Muscle loss means keto diets not a sustainable solution

I wonder if keto-diet activist Samara Sonmor recorded calorie counts while on “full keto” carbohydrate deprivation and whether she tested her urine to document excretion of ketones.

As suggested by health sciences professor Jonathan Little, a beneficial effect on insulin levels and weight loss can occur with sensible dietary restriction alone and is less to occur specifically as a result of a ketogenic state.

The brain requires a rich supply of glucose, but following a period of extreme carbohydrate restriction can adapt to use ketones for energy. During the adaptation period, alternative glucose is synthesized from protein amino acids, including that from muscle. Urea is a byproduct of protein-to-glucose conversion, is excreted in urine, and in high concentration exerts a diuretic effect.

This is not sustainable as the body does not have spare muscle.

Therefore, on “full keto,” initial weight loss can in part result from muscle auto-cannibalism and diuresis of tissue water.

Dr. Clifford Chan-Yan, Vancouver