For all of you keto fans

[Bigtex]

Antonio Paoli, Lorenzo Cenci, Pierluigi Pompei, Tatiana Moro. Effects of Two Months of Very Low Carbohydrate Ketogenic Diet on Body Composition, Muscle Strength, Muscle Area, and Blood Parameters in Competitive Natural Body Builders.
January 2021. Nutrients 13(2):374. DOI: 10.3390/nu13020374

Abstract
Background: Ketogenic diet (KD) is a nutritional approach that restricts daily carbohydrates, replacing most of the reduced energy with fat, while maintaining an adequate quantity of protein. Despite the widespread use of KD in weight loss in athletes, there are still many concerns about its use in sports requiring muscle mass accrual. Thus, the present study sought to investigate the influence of a KD in competitive natural body builders.
Methods: Nineteen volunteers (27.4 ± 10.5 years) were randomly assigned to ketogenic diet (KD) or to a western diet (WD). Body composition, muscle strength and basal metabolic rate were measured before and after two months of intervention. Standard blood biochemistry, testosterone, IGF-1, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and inflammatory cytokines (IL6, IL1β, TNFα) were also measured.
Results: Body fat significantly decreased in KD (p = 0.030); whilst lean mass increased significantly only in WD (p < 0.001). Maximal strength increased similarly in both groups. KD showed a significant decrease of blood triglycerides (p < 0.001), glucose (p = 0.001), insulin (p < 0.001) and inflammatory cytokines compared to WD whilst BDNF increased in both groups with significant greater changes in KD (p < 0.001).
Conclusions: KD may be used during body building preparation for health and leaning purposes but with the caution that hypertrophic muscle response could be blunted.

So these guys compared a keto diet to a typical western diet. They wanted to know which one decreased the most body fat, increased the most muscle decreased the most blood triglycerides, insulin, glucose and inflammatory cytokines.
Winner -
Body fat decreases - Keto
Muscle increases - typical western diet
Blood triglycerides - Keto
Glucose - Keto
Insulin - Keto
Cytokines - Keto

So over all, if you are wanting to be healthies and cut body fat keto seems to be the way to go. If you are wanting to increase muscle mass. You absolutely need those carbs.

 

[FlyingDragon]

Strange they could only get 19 people for this study

 

[NavyChief]

Strange they could only get 19 people for this study

I heard there were 20 but LK quit when they said no lasagna.

 

[Beserker]

I’m currently on week 3 of a SKD. I feel great. No strength lost, recovery time after a workout is a bit slowed though, which is to be expected.
Looking to better my BW numbers from 1/5/21. I’ll post comparisons in late April to see affects of 3 months strict keto.
I love the food choices. Today for lunch I had homemade bacon wrapped jalapeño poppers mid afternoon was kielbasa with gnar gnar kraut. Dinner was beef tenderloin stuffed and bacon wrapped poblanos with salsa verde and pepper jack oven roasted in a skillet.
This was a heavy carb day for me and more saturated fat than usual... I usually keep carbs under 10gs but may have hit 30ish today. Considering it a cheat day.

 

[rawdeal]

Asking, not challenging: How would a 2-3 month, or longer, Keto diet affect GI Tract health? Always heard we require fiber for things to run smoothly in that regard.

 

[Snachito1]

Asking, not challenging: How would a 2-3 month, or longer, Keto diet affect GI Tract health? Always heard we require fiber for things to run smoothly in that regard.

Anytime I used to do the keto diet I would throw in some green veggies in my meals and also powdered fiber....everything went smooth....or else your going to be sweatin bullets on the toilet if you don't!!

 

[Beserker]

Echo on Snachito. Broccoli and or spinach keeps me regular and has very little carbohydrates. Other keto friendly choices I love are asparagus, avocados, green beans, bell peppers, jalapeños, poblanos, lettuce, tomatoes, and celery. If you’re getting enough fibrous veggies daily, there’s usually no worries. If things still get stagnant there’s always a dose of sugar free Metamucil if needed.

 

[Bigtex]

My wife has been on the keto diet much of her adult life. But she says even when she competed she only did the diet the last few days before a show and ate carbs the rest of her time training. Her blood work is always pretty good. I also remember Vince McMahon's WBF where Mauro DiPasquale had all of the competitors on the keto diet and they honestly looked like shit. Many of the complained about it as well.

 

[rawdeal]

. . . So over all, if you are wanting to be healthies and cut body fat keto seems to be the way to go. If you are wanting to increase muscle mass. You absolutely need those carbs.

My wife has been on the keto diet much of her adult life. But she says even when she competed she only did the diet the last few days before a show and ate carbs the rest of her time training. Her blood work is always pretty good. I also remember Vince McMahon's WBF where Mauro DiPasquale had all of the competitors on the keto diet and they honestly looked like shit. Many of the complained about it as well.

Call it instinct or personal experience, but it sounds like your wife was adhering to what was learned in that study ... years before it was published.

 

[Bigtex]

Call it instinct or personal experience, but it sounds like your wife was adhering to what was learned in that study ... years before it was published.

Absolutely! She actually comes from a culture that eats mostly fatty meat. So she loves high fats. She also eats lots of fibrous vegies. I am the exactly opposite, detest fat and will not eat vegies.

 

[FlyingDragon]

@rawdeal loves fat meat

 

[Snachito1]

My wife has been on the keto diet much of her adult life. But she says even when she competed she only did the diet the last few days before a show and ate carbs the rest of her time training. Her blood work is always pretty good. I also remember Vince McMahon's WBF where Mauro DiPasquale had all of the competitors on the keto diet and they honestly looked like shit. Many of the complained about it as well.

I remember those WBF times as Mike Quinn was in horrible shape!!! Mike Quinn was dressed as a cop and someone in the crowd yelled "he should be arrested for being fat"!! Mauro's excuse was that they had started testing for AAS (no one was using) and that there wasn't enough time for the diet to work. I believe at these time's the heads of sports were cracking down on AAS all over.