptake of the keto diet even among people not in need of weight loss, there is some preoccupation with the potential long-term consequences of a wide embrace of this diet by large segments of the population.

On the contrary, numerous lines of evidence show that plant-based diets are linked to a reduction in heart diseases and a prolonged life span.

The team suggests that other diets are as effective, more sustainable, and safer for weight loss.

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