Is Keto diet better for fat loss?

Today I’m going to try to answer the question I hear often - “Is Ketogenic diet better for fat loss?”  Does Keto diet have an edge over any other diet? If this is something you've always wanted to know, let’s try to think through it together...

I am not a proponent of any particular type of diet. I am a diet agnostic, if you will. I believe it is possible to lose weight on pretty much any diet. I don’t try to steer my clients in any particular direction when it comes to the way they should eat. When my client and I need to create caloric deficit in their diet for the purpose of losing fat, we take into consideration their food likes and dislikes, daily schedule, lifestyle and go from there.

But what IS ketogenic diet?. It’s been coming and going since the 1920s. The classic ketogenic diet (with 90% of daily calories coming from fat) was first implemented to treat drug-resistant epilepsy. It can also be helpful for patients with Alzheimer’s disease as well as some cancers and some diabetes patients. Their ketogenic diet is carefully put together and monitored by doctors and qualified dietitians. What most people in the general population are doing right now (and calling it ‘keto’) is more like ‘modified Atkins diet’. People are usually taking in more protein...around 25-30% and their fat is around 65-70%. Carbs come out to between 30-50g per day. Higher protein can be problematic when trying to get into the state of ketosis, but with the new exogenous ketones on the market it’s achievable. So, when in ketosis, your body uses ketones (the byproduct of the fatty acids breakdown) for energy. Fat is your body’s preferred fuel at this point, so you burn dietary as well as body fat more efficiently. It all sounds great in theory.

In practice... I see people run into several problems. Mainly because they don’t invest time into researching the diet, or its pros and cons. They don’t think about long-term sustainability and how this diet will fit with their schedule, food preferences and social life. When starting keto lots of people experience the ‘keto flu’. It's when they feel gastrointestinal distress, fatigue, lethargy, and headaches. Constipation and the opposite of that is often the case as well, so some kind of fiber supplement is a must for these folks. While on Keto, people often experience Halitosis, or bad breath. I am sure there are ways to battle all those and other side effects, but the biggest hurdle I see in clients who attempt keto diet is adherence.

Here’s a common scenario: the dieter starts off losing a bunch of weight very quickly...mainly due to water loss. In the absence of carbs water weight loss can be pretty significant due to the fact that every gram of carbohydrate attracts 2-3g of water. The dieter is excited and motivated. After a couple of weeks the weight loss slows down, but is still happening because he or she cut out a whole food group - carbs - out of the diet. The individuals have to adjust to a whole new way of eating, monitoring whether they are in ketosis or not, say no to a lot of their favorite foods, decline invitations to social events or make adjustments. If high fat is not your preferred way of eating, you won't be able to adhere to this diet long-term, and when you go back to your normal diet there WILL be weight regain. That’s a lot to sacrifice for most folks. If you are the type of person who does not mind making several radical changes to your lifestyle, if your desire and readiness are ten out of ten, then give it a go... But most people have trouble making just one single change to their daily habits. Their motivation might be high, but when it comes to execution...they fall back onto what they are accustomed to.

One of the arguments I hear is this: "Since you are fat-adapted on keto you will burn more body fat." While this is true as a stand-alone statement, it might not be true in the context of your own keto practice. If you, being on keto, are taking in more energy (food) than your body uses, where do you think all the excess fat calories go? It goes to be stored in your body's preferred locations The only way you are going to lose weight on keto is if you are maintaining a caloric deficit. Which is true for ANY diet.

That's why calorie deficit is #1 and primary component of fat loss.

The second most important component to that is TIME. Yes, TIME. Without sustaining that deficit for two, three, four, six months ... you will not see any appreciable weight loss. And what will make you stay on a diet for that long? The way of eating that is enjoyable, sustainable and doesn’t interfere with your social life. At the end It all comes down to these two: caloric deficit + time.

That’s not just my observations. There are lots of studies showing that as long as total daily calories and protein intake were equated, there was no difference in the rate of weight loss between low fat - high carb versus high fat-low carb diets. In fact people on lower fat - higher carb diets tend to maintain their new lower weight better. That’s what we want in the end, isn’t it?

So, to answer the original question - does Keto have an edge over other diets when it comes to fat loss?... The answer is no. But if you want to try it, do your homework and count the cost before embarking upon it.