Thank you for tackling this subject and citing so many excellent sources.
The keto diet took a big toll when Dr. Mercola began calling it into question, and saying that it stresses the body long term. I had many people message me about that.
I've never seen any actual data cited to support the idea that keto stresses the body. I also frequently here the mantra that women shouldn't do keto or fast because "it's bad for their hormones." Once again, I haven't seen any actual data showing this but it sure gets thrown around a bit.
If there is any data that eating ketogenic or intermittent fasting causes a stress response, I wonder if the researchers didn't give the subjects enough salt. We need so much more salt when on a low carb diet, and if we don't get enough, the body will raise cortisol in order to hold onto the extra salt. So someone eating keto without enough salt (which would be easy to do) would show a stress response and that would cause a researcher to blame the keto diet. While the same person could eat keto and add in a ton of salt, and have no stress response.
Furthermore, when the body is low on salt, it also raises insulin which signals the kidneys to hold on to salt. This will make fat burning more difficult. Without the ability to easily tap into fat stores, a person's body will feel stressed because it's low on fuel.
The people who claim that keto and fasting stresses the body never answer the question of why the body should be stressed when the average American has months of stored body fat.
Thank you for tackling this subject and citing so many excellent sources.
The keto diet took a big toll when Dr. Mercola began calling it into question, and saying that it stresses the body long term. I had many people message me about that.
I've never seen any actual data cited to support the idea that keto stresses the body. I also frequently here the mantra that women shouldn't do keto or fast because "it's bad for their hormones." Once again, I haven't seen any actual data showing this but it sure gets thrown around a bit.
If there is any data that eating ketogenic or intermittent fasting causes a stress response, I wonder if the researchers didn't give the subjects enough salt. We need so much more salt when on a low carb diet, and if we don't get enough, the body will raise cortisol in order to hold onto the extra salt. So someone eating keto without enough salt (which would be easy to do) would show a stress response and that would cause a researcher to blame the keto diet. While the same person could eat keto and add in a ton of salt, and have no stress response.
Furthermore, when the body is low on salt, it also raises insulin which signals the kidneys to hold on to salt. This will make fat burning more difficult. Without the ability to easily tap into fat stores, a person's body will feel stressed because it's low on fuel.
The people who claim that keto and fasting stresses the body never answer the question of why the body should be stressed when the average American has months of stored body fat.