The ketogenic diet, often just called the keto diet, has exploded in popularity over the past decade, praised for its ability to promote weight loss, enhance mental clarity, and most importantly, improve metabolic health.
But with all the hype comes some serious questions. Is it really healthy to consume 75 percent of calories from fat? Can the body really thrive on zero carbs and zero fiber? After all, doesn’t this go against everything nutritional science has been preaching for the past 50 years?
At its core, the ketogenic diet is a low-carb, high-fat eating plan designed to shift your body into ketosis—a metabolic state where fat becomes your primary fuel source instead of carbohydrates. While some claim that this is not healthy and potentially dangerous long-term, there is a growing movement of people who have clearly improved many aspects of their health through a ketogenic diet, with bloodwork to prove it.
The problem is that most people don’t connect how they’re feeling with what they’re eating. They assume that high blood pressure, aching joints, and constant fatigue are just bad luck or genetics when in reality, these issues are often rooted in diet and lifestyle choices. A whopping 93 percent of Americans are metabolically broken, meaning the vast majority are dealing with insulin resistance, obesity, or other metabolic dysfunctions.
So, could keto be the key to fixing this? In this article, we’ll break down the science behind keto, its potential benefits, common pitfalls, and how to set yourself up for success if you decide to give it a try. I believe ketosis is key to returning to optimum health and would benefit the vast majority of those who try it. Whether you’re curious about keto or looking for ways to optimize your general health and longevity, this guide will help you make an informed decision.
A ketogenic diet is simply a way of eating that generates ketones, energy-rich molecules that serve as an energy source in the absence of glucose. Despite popular definitions of keto as a low-carbohydrate and high fat diet, it is actually defined by a way of eating that lowers insulin levels enough to burn fat and generate metabolically meaningful levels of ketones in the blood.
Most experts consider metabolically meaningful ketosis to begin at blood ketone levels of 0.5 mM (millimolar). Note this is different from the typical urine tests that are commonly, which measure acetoacetate in mg/dL. Urine tests are also far less accurate at tracking ketosis, although their simplicity and ease of use makes them a fair test for beginners.
Ketosis is typically achieved by reducing carbohydrate intake to a minimum (typically less than 50g per day compared to the average of 250-300g), although exercise and fasting can also induce ketosis.
On a keto diet, protein consumption is moderate and fat intake high, typically consisting of around 70–80 percent fat, 15–25 percent protein, and 5–10 percent carbohydrates, although this can vary depending on individual preference and goals. For some, such as those on a stricter carnivore diet, carbohydrate intake is at a strict zero.
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to keto, and that’s the beauty of it. We all have different metabolisms, lifestyles, and food preferences—so your version of keto might look totally different from someone else’s.
A lot of people assume keto has to be packed with red meat, loaded with saturated fat, or completely devoid of fruit—but that’s not the case. Keto isn’t a rigid diet—it’s a metabolic state. As long as you’re in ketosis, how you get there is up to you.
That means keto can be done in all kinds of ways: plant-based, animal-based, high-fat, high-protein, or even through strategies like fasting or calorie restriction that still allow a bit more carbs. The key is metabolic flexibility.
Like many diets, keto has its proponents and opponents, with some saying it has cleared stubborn ailments such as obesity and inflammation while others claim it sapped all their energy.
The ketogenic diet was originally developed in the 1920s by American physician Russell Wilder as a treatment for epilepsy when medications were ineffective. Research from 1921 found that the diet reduced seizures in children by 50 percent and completely eliminated them in 10 percent of cases.
Since then it has been used for many neurological issues, including epilepsy, depression, migraine, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, as well as a surefire way to facilitate weight loss, reduce inflammation, and, most importantly, improve metabolic health.
A keto diet aims to serve ketones from stored fat as a primary source of energy as opposed to glucose sourced directly from carbohydrates (starches and sugars). When one limits carbohydrate intake to less than 50g per day, the body can no longer rely solely on circulating glucose for energy and instead shifts to burning fat, entering a state known as ketosis.
The controversy surrounding the keto diet largely comes from its stark contrast to the traditional food pyramid promoted by dietary guidelines, which emphasize high-carb foods like grains. Many question the legitimacy of these guidelines, citing government lobbying and industry influence in shaping nutritional recommendations, turning the food pyramid into more of a pyramid scheme.
As a result, people are increasingly seeking dietary approaches—like keto—that they believe align more closely with human biology and ancestral eating patterns.
It’s worth noting that while the keto diet simply refers to low carbs, moderate protein, and high fat, not all ketogenic diets are created equal. The quality of the foods you choose can make a significant difference in the health benefits you experience.
A well-balanced keto diet, rich in healthy fats from sources like hormone-free animal meats and dairy will support overall health. In contrast, a keto diet based on refined and processed fats and proteins, with low-quality ingredients, will offset the benefits of ketosis and may do more harm than good.
For most people over the last few hundred years, carbohydrates have typically served as the main source of energy production for the body’s tissues. And it’s hard to blame those for prioritizing them – they are a cheap and efficient way of obtaining energy when salaries were poor and meat was expensive.
When carbohydrate intake is restricted, typically to less than 50g daily for most people, a myriad of changes take place in the body.
As you reduce carbohydrate intake, your body’s glucose (blood sugar) levels drop. In response, insulin levels decrease because insulin is primarily secreted when glucose is present. This makes it easier for the body to burn stored fat instead of glucose for energy.
With lower insulin levels, your body starts breaking down stored fat (triglycerides) in fat cells into fatty acids and glycerol. The liver then converts the fatty acids into ketones (specifically acetone, acetoacetate, and beta-hydroxybutyrate).
These ketones are then released into the bloodstream where they become the primary energy source for many tissues, especially the brain, heart, and muscles.
Ketones are an efficient alternative fuel for the brain and body. Unlike glucose, ketones don’t require insulin for entry into cells. The brain, which usually runs on glucose, can derive about 70 percent of its energy from ketones once ketosis is fully established, with many reporting mental clarity and sustained energy levels as a result.
With ketosis, the body becomes highly efficient at burning fat. It’s not just fat from your diet but also stored fat, making ketosis a fat-burning state. This leads to fat loss over time, as the body is continuously using fat as its primary energy source.
Several hormones adapt to support ketosis. For example, glucagon (which opposes insulin) increases to help release stored fat while growth hormone increases, promoting muscle preservation and fat breakdown.
During ketogenesis, insulin secretion is low due to feedback from blood glucose levels, decreasing the stimulation of fat and glucose storage. This metabolic state is often referred to as “nutritional ketosis.”
Ketone bodies produced in the body can be used as an energy source by important organs like the heart, muscles, and kidneys. They can also cross the blood-brain barrier, providing an alternative energy source for the brain.
However, red blood cells and the liver cannot use ketones because they lack mitochondria and the enzyme diaphorase, so they rely on glucose produced by the body through gluconeogenesis. Here, the liver and kidneys produce their glucose as the body demands from fat (glycerol), protein (amino acids), and lactate (from anaerobic metabolism).
Through gluconeogenesis, the body can produce around 150-200g of glucose a day, more than enough to cover all of its glucose needs. Thus, the body does not require glucose from carbohydrates for anything.
The ketogenic diet enhances brain health by providing a steady, efficient fuel source in the form of ketones. Unlike glucose, ketones do not require insulin to enter cells, making them a more reliable energy source, especially in conditions related to insulin resistance.
Research from the National Institute on Aging and Johns Hopkins University suggests that ketosis activates pathways that improve neuroplasticity, boost the immune system, and promote autophagy—the process of clearing out damaged cells, resulting in improved cognitive function, mental clarity, and resilience to stress.
Ketosis fuels the brain in ways that go beyond simple energy production—it actively supports repair, resilience, and adaptation. One of the key benefits is its role in autophagy, the body’s built-in cleanup system that removes damaged cells and debris, reducing the risk of neurodegenerative diseases.
At the same time, ketones enhance neuroplasticity, helping the brain form new connections and improve cognitive function. This is why many people on a ketogenic diet report sharper focus and better memory. On a deeper level, ketosis also boosts mitochondrial function and reduces oxidative stress, which can slow brain aging and support long-term neurological health.
Ketosis has shown promise in managing and improving several neurological disorders:
Alzheimer’s Disease: Ketones bypass insulin resistance in the brain, providing an alternative energy source that enhances mitochondrial function and reduces oxidative stress.
Parkinson’s Disease: The ketogenic diet has been linked to improved motor function and dopamine stability, leading to reduced tremors and enhanced movement control.
Epilepsy: Originally developed to treat epilepsy, the keto diet remains one of the most effective treatments for drug-resistant epilepsy by stabilizing neural activity and reducing seizure frequency.
Bipolar Disorder & Schizophrenia: Emerging evidence suggests that ketones may help regulate mood and cognitive stability by optimizing brain energy pathways and reducing neuroinflammation.
Metabolic health is arguably the most overlooked cornerstone of both physical and mental well-being, yet it plays a central role in most chronic diseases that afflict the modern world. The good news? Many of these conditions are preventable once you understand the fundamental biology of cellular health.
Metabolic health refers to how efficiently your body processes and utilizes energy from food. It involves stable blood sugar levels, balanced hormones, good insulin sensitivity, and low inflammation—key factors that reduce the risk of chronic diseases like those below which are increasing in numbers and intensity.
Diabetes: The keto diet helps regulate blood sugar levels by minimizing carbohydrate intake, improving insulin sensitivity, and reducing the need for insulin production.
Inflammation: Ketones, particularly beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB), act as anti-inflammatory molecules that suppress pathways associated with chronic inflammation, reducing risks of metabolic diseases.
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS): By lowering insulin levels and balancing hormones, keto has been shown to improve PCOS symptoms and fertility.
Fatty Liver Disease: The diet reduces liver fat accumulation by lowering insulin levels and promoting fat burning, helping reverse non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
You will hear all across the internet that losing weight is simple mathematics: Consume fewer calories than you burn. While this might be technically true, what they don’t tell you is that how many calories you burn depends massively on the biology of your metabolic health. So someone who is metabolically healthy can process energy faster and more efficiently, thereby increasing metabolism in general.
The ketogenic diet shifts your metabolism into fat-burning mode, naturally reducing hunger and stabilizing energy levels. By minimizing blood sugar spikes and keeping insulin low, keto helps control cravings, making weight loss more sustainable without the constant battle against appetite. It does this primarily through three pathways:
Appetite Suppression: High-fat, protein-rich meals promote satiety, reducing cravings and overall calorie intake.
Fat Burning: By reducing carbohydrate intake, the body shifts to burning stored fat for energy, leading to sustainable weight loss.
Insulin Control: Lower insulin levels prevent fat storage and promote fat breakdown, making it easier to maintain a healthy weight.
Chronic inflammation is at the root of almost all age-related diseases, and ketosis helps combat inflammation at a cellular level. In fact, I do not believe there is a more effective way to reduce inflammation in as quick a timeframe as through ketosis.
Beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB), the primary ketone body, acts as an anti-inflammatory molecule by inhibiting the NLRP3 inflammasome, a key driver of chronic inflammation. This reduces systemic inflammation linked to conditions like arthritis and cardiovascular disease.
Ketosis also enhances mitochondrial efficiency, reducing the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which contribute to oxidative stress and cellular damage.
Chronically high insulin and glucose levels trigger inflammation and fuel diseases like metabolic syndrome. By keeping insulin low, keto helps prevent the inflammatory effects of insulin resistance.
Keto flu isn’t an official medical condition, but it’s a term used to describe a set of symptoms some experience when they first switch to a ketogenic diet.
When you drastically cut carbs—say, from a typical 200-300 grams a day to under 50 grams—your body has to adapt. But during this switch, things can get rocky.
Firstly, your body’s flushing out water and electrolytes tied to glycogen—about 3 grams of water per gram of glycogen. That’s why you might pee more at first. Losing sodium, potassium, and magnesium along with water is a big reason for many of the symptoms. Plus, your insulin levels drop, which messes with how your kidneys handle these minerals, amplifying the imbalance.
Keto flue typically kicks in within 2-7 days of going keto, during which period you might feel:
Not everyone gets all of these—or any at all. I got the full whack of nearly all of them my first time, although it lasted only a couple of days and cleared up completely after that. It depends on how carb-dependent you are, how fast you cut carbs, and your hydration habits.
For most, it’s a 3-7 day ordeal, though some feel off for up to a month. Once your body’s fully fat-adapted—usually 2-4 weeks in—the symptoms fade as ketones take over smoothly.
You can lessen or even skip the worst of it by hydrating (aim for 2-3 liters of water a day) and upping your electrolytes (sodium, potassium, magnesium). Ensure you’re eating enough that you’re not also dealing with being in a calorie deficit, and ensure you sleep enough.
It also helps to ease into a ketogenic diet. Going from 300 grams of carbs a day to 20 grams overnight will leave you feeling worse than transitioning over a week.
Keto flu stems mostly from the fact that the majority of people are metabolically inflexible (they are unable to quickly switch from using glucose for energy to ketones). We need to train our bodies to become metabolically flexible and switch seamlessly between burning carbs (glucose) and fats (ketones) for fuel, depending on what’s available.
Humans are built for this—our ancestors toggled between feast and famine—but modern diets heavy in carbs with no opportunity for ketosis have left many of us with near-zero metabolic flexibility.
Low fiber intake can be a concern on some diets because fiber slows digestion and helps regulate blood sugar by blunting glucose spikes from carbs. In carb-heavy diets, skimping on it might lead to energy crashes or gut issues.
But when in ketosis, where carbs are near-zero and glucose spikes are minimal, fiber’s role in blood sugar control becomes less critical. You’re not eating enough carbs to spike glucose in the first place, so the “offset” from fiber isn’t needed.
That said, you’ll still find many studies and “experts” promoting fiber as an essential nutrient (it is neither essential nor a nutrient), and there have been countless testimonies from keto-dieters who have no issues with zero fiber, myself included.
How long one should perform a keto diet depends entirely on one’s goals. While many use keto as a great tool for immediate weight loss, and treat it as a temporary diet, an increasing number, such as those following the more strict carnivore diet, are adopting it full-time following their noticeable improvement in metabolic health (as evidenced by their bloodwork).
If your goal is weight loss, fat burning, or reversing insulin resistance, keto can be followed for several months to a year or until you reach your desired weight and metabolic improvements. Many people then transition into a more flexible low-carb or cyclical keto approach after achieving their goals to maintain results.
For therapeutic use, such as for diabetes, neurological disorders, and cancer, keto is often followed indefinitely or as a long-term strategy. If using keto as an adjunct therapy for cancer, the timeline should align with medical treatment and be guided by your doctor.
If you’re looking at keto for overall health, longevity, or to prevent diseases and metabolic disorders, as I believe everyone should be, ketogenic principles (low-carb and high-fat) should be with you indefinitely. You don’t have to stay in ketosis permanently, however, as this will prove difficult and limiting with minimal additional benefits.
The body is naturally designed to cycle between ketogenesis and gluconeogenesis, making metabolic flexibility essential for optimal health. However, this doesn’t mean indulging in excessive carbohydrates. Instead, incorporating occasional unrefined carbs—like whole potatoes, fruits, and vegetables—is perfectly fine, as long as you allow periods of ketosis in between.
While there are no long-term studies on the ketogenic to confirm or deny its impacts, we have plenty of anecdotal evidence from those who’ve been on it long-term, in many cases decades, who seem to be thriving, with the bloodwork to prove it.
While the health and fitness industry has seen no end of fad diets come and go, it’s clear the ketogenic diet, or rather, the benefits of ketosis, is not just a passing trend – it’s a science-backed approach to fueling your body efficiently, balancing blood sugar, and optimizing fat metabolism.
While the adjustment from glucose to ketones as the body’s and brain’s primary source of fuel may upset some, especially those (like me) who were glucose-dependent for decades without allowing the body to enter ketosis for any significant period of time, the short-term struggles are well worth the longer-term benefits for those wishing to reduce symptoms from metabolically driven diseases and create a path toward a healthy and disease-free future.
Just remember that the body is not so delicate that it can’t handle switching between the two modes, so don’t fret about eating carbohydrates from time to time. The body is well-adapted to switching and handling both, so long as carbohydrate intake is limited to natural whole foods (free from refined carbs and sugars), and offset with periods of ketosis, the body will do what it does best – adapt and overcome.
On a keto diet, protein consumption is moderate and fat intake high, typically consisting of around 70–80 percent fat, 15–25 percent protein, and 5–10 percent carbohydrates, although this can vary depending on individual preference and goals. For some, such as those on a stricter carnivore diet, carbohydrate intake is at a strict zero.
Despite popular definitions of keto as a low-carbohydrate and high fat diet, it is actually defined by a way of eating that lowers insulin levels enough to burn fat and generate metabolically meaningful levels of ketones in the blood.
Diabetes: The keto diet helps regulate blood sugar levels by minimizing carbohydrate intake, improving insulin sensitivity, and reducing the need for insulin production.
Inflammation: Ketones, particularly beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB), act as anti-inflammatory molecules that suppress pathways associated with chronic inflammation, reducing risks of metabolic diseases.
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS): By lowering insulin levels and balancing hormones, keto has been shown to improve PCOS symptoms and fertility.
Fatty Liver Disease: The diet reduces liver fat accumulation by lowering insulin levels and promoting fat burning, helping reverse non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).
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