Summary

This is a collection of studies we've reviewed for our keto article series. We examine the ketogenic diet for fat loss, muscle mass, adherence, satiety, disease management, and more.

Previous study collections

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Disclaimer: the information presented in this study collection is not medical advice, please consult your doctor before making drastic diet or lifestyle changes. This is particularly important if you have a disease that can be modified by keto (i.e. diabetes, epilepsy, cancer), or if you’re on medication: “patients on diabetes medication who use [a ketogenic diet] should be under close medical supervision” - Yancy et al., 2005)

Weight loss (mostly reviews) (27)

Muscle glycogen and body composition (15)

Weight gain and overfeeding (8)

These studies deal with CICO, which is the main counter hypothesis to the insulin hypothesis. More info on CICO and body weight regulation here: Collection of 450+ weight loss studies

RCTs: Keto / low-carb vs. regular or low-fat diet (30)

Carbohydrates, keto, and exercise performance (35)

Disease management (2)



Clinical Aspects of the Ketogenic Diet (Hartman and Vining, 2007) The Ketogenic Diet: One Decade Later (Freeman et al., 2007)

Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) (4)

Improvement of gastroesophageal reflux disease after initiation of a low-carbohydrate diet: five brief case reports (Yancy et al., 2001) A Very Low-Carbohydrate Diet Improves Gastroesophageal Reflux and Its Symptoms (Austin et al., 2006) Systematic review: the effects of conservative and surgical treatment for obesity on gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (De Groot et al., 2009) Dietary carbohydrate intake, insulin resistance and gastro-oesophageal reflux disease: a pilot study in European- and African-American obese women (Pointer et al., 2016)

Diabetes (11)

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“The change to a [low carb diet] in patients taking medications for diabetes or hypertension should be made under supervision by clinicians. (...) Frequently, a reduction in medication will be required to avoid hypoglycemia and hypotension due to overmedication.“ - Westman et al., 2007

“Because of the effectiveness of carbohydrate restriction on glycemic control, there is a danger of hypoglycemia for those patients on glucose-lowering medication. It is recommended that medication be reduced in advance of initiating a low-carbohydrate diet.” - Feinman et al., 2015

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Cancer (26)

This section is mostly based on a collection of links put together by Chad Macias of the Institute For Human Kinetics Lab

Epilepsy (23)

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“The KD is absolutely contraindicated in children with pyruvate carboxylase deficiency, where administration of the diet may be lethal. We have never used the diet in patients with fatty acid oxidation disorders or organic acidurias like 3-hydroxy-methyl glutaryl Co-A lyase deficiency” - Freeman et al., 2006

"Five children (10%) experienced serious adverse events (AE) after initiation of the diet." - Ballaban-Gil et al., 1998

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Misc (metabolism, health, appetite, etc.) (21)

Adherence (4)

Effect of 6-month adherence to a very low carbohydrate diet program (Westman et al., 2002) Adherence and success in long-term weight loss diets: the dietary intervention randomized controlled trial (DIRECT) (Greenberg et al., 2009) Attenuating the Biologic Drive for Weight Regain Following Weight Loss: Must What Goes Down Always Go Back Up? (Melby et al., 2017) Is There an Optimal Diet for Weight Management and Metabolic Health? (Thom and Lean, 2017)

Uncategorized articles (8)