Hello there, I'm Monica Reinagle, and you're listening to The Nutrition Diva Podcast.

Welcome.

I recently got an email from Matthew asking me to weigh in on the carnivore diet.

My brother recently started the carnivore diet, he wrote, and he's lost almost 15 pounds

in a month by eating nothing but meat and dairy products.

The doctor promoting this approach maintains that vegetables are toxic.

What's more, he says that you get more nutrition per volume unit of meat or dairy than from

the same volume of vegetables or fruits.

Well, the weight loss that Matthew's brother has experienced is not that surprising, given

that this is essentially a very extreme version of the ketogenic diet.

When dietary carbo hydrates are severely restricted, the body goes into a state of ketosis.

This is an alternate metabolic pathway that converts fats into ketones, which can then

be used as cellular energy in place of glucose, which is the usual energy source.

One side effect of ketosis is appetite suppression, and this is part of what makes the ketogenic

diet popular for weight loss.

Now, to be clear, you still have to reduce calories in order to lose weight, even on

a ketogenic diet, but you may not be as hungry as you might otherwise be on a reduced

calorie diet.

The problem with ketogenic diets as a weight loss strategy is that rebound weight gain

is a big problem.

Once you go back to a more balanced diet, any weight you've lost is very likely to come

back, and often with interest.

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