Keto diet may have metabolic advantages over Mediterranean, low-fat diets

• A new study comparing ketogenic, Mediterranean, and low-fat, plant-forward dietary plans found that they all help with weight loss, with improvements in body fat and insulin sensitivity.
• However, the keto diet produced the largest reduction in liver fat and was also associated with greater improvements in prediabetes.
• Although the study was small and short-term, the findings suggest that diet composition may matter beyond weight loss, and the keto diet showed the greatest changes in hormone and insulin levels linked to liver fat metabolism.

Dietary changes are often an initial approach to support healthy weight loss, as modifying food choices and overall calorie intake can help create a sustainable energy deficit.

In particular, eating plans that emphasize nutrient-dense foods and appropriate portion sizes can support gradual and sustainable weight reduction.

Approaches such as the ketogenic (keto) diet may promote weight loss by substantially reducing carbohydrate intake and increasing fat intake, which can lead to reduced appetite and lower overall calorie consumption for some individuals.

These changes may also influence metabolic health in ways that extend beyond weight loss, such as lowering blood glucose (sugar) and insulin levels, and improving insulin sensitivity.

Now, a new study suggests that the keto diet may also provide greater improvements in liver fat and blood sugar regulation than other popular dietary plans for weight loss.

The study, published in Cell Metabolism, found that people with obesity, prediabetes, and fatty liver disease who followed a keto diet experienced greater improvements in several measures of metabolic health than participants following either a Mediterranean diet or a low-fat, plant-forward diet.

The findings suggest that the composition of a diet may influence metabolic health beyond the effects of weight loss alone.

However, the study was small, involving just 42 participants, and the findings do not necessarily mean that a ketogenic diet is the best choice for everyone.