The ketogenic diet is a high fat, low carbohydrate and classically low protein diet that has become quite a hot topic in recent years. Due to its growing popularity, many people have tried the keto diet with varying results and experiences, and as such two keto camps have evolved. Some people believe strongly that the keto diet is a game changer and that it worked miracles for their health, lifestyle, and weight loss journey. For others, it had the frustratingly opposite effect where it did not work at all, and following a keto diet only lead them further away from the health and weight loss results they’d been working so hard for. While so many love to sing the praises of a keto diet, what some people might not be aware of is that a fat-rich diet that is low in both carbohydrates and protein is not necessarily going to work for everyone depending on their bloodwork.

If you are in the second camp where you have tried the keto diet but it just did not work for you, if you found that it caused you to feel even worse than you did before, or that it caused you to gain even more weight (and plus some), there are a number of factors to consider as to why the keto diet may not be right for you.

The Role of Insulin in a Ketogenic Diet

The purpose of the ketogenic diet is to lower insulin and glucose within the body, as insulin is mainly stimulated by carbs and protein. However, insulin plays a massively significant role not only in our body’s overall functionality, but in weight loss and management (you can read more about the importance of insulin in our article Weight Loss and Insulin Resistance: What’s Insulin Got To Do With It? available here. Studies have shown the keto diet can actually worsen insulin metabolism and increase insulin resistance. If your insulin levels are lower, or if your body is resistant to insulin and already struggles to balance glucose intake, then it is not going to respond to the keto diet from a weight loss perspective.

For people with pre-existing lower levels of insulin or for those with insulin resistance, the keto diet may not be the best diet to follow in order to lose weight or feel better. 

The Ketogenic Diet’s Impact on our Gut Bugs

If you do have pre-existing insulin issues and are not noticing the desired results or not feeling very well on the keto diet–it does make some people feel quite awful—it may be time to check in and listen to your guts. From my own personal practice, gut health is the most common factor as to why the keto diet is not working for someone. 

Studies have shown that the keto diet is known to increase the growth and movement of a specific species of Gram-negative bacteria called lipopolysaccharides (LPS), a type of inflammatory compound that predominantly exists within our gastrointestinal tract. Higher levels of LPS have been directly associated with metabolic endotoxemia, which is when higher amounts of LPS are released into the bloodstream. Metabolic endotoxemia is a significant cause of inflammation within the body. Research shows that when there is an overgrowth of “bad bugs” like LPS and other inflammatory compounds in our microbiome, diets rich in fat actually work to pull the excess bugs out and into the blood, which then get transported and deposited throughout the body. 

This increase in inflammation not only takes a significant toll on the body’s overall functionality, but it can make compliance to the diet difficult because inflammation is associated with cravings and a variety of mental health challenges.

If you have digestive issues that are causing your gut bugs to dysfunction, the keto diet may not be the most effective diet for you because of its close associations with causing metabolic endotoxemia; increasing of inflammation within the body; increasing insulin resistance and insulin impairment; increasing fat storage in response to a meal; and a variety of other issues that could be blocking you from losing weight effectively.

Thyroid Health and Hormone Production

The keto diet has been known to prevent proper thyroid function within the body by causing hormonal imbalances, particularly in women. Fiber is an important nutrient for hormone balancing and is often found in starchy vegetables and grains, both of which the keto diet frowns upon. Also, diets high in fat are known to encourage estrogen production, and research has shown that higher levels of estrogen can work to suppress thyroid function. An efficiently functioning thyroid is vital for weight loss and weight management as it is essentially the hub that controls our whole hormonal and metabolic processes, and any changes to or issues with our thyroid can have huge implications on our body’s overall health, functionality, and can lead to weight gain (Laurence, 2021). 

If your body is sensitive to hormonal fluctuations and struggles to properly balance hormone levels, or you have pre-existing thyroid issues, the keto diet could cause your symptoms to worsen and could encourage weight gain. 

Closing Thoughts

The ketogenic diet is not going to set everyone up for success in their weight loss journey. There are many factors that can impact a person’s health and weight management when following a keto diet. Your body’s relationship with insulin, the health of your microbiome and gut bug function, your hormones, and the overall function of your thyroid are all factors that could mean a high-fat diet is not necessarily going to work for you and your body. Rather, it could make the foundational issues in your body that caused the weight loss resistance in the first place to worsen. This is a significant reason why some people experience losing some weight when they first start a keto diet but then gain all of the weight back—and sometimes more—because their body is in a worse scenario than it was pre-keto.

If you have struggled to lose weight on a keto diet or lost some but then gained all the weight back, it might be beneficial for you to take a deep dive into your gut microbiome and to get your insulin levels checked. This could be the key you’ve been searching for that will help uncover the foundational issues that are preventing you not only from losing weight, but from feeling your absolute best.

References

Laurence, E. (2021). Why Long-Term Success on Keto Can Be Challenging for Women, According to Hormonal Experts. Retrieved from Well+Good: https://www.wellandgood.com/keto-and-hormones-women/