A slew of articles in recent months have referred to the ketogenic diet as a "fad" or "trend." It's "dangerous," claimed one article, and an anonymous post by the Harvard Public School of Public Health said the diet "comes with serious risks."
1 Yet strangely, these critics seldom cite scientists or doctors who work with the diet, and many-including the Harvard article-cite no medical literature to substantiate their allegations. Without substantiation, many simply rehash long-contradicted, outdated claims.
A ketogenic diet is high in fat and low in carbohydrates. It's called "ketogenic" because people on this diet shift from using glucose (a type of sugar) as their main fuel source to ketone bodies, which are derived from fat. In other words, people on the ketogenic diet can use their bodies' fat stores as fuel-and this is why many studies show that this diet is superior for sustainable weight loss.
Still, the headlines keep coming.
Men's Health declared, "Ketogenic Diet Side Effects: How the Trendy Low-Carb Diet Can Give You Acne." The health and fitness website Livestrong.com warned about "The Ketogenic Diet and Insomnia." Other articles raised fears of bloat and constipation or cautioned that the regimen requires inhuman willpower from its followers.
Comment: Whether it was something about the mannose or the simple absence of glucose that proved effective in the above study is unknown, but the evidence for the ketogenic diet's effectiveness against cancer continues to grow.
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