As I’ve shared several times before, I’ve personally experimented with keto a few times. Like fasting and certain types of exercise I do regularly, it’s a valued and powerful method in my tool box.While I didn’t go into the experiments with any expectations of losing fat and bodyweight (in fact, I was afraid I’d lose some of my hard-earned strength and would feel weaker while climbing, running and lifting weights), losing fat almost accidentally was exactly what happened, while my overall fitness remained the same. Concretely, during a 4 week keto stint, I lost some 4 pounds (2 kg) of fat from my midsection and arms. I could clearly see my abs, biceps and deltoids pop up in the mirror, which made me feel great. I was stronger per pound of bodyweight, which meant I could do more pullups (+5 reps), pistol squats (+3 reps) and pretty much every other movement than before.Going and staying keto even for a few weeks was hard and required a lot of prep even for me, so I figured most people would probably never do it. The time, effort and social cost felt simply too high for most. Simultaneously, many people curious about or already doing keto and low carb were asking me to create a ketogenic Ambronite meal shake that would make it easy to feel the benefits faster.I knew it would be a big challenge to find suitable effective and great tasting real food ingredients, but I felt it had to be done. So last year we went into the kitchen with my cofounder, recipe mastermind Ironman Arno to create a tasty, plant based Keto Meal Shake to make experiencing the numerous benefits of keto faster and easier to more people. With raving reviews rolling in from our first 100+ fans who have bought and enjoyed the product, (called Ambronite Keto Meal Shake Chocolate) for a few weeks, we’re almost ready to launch it globally… I’ll also be doing a new keto experiment and documenting the data and results to you guys. Exciting high-fat times!The BS around ketoThere’s no going around it: like any #1 googled health trend (including Gwyneth Paltrow’s vagina candles - wtf people), keto is surrounded by a lot of BS and false information. Keto has surged in popularity during the last few years because of its potential for weight loss, which means that many of the claims, products and courses out there range from wildly inaccurate to pure horsesh*t.Luckily, there are also some credible meta-analyses of dozens of quality longer term studies with rather clear conclusions, which I have linked below.I suspect much of the noise around keto is created by the clash of the diet’s fanatic cultists and devoted haters, which has escalated into ridiculous “Eat only bacon” aka. The Baconing-level communities and “meal plans” from hell. On the flipside, it looks like the proven merits of keto have been under attack from less educated nutritionists, angry government health agencies and even some old school researchers - often with arguments that aren’t based on much evidence. Reporting around the subject is rarely evidence-based - often pure speculation instead of facts. A few weeks ago, The Guardian published a de-facto advertorial poorly disguised as an objective article about keto by a “nutritionist” who omitted all the credible research and meta-analyses, subtly pitched her own book’s subject instead, and according to the footnote is selling her new book (not on keto). As always, few people seem to bother to look at the actual science. This is especially weird, since keto stints long and short have been used for medical treatments since the 1920’s. Many forget that ketosis is a natural state of our bodies that enabled our species to survive and thrive through the seasons. Our badass ancestors didn’t do fad diets. They hunted and foraged for their food. Lacking supermarkets and refined sugar, they spent extended amounts of time in ketosis. This alone, of course, doesn’t mean that we should do the same. But it does mean our bodies are built to do it. And, as research and experience seems to show, our bodies can benefit from it substantially.I gathered the top 3 controversial keto claims (which are also the most common questions I’ve received), plus some thoughts and key research evidence from quality journals here.1. “Keto is very effective for burning fat and losing excess weight”TRUE. Keto has been shown to be highly effective for long term weight loss without hunger. Other diets work for weight loss too, but the “without hunger” bit is where the magic happens - at least for me.While many researchers argue about the details of underlying mechanisms and nitty gritty of keto and low-carb, it seems undeniable that for most people, keto has been shown to be highly effective in burning fat and promoting weight loss. What makes keto distinctly different and easier for many people is that unlike traditional diets that cut calories, keto doesn’t make you miserable and hungry. After doing lots of fasts, sometimes for 120 hours, I can attest to this. Keto is nothing of the sort. In fact, I feel more satiety on keto - even when I haven’t eaten - than on any other diet I’ve tried. This isn’t necessarily a good thing if I’m trying to eat more to optimize for certain strength programs or goals other than weight loss.Most diets fail (perhaps for a good reason!) because they are absolutely miserable to go through. Keto increases satiety so much that people naturally choose to eat less. Here’s why: Keto curbs hunger and cravings by reducing hunger-stimulating hormones. Studies discussing the benefits of keto are very clear about the power of keto for shedding excess weight:“It significantly reduced the body weight and body mass index of the patients. Furthermore, it decreased the level of triglycerides, LDL cholesterol and blood glucose, and increased the level of HDL cholesterol. “ Long-term Effects of a Ketogenic Diet in Obese Patients. Hussein et al. Clinical Cardiology, 2004A meta-analysis of 13 different randomized controlled trials (RCT’s, the gold standard of real-world studies) found that keto produced a “greater weight loss” than conventional diets. Furthermore, those on keto lost, on average, 2 pounds more over a year.Another meta-analysis from 2016 looked at 11 randomized controlled studies and also found that those on a low-carb diet lost significantly more weight than those on a traditional weight loss diet (on average, they lost 5 pounds more over 6 months).According to the 2014 review article Beyond weight loss: a review of the therapeutic uses of very-low-carbohydrate (ketogenic) diets, the documented benefits of keto are not limited to weight reduction and reducing appetite but expand to numerous health benefits and potential use cases including treating epilepsy and diabetes, and increasing the genesis of mitochondria - the powerhouses of the cell that turn the sugars, fats and protein we eat into usable energy. So, in short, it’s not only really effective for weight and fat loss, but also easier to adhere to than traditional diets because of the powerful satiety experience.2. “To experience the benefits of keto, you need to eat weird keto things and be in ketosis all the time”FALSE. Honestly, there was a time when I was under this impression as well. Weirdly enough, having mildly irritating keto fanatics in your circle of friends doesn’t help to dispel this myth. But it’s completely false.This is one of the most common misconceptions - hilariously, this “full on, all the time” applies to almost no smart and realistic lifestyle improvement whatsoever - and keto is no exception! You don’t need to be (and probably get more benefits from not being) on keto all the time. The benefits of keto can already be felt and measured by only doing 3-5 days at a time. This is often called cyclical or cycled keto. In fact, for most people, a few weeks or even days at a time seems to be the sweet spot for fat burn, health benefits and living everyday life without stressing out.For many people, 6 days of keto followed by a 1 high-carb “cheat day” seems to work well. Furthermore, while (and because) keto is effective for weight loss, it isn’t optimal for every goal. Such as gaining weight. Some studies done on athletes note a short-term performance decrease in short term top output, and seem to suggest that several weeks of keto followed by an off-week may produce additional athletic benefits.I’ve experimented with keto and found the sweet spot for me to be somewhere from 2-4 weeks: enough to produce measurable long and short term benefits, including losing 2-4 pounds (1-2 kg) of pure fat (not water), while staying strong and not losing muscle mass. Just short enough to stick to realistically without limiting my life too much. Simple and effective is often better than perfect and daunting.Keto isn’t about eating only bacon, either. While harder, plant based keto is a growing trend, too. Most importantly, all well researched and proven dietary profiles stress that greens are a non-negotiable for optimal health. This stands true for keto, perhaps even more so, because it increases the need for many vital nutrients and minerals. Studies show that almost every European and American is eating too few greens and veggies. Very few people get the optimal 6-8 servings / day. Going keto isn’t a free pass to ditch every basic health fact you’ve ever known, although it feels like some people treat it like one. Hydration, getting enough dark green veggies, healthy movement and sound sleeping habits still remain important cornerstones for overall well-being, and in my experience, only become more important while adapting to keto.3. “Keto will fix my life, hair, career, relationship and every health problem I have”FALSE (duh). There’s a lot of poorly researched out there, but mostly the bad rap seems to come from inflated, unrealistic expectations. Maybe it’s partially caused by the fact that the ketogenic diet is used for conditions beyond weight loss and diabetes: keto seems to be use
