The twentieth century marked the beginning of using the ketogenic diet as a strategy to mimic the biochemical effects of fasting.
Fasting and the Ketogenic Diet: Powerful Tools for Medical Practices
Fasting has been used to minimize occasional seizures since 500 BCE. Historically, two methods used to combat physical illnesses were either limiting or providing an excess amount of certain chemical substances.1 Eventually, doctors discovered that if food were withheld from someone with seizures, then it was possible that their seizures could slow down or stop altogether; therefore, they looked for ways to produce this same effect without actual starvation. It wasn’t until 1921 that the ketogenic diet was discovered as a way to manage occasional seizures due to neurological challenges.2
The Ketogenic Diet Prevents the Endogenous Production of Glucose
In a typical American diet, carbohydrates comprise around 55% of overall caloric intake, ranging from 200 to 350 g/day. The negative side effects caused by refined carbohydrates were relatively unknown until recently. At the same time, a high intake of sugary foods can lead to a 44% increase or more in obesity and metabolic syndrome.
Based on current data, the largest estimated mortality rates have been associated with high sodium intake; low intake of nuts and seeds; high intake of processed meats; low intake of omega-3 fats; low intake of vegetables; low intake of fruits; and high intake of artificially sweetened beverages. The lowest estimated mortality has been associated with low polyunsaturated fats and unprocessed red meats.3 In addition to this, excess consumption of low-quality carbohydrates takes most of the percentage in the diet and leaves no space for healthier foods like nuts, unprocessed grains, fruits, and vegetables.
A ketogenic diet limits carbohydrates and protein intake moderately to less than 1g/lb body weight, unless individuals are performing heavy exercise involving weight training when the protein intake can be increased to 1.5g/lb body weight. This is a well-formulated ketogenic diet that helps prevent the endogenous production of glucose in the body via gluconeogenesis; however, it does not restrict fat or overall daily calories. People on a ketogenic diet initially experience rapid weight loss up to 10 lbs in two weeks or less. This diet has a diuretic effect, and some early weight loss occurs due to water weight loss followed by fat loss. Interestingly, with this diet plan, lean body muscle is largely spared. As a nutritional ketosis state sustains, hunger subsides, and an overall reduction in caloric intake helps to further weight loss.7,8,9
Estrogen vs. Testosterone
The goal of the keto diet is to stimulate a process in the body called ketosis.5 A few days after the carbohydrates are fully removed from the diet, the body is deprived of glucose. Therefore, it needs to find an alternative energy source and begins to burn stored fat. In the process, the liver converts fat to ketone bodies. Ketones become the new fuel, and as they accumulate in the blood, the body goes into ketosis. Theoretically, this is when fat burning turns to weight loss.6
Still, a more recent study concluded that this is not always the case for men and women. In this study, half of the mice went on the ketogenic diet, and the other half went on a regular diet as a control. The control diet was 7% percent fat, 47% carbohydrates, and 19% protein by mass. Meanwhile, the ketogenic diet was 75% fat, 3% carbohydrates, and 8% protein by mass. Opposite to what we may have expected, the weight loss anticipated from the ketogenic diet only happened in the male mice. After fifteen weeks, the males had a significant reduction in fat mass, but the female mice experienced no changes in weight. The scientists behind the study concluded that estrogen could be affecting the results; therefore, they decided to remove the ovaries of some of the female mice to redo the experiment. Interestingly, the female mice lacking the estrogen hormones had similar results to the male mice with the expected patterns of weight and fat loss.10
