New review out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, gets some things right (Sherrier and Li, 2019).
… takes some things out of context, too, like saying “beneficial effects of ketogenic diets on cancer,” as if that’s an established fact.
It’s not… but still, let’s focus on the positive
Some ground rules:
- ketogenic diet =/= fasting
- nutritional ketosis =/= exercise
- carbs =/= obesity
- the opposite of intermittent fasting isn’t diabetes
Another ground rule, or maybe a disclaimer: I’ve read and blogged about nearly every study on ketoadaptation & physical performance that’s out there. My 30000-foot view is: “it’s fine.”
Given adequate time to adapt (~3 weeks), keto doesn’t wreck physical performance. Some studies show a little positive, some a little negative; net sum = neutral.
Other energy systems kick in and performance is maintained. Any further gains from training are just that: gains from training (not gainz from moar ketoadaptation).
Keto isn’t muscle-sparing or anything like that, and you likely need more protein (not less) to maintain muscle, but this also isn’t really that big of a deal.
This article is pretty good, imo. Covers a lot of topics ranging from glycogen on keto to fat balance to exercise efficiency and more.
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