The Truth About the Truth About Keto

The Truth About the Truth About Keto

As with anything that surges in popularity, the ketogenic has attracted a plethora of wily, gullible proponents, along with some of the most mush-brained critics to ever emerge from the backwoods of “evidence-based” nutritionists I’ve ever seen. For, on the one hand, to say the ketogenic diet is akin to a miracle is to be simply an ass, but to say the ketognic is worthless or “merely effective” only to the extent it reduces calories is to go from having a simple understanding of a thing, to a simplistic misunderstanding of that very same thing–in other words, to also be simply an ass. So my hope with this post is to clear up some confusion, and get the ketogenic diet right. My further hope is by the end of this post you will, perhaps, not be profoundly agitated one way or another, but able to fairly say, “Well, that was reasonable.”

So, let’s begin with this: If the nature of science is to argue from particulars to a particular, or from particulars to a universal—that is, to engage in inductive reasoning, gathering data points to form a general extrapolation or conclusion—and I believe it is, then one must evaluate all the relevant data points, and not just pick and choose whichever fits the narrative they’ve previously committed themselves to, come hell or high water. This is the problem with fad-dieters and certain people among the “evidence-based” crowd alike — none are immune to this phenomenon; all succumb to confirmation bias to some degree. And so both sides have often attached themselves to a point of view that is altogether shallow, misleading, limited, and, occasionally, wrong. The fad-dieters will stretch the truths about The Power of Keto to preposterous proportions because they simply have no idea of what they’re talking about, while those on the other end cannot let go of the idea that there may, in fact, be something to keto after all—that dieting is sometimes more than just calories in vs calories out—and that not ALL diets, do, in fact, work the same way, even if they often achieve similar results through similar means; that is, calorie reduction. The latter example is a simplistic, confused extrapolation that misses so many essential bits of understanding. Obviously the law of thermodynamics holds, nobody is denying that, I don’t think—and certainly not I. But the human system is not so mechanical as some assume. There are a myriad of factors pressing in on a person’s so-called health and metabolism, psychology, etc, and caloric intake is merely one among many. We must do a better job. We must follow the evidence and stop contriving explanations to fit a particular viewpoint that we simply want to be true. That is not science. That’s scientism.

Because when one takes the time to really look into keto—and I’ll put my personal experience aside a moment, along with my experience as a coach—it will not take long to see the research on the subject is anything but minimal. There’s a fairly large amount of it, and some of it, to be sure, is mixed on what it concludes. But a lot of it isn’t. So while I wouldn’t conclude the evidence in favor of keto (in this case, for weight loss) is “compelling”, I’d certainly say that in many instances it’s worth paying attention to, and perhaps even worth recommending. Because in some instances I’d say it’s, if not compelling, at least convincing. (By compelling I mean the evidence is overwhelming and should not be denied by any reasonable party, and by convincing I mean the evidence suggests plausibility and is acceptable for any reasonable party to hold until further notice.)

For example: Here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here – there are more, of course, but these particular studies were of interest to me, since a few look into performance and brain function, not just weight loss. So I think when it comes to the efficacy of keto for weight loss specifically there is room for doubt in how it compares to other diets on factors outside calorie reduction, but also room for optimism and exploration. It might actually be better than other diets for weight loss, especially for some people, and for reasons that go beyond the basics of caloric restriction. That said, I’m not quite as optimistic in terms of keto for performance based solely on the studies I’ve seen, though I will add that I am personally intrigued by the notion, especially by how my own performance had increased–quite unexpectedly, I might add–when in a state of ketosis earlier this year. So, a little N = 1, for ya.

And that’s really the only point I’m trying to make. There is sufficient evidence that it would not be unreasonable to give keto a try, especially for weight loss, if you’re so inclined, but even, I would say, for performance, as well. You wouldn’t be an idiot or a fad-chaser by doing so. At least not after reading this blog, I would hope. Now, that may have been the case before. Who’s to say? I’m not denying people do diets for stupid reasons; people do a lot of things for stupid reasons. I’m only saying there are enough reasons why a person who wants to give keto a try, would be well within their reasonable rights for doing so.

So notice again the contention I’m defending: Only that there is sufficient evidence whereby a person can REASONABLY be interested in, curious about, and even favorable toward a ketogenic diet in certain respects; NOT that the ketogenic diet is right for everybody, or will fix all the problems some of its more ardent proponents would have you believe.

Merely I’m defending that defending the ketogenic diet itself does not, by default, render a person irrational, unscientific, gullible, or absurd, as so many of its critics would say that it does. Ultimately I’m fighting against the extremes, on this one–against those who claim that ketosis is capable of more than the evidence or what we know about the nature of reality suggests, and against those who claim that ketosis is good for literally nothing. I’m fully willing and happy to admit that subscribing to a purely ketogenic position on everything is difficult to rationally and scientifically maintain, since there is ample evidence to suggest it’s not all it’s cracked up to be among assertions commonly heard around the blogosphere, but that does nothing to negate all the evidence suggesting there really might be something to ketosis after all. Is that a definitive statement? No. But that’s because science is hardly in the business of making definitive statements. New evidence may (and likely will) emerge, and so we must be willing to update our position one way or another, should that occur.

Finally, is the keto-sphere abounding with quacks, charlatans, hucksters, idiots, and frauds? Is water wet? Do buffalo roam? The answer, obviously, is yes. But just because a person is nonsensical or ill-intentioned with what they write about online, it simply doesn’t follow that everything they promote is inherently worthless. That you need to evaluate independent of the person making the claim, whether that person is recommending keto or aligning your chakras or what have you.

– Pat

Related Resources:

Tips for Getting Into Ketosis (Without Going Insane!) – The Pat Flynn Show, Ep 115.

The 5 Day Kettlebell Fat Furnace