Worst Diet of the Year?

It’s official: the ketogenic diet has been ranked the #1 Worst Diet of 2018.  Whuuut?  

This ranking, combined with the boom in its popularity — “keto” is one of the most-googled terms of the year  — has led to lots of fun and sensational headlines about this “dangerous” “fad” diet.  

As I have mentioned, I’m part of a one-year study on the MAD (Modified Atkins Diet), which falls under the broad umbrella of ketogenic diets, so I read the US News report with interest.

I have to say, the article itself is pretty fair.  The sections describing ketogenic diets — Overview, Health and Nutrition, Recipes, and Do’s and Don’ts — all jibe pretty well with my own experience.  Interestingly, they are all largely positive, touting the diet’s success in clinical trials for both weight loss and diabetes control, and citing several studies along the way.  So why the low ranking?

The ranking is based in the final section, where experts express give it low marks in several categories, including:

Managing Diabetes. This, despite a recent clinical trial showing that 60% of patients were able to completely reverse their diabetes using a low-carb diet, something no other diet is able to do.  

Heart Health.  This, despite studies like this one showing that the diet actually improves 22 out of the 26 markers for cardiovascular health.

Safety.  Here, the experts wrung their hands over the diet’s high fat content.  However, as I’ve written, the evidence behind the fear of fat is sketchy at best, as outlined in Nina Teicholz’s exhaustively-researched book The Big Fat Surprise.

Nutritional Content.  Particularly, not enough vitamins and minerals.  This can be a valid point.  It’s possible to get into ketosis by eating nothing but bacon and salami around the clock.  But it’s also possible to be in ketosis by eating vegetables at every meal, as I do (my typical lunch is 4 cups of leafy greens, 4 oz of salmon, and a generous sprinkling of olive oil).

The experts fail to differentiate among the various programs within the ketogenic diet umbrella.  While some approaches, like so-called "dirty keto," are all about ketosis, regardless of nutritional content, programs like NSNG emphasize whole, natural, unprocessed foods, and the simple elimination of sugars and grains, plus supplementation with a good multi-vitamin.  It’s pretty well-rounded as far as nutritional content.  

After several months on the MAD diet, I can vouch for one of the experts’ concerns: “Ease of Following.”  Carbs are everywhere!  Even a McDonald’s Big Mac — that ubiquitous icon of American “fatty” food — has nearly double the amount of carbohydrates as it does fat (45g carbohydrate, 28g fat), and contains over twice the daily allotment of net carbs on the MAD.  (And I have no proof, but I’m convinced that the siren-smell of Cinnabon alone has about 20g of carbs in it).

1 bun = 5 days' worth of carbohydrates on MAD

But is this really news?  Since when is any diet easy to stick to?  Put a rule in place, and I want to break it.  You could put me on the all-Ben-&-Jerry’s diet, and my mind would immediately scream, “I want asparagus!”  At the beginning, I had to get used to reading labels, ferreting out the sugars that are hidden in everything from soup to salad dressing.  I had to toss out half of the stuff in my pantry.  And I had to make time to cook, because living without sugar means cooking your own meals most of the time.

It has become a lot easier to stick to the MAD over the past nine months.  At meetings, when colleagues are passing around a basket of Halloween candy or Gingerbread cookies (and yes, this really happens at my office) it’s become easy for me to pass them on untouched.  I don't even see them as food.  It’s a mindset shift, and now that I’ve made that shift, it’s pretty easy to stick to what I know works.  

That’s not to say that everyone can do this.  I have a pretty big “why,” which is that I’m trying to beat my epilepsy.  Someone who’s just preparing for beach season might not have the same motivation to resist.

The other concern voiced in the article is that while keto diets are effective for short-term weight loss, there’s not enough evidence yet about long-term effectiveness.  This is a fair point.  And this is where I come in — human lab rat, at your service.  But when the conventional “eat less, move more” approach has been proven to fail so badly in long term studies, I’m willing to take my chances on this one.  

So that’s my take on it.  I’m 9 months in, so far, so I’ll reserve judgement.  When I hit the one-year mark, I’ll have some test results to share — weight, cholesterol, blood sugar, all that good stuff.  Stay tuned.  Meanwhile, whatever diet you try in 2019, good luck, and remember, life is an experiment!

Note: The ramblings published on this blog are the opinions of the author alone and shared for entertainment purposes only.  The author is an English major with no medical or scientific background; thus, his words should never be taken as medical advice.  Consult with your doctor or medical professional before undertaking any diet or exercise program.