Killing Keto

The ketogenic diet (keto) has many potential benefits ranging from preventing epileptic seizures to potentially “starving” cancer cells. Unfortunately, when it comes to transforming your body, it’s not the magic cure it’s made out to be. Can it help you lose fat? Sure, by satiating your hunger, helping you eat less, and creating a caloric deficit – just like any other diet. But when it comes to building muscle? It fails miserably. A Primer On the Keto Craze A real keto diet is high fat (75 percent of calories) with an extremely low carbohydrate intake (less than 5 percent of calories) and low-ish protein intake (15-20 percent). Ketosis occurs by depleting your body of stored glycogen and incoming glucose from carbs. As a result, your body breaks down fat, creating molecules called ketones to use as fuel. Okay For Fat Loss, Bad For Muscle Growth Can you lose fat while following the ketogenic diet? Of course. But can you build actual muscle on it? Well, it’s possible, but not easy, likely, or ideal. I could walk from my house (in Georgia) all the way to San Diego, but it would be much faster if I took a flight. Hypertrophy while on keto is kind of like that. When it comes to building muscle, carbs and a balanced diet are far superior because they give you adequate (and preferred) fuel for anaerobic performance. And above all else, they make it easier to consume enough calories to trigger muscle growth. Let’s take a look at the science while keeping our eye on the goal: more lean muscle mass. A 2018 study, published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, tested how the ketogenic diet affected the body mass index (BMI) of 24 healthy males over the course of eight weeks. All 24 men performed a resistance training program for the eight-week period. Nine of the men were assigned to the ketogenic diet. Ten were assigned a non-ketogenic diet, and five were told to eat like normal. The results? The keto group saw a significant reduction in fat mass, while the other two groups didn’t see a reduction in fat mass, but did see an increase in muscle gain. The researchers concluded that the keto diet might be an effective way to decrease fat mass without decreasing lean body mass. However, it’s probably not useful to increase muscle mass (1). The Fuel Source Argument There’s some evidence ketogenic diets can work for endurance and ultra-endurance athletes. But it’s been established that glucose is the optimal fuel for high velocity muscle contractions and anaerobic sports like weight lifting and sprinting. A 2019 study in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness took 16 men and women through a randomized, counterbalanced crossover study analyzing exercise testing under ketogenic diets versus higher-carb diets. The diets were matched for total caloric intake with carb intake being the difference in the subjects. After analyzing dietary compliance as well as urine pH and ketone levels, testers administrated the brutal Wingate anaerobic cycling test. Here’s what they found: Mean power, peak power, and recovery measurements were all significantly worse for the low-carb dieters. This lead researchers to conclude short-term ketogenic diets reduce exercise performance in activities heavily dependent on anaerobic energy systems (2). This means your ability to perform the types of exercise that are best for building muscle is impaired with low-carb diets. Keto Is Low Protein If your primary concern is building muscle, you need adequate protein to do so. Unfortunately, keto isn’t only a low-carb diet, it’s also a low-protein diet. Too much protein can prevent you from getting and staying in ketosis. In 2011 a study by Phillips and Van Loon found that .82 grams per pound of bodyweight is the upper limit of protein needed to derive maximum protein synthesis, (3) or slightly below one gram per pound of bodyweight. Obviously, yes, you can increase protein intake with your diet. But reaching adequate protein levels often dictates you’ll eat more protein than recommended in the ketogenic diet, pulling you out of ketosis. Therefore, you’re not really following a ketogenic diet – you’re following a low carb, moderate protein diet – a glorified Atkins diet basically, like your mom tried once. The Hormonal Argument For building muscle, testosterone is important. Fat intake is essential for healthy T levels since cholesterol, found primarily in animal products, serves as a precursor for testosterone production, among other things. But fat isn’t the only nutrient you need to maintain healthy testosterone levels. Carbs, specifically post-workout, have been shown to restore muscle glycogen, reduce cortisol levels, and improve testosterone levels. Going deeper, you need to understand the role of glucose. Glucose from carbohydrates plays an important role in GnRH (gonadotropin releasing hormone) levels. Its secretion leads to other vital hormonal functions in the body. GnRH leads to the release of
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