Keto Diet and Cholesterol Levels. What You Should Know.

If you are on or looking at transitioning over to the Keto diet, you probably already know that it not only helps you to lose weight but it can also help you to maintain good health. There are many ways in which it does this. One of those ways we will look at here is the Keto Diet and Cholesterol Levels.

 

Carbohydrates and Cholesterol

 

There are two separate lines of thought within the dietician community in relation to the role of carbohydrates in a healthy diet.

One is that to have a healthy balanced diet you need to consume carbohydrates and that they should be making up the majority of calories we consume. Therefore, carbs should be a part of everybody’s diet.

The other is that carbohydrates are not an essential part of one’s diet for proper nutrition, and actually causes inflammation which increases the risk of diabetes, cancer, and neurological disorders.

Significant evidence found through scientific research has shown that low-carb diets are better than low-fat diets for reducing the risks of heart disease and improving lipid profiles.

 

Are Low Carb Diets for Everyone?

 

The recommended daily amount of carbohydrates for adults is at least 175g according to the Institute of Medicine. This is especially important for pregnant women. For a diet containing 2400 calories, this would amount to almost 30 percent. During pregnancy, it is recommended that 30 percent of the calories consumed should come from carbs and proteins should be restricted to 15 percent of calories.

Moderate carb consumption is also required for people suffering from adrenal fatigue. Adrenal fatigue is caused by overworked adrenal glands which leads to cortisol levels being too low. Adopting a low-carb diet will increase these cortisol levels.

Carbs are also required for athletes who train a lot or engage in high-intensity training because carbs are the best source of cellular fuel for performance for these activities.

 

 

Athletes who do not consume enough carbs usually develop bad training habits and end up having to go onto a diet that contains some carbs in order to provide the cellular fuel needed for exercise. The recommended amount of carbs for athletes is 20 percent of their calories. However, this can vary depending on a number of factors including a person’s weight, training schedule, and health goals. The amount increases to 40 to 50 percent for athletes who train heavily. They will also need to consume fat which the body will burn off quickly during exercise.

In all these cases low-carb diets may not be the best option.

There are variations of the Keto diet, however, for people in such situations such as the Targeted Ketogenic Diet and Cyclical Ketogenic diets where carbs are consumed intermittently while following the Keto plan.

The Keto diet is ideal for people who are overweight or struggling with obesity. It will enable them to both lose the excess weight and also keep the weight off.

The other category of people who will benefit from the Keto diet is people with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes. Low carb diets will stabilize blood sugar which combined with the weight loss can result in the reversal of type 2 diabetes.

 

How Do Low Carb Diets Work?

 

Low carb diets including Keto restrict daily carb intake to as little as 20 grams. This causes the body to switch into ketosis where the body starts to burn fat for fuel instead of carbs. This fat comes from both fat which is consumed as well and body fat.

Despite all the negative information about consuming fat, Keto and other low-carb diets are fat-rich with the emphasis being put on healthy fats. This encourages the body’s natural fat-burning process.

So what does all this mean for cholesterol?

 

What The Studies Say

 

According to the Mayo Clinic the Keto diet shows benefits when it comes to diabetes, heart disease, and metabolic syndrome. It also demonstrates more effectiveness at lowering LDL which is the bad cholesterol than diets that are higher in carb intake.

You may have seen some studies which show that the consumption of saturated fat leads to an increase in blood cholesterol levels. However, these studies are all short-term and can be as little as just a few weeks in duration. The fact is that longer-term studies have shown that there is no connection between saturated fat consumption and increased blood cholesterol levels.

 

In addition to this, studies have found that high saturated fat diets combined with low carb intake not only do not show any impact on blood cholesterol but also lowered markers for heart disease.

One study (Barclay AW, Petocz P, McMillan-Price J, et al. Glycemic index, glycemic load, and chronic disease risk–a meta-analysis of observational studies) came to the conclusion that using the GI to consume lower GI foods is associated with lower triglycerides and higher good cholesterol (HDL) profiles. GI is a glycemic index which is a scale that rates a food’s ability to impact blood glucose levels.

The first-ever Bayesian study (a summary approach to mass data that makes it easier for doctors to understand) conducted of the effects of diet therapy on weight loss (Sackner-Bernstein, Kanter, Kaul) was published in October of 2015. It evaluated data from 17 randomized controlled trials of 1,797 people who were obese and overweight. The evaluation found greater weight loss and a reduced predictor of cardiovascular disease risk in subjects who ate low carb versus low fat. The studies leader, Dr. Sackner-Bernstein commented that the results showed a low carb diet to have a 99% probability of resulting in greater weight loss and a clear higher likelihood that it was superior to restricting fat.

One meta-analysis (Santos, et al; Systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials of the effects of low carbohydrate diets on cardiovascular risk factors) of 17 low carb diet trials comprised of 1,140 obese subjects determined that eating low carb neither increased nor decreased the bad LDL cholesterol.

 

Instead, low carb was associated with:

 

• Significant weight loss and reduction in body mass index
• Significant improvements in several heart disease risk factors: lower level of triglycerides, healthier blood pressure
• Improved fasting glucose
• Reduced risk for metabolic syndrome, which is a risk factor for heart disease
• Decreased levels of belly fat and waist size
• Improvements in the good HDL cholesterol levels

Another study (Siri-Tarino, et al; Saturated Fatty Acids and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease) reported that the replacement of saturated fat with carbohydrates, and especially refined carbs and sugars that have become commonplace in the last several decades is associated with either no improvement in or increased risks for cardiovascular disease as well as higher risks for dyslipidemia.

 

 

The study’s researchers concluded that considering the current epidemic levels of obesity, and type 2 diabetes that features insulin resistance, reducing intake of carbs and sugar along with weight control should be a top priority in the public’s dietary goals.

 

Other Key Considerations

 

Moreover, no low carb diet advocates trans fats (also known as partially hydrogenated vegetable oil or hydrogenated vegetable oil) which are the worst fats contributing to an increased risk for heart disease.

Trans fats are typically found in fried foods, sweets, baked goods, processed snacks, and food products, cookies, crackers, and vegetable shortenings, none of which is allowed on any reputable low carb plan.

 

Final Thoughts

 

You should talk with your doctor before altering your diet, especially if you suffer from heart disease or high cholesterol. A nutritionist or a dietician can help as well.