One of the most popular diets nowadays for weight loss are the low carb, high fat diets such as the keto diet. Many people find the ketogenic diet to be truly effective and have claimed that the diet has greatly improved their health. However, a recent study suggests that this type of diet is not at all effective. As a matter of fact, a diet that’s high in fat has been directly linked to weight gain. But is this really true?
High Fat Diets: The Study
The study, which was published in Cell Metabolism and was done at the University of Aberdeen and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, suggest that a group of mice that were fed with high-fat diets gained more weight in a three-month period than those mice that were fed with high-carbohydrate diets. As a matter of fact, those mice that were put on the high-carb diet did not gain any weight at all! How weird is that?
In the period of 3 months, which is apparently equivalent to 9 years in the lifespan of humans, the researchers observed how the mice responded to 30 different diets. These diets varied greatly in terms of high fat and low carb content. After the 3-month period, the researchers found that the groups of mice that were put on diets that contain 50 to 60 percent of fats gained the heaviest amount of weight.
Interesting Results
The researchers have noticed some interesting results in their study. Those mice that were put on a diet that consist of 80 percent fats gained less weight, unlike the mice that were fed with only 50 to 60 percent fats. They are not sure how this happened, and although the average keto diet consists of approximately 80 percent fats, they do not believe that the mice had gone into ketosis since these animals don’t need a good amount of carbs for energy, and therefore, they would not need to produce ketones to fuel their bodies. Yet, it may be possible that the results suggest that adhering to an extremely high fat and low carb diet may lead to weight loss unlike when you follow a moderately high-fat and low carb diet.
Is A High-Fat Diet Bad For Weight Loss?
Despite the results of the study, the researchers believe that high-fat diets are not the only reason behind the weight gain of the mice. It should be noted that the study was done on mice and there exists a significant difference between the metabolisms of mice and humans. In fact, there’s no doubt that going into ketosis does work for a lot of people and there is plenty of data that supports low carb diets, such as the keto diet is truly effective for weight loss.
Related reading: Does Low Carb Dieting Result In Successful Weight Loss?
In conclusion, high-fat diets like the keto diet are not bad for weight loss for as long as you follow the diet strictly. Remember that when you’re on the ketogenic diet, you must follow the macro-nutrient breakdown of high fat, moderate protein, and low carb. You should be able to keep track of your daily food intake and test your ketone levels to make sure that you’re actually in ketosis. That way, you’ll be able to reap all the great health benefits that come with the diet, most especially weight loss.
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Image by Holly A. Heyser
