A viral diet that's been found to burn up to 10 times as much fat as a standard diet is gaining momentum among Silicon Valley tech workers. And it involves eating a lot of fat.

The ketogenic, or "keto," diet — which first became popular in the 1920s as a treatment for epilepsy and diabetes — limits carbohydrates to no more than 50 grams a day, which is the rough equivalent of a plain bagel or a cup of white rice. By comparison, dietary guidelines from the US Department of Agriculture recommend from 225 to 325 grams of carbs a day.

On the keto diet, the body goes into starvation mode and taps its fat stores for fuel. Studies suggest the low-carb, high-fat diet may promote weight loss, improve focus, and stave off age-related diseases. More research is needed on its long-term effects, especially among healthy people.

A small study recently published in the journal Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome found that adults who had been diagnosed with metabolic syndrome (a precursor of diabetes) and ate a ketogenic diet had resting metabolic rates (a measure of how much energy your body burns when at rest) more than 10 times as high as people who ate a standard diet.

In 2017, I spent two months eating bacon, butter, and avocados to see why the keto movement is so popular with tech workers. Here's what it was like.