Keto vs. Mediterranean: A Doctor’s Honest Take on Real Longevity

Photo by micheile henderson on Unsplash

You might be wondering: Could your bad cholesterol soar once you start a keto diet? I get this question a lot. It really hit home recently when a colleague told me about a relative on a keto diet whose levels suddenly shot up. It’s not just an isolated incident; rather, it opens the door to an incredibly interesting discussion. So, stick with me here, and I’ll explain how keto can actually elevate your LDL and give you my honest take as a doctor.

Let’s look at how keto works by envisioning your body as an amazing hybrid car. Typically, we fuel it with sugars and carbs found in food, but a ketogenic diet switches the energy source to your reserves: your stored fat. This metabolic shift, called ketosis, occurs when you significantly reduce your intake of things like flour, desserts, and sugar, limiting carbs to almost zero. You aren’t starving yourself — as you might be if you only drank juice — because this detour around sugar prompts your body to access stored fat for fuel.

Although it sounds intense, there is more than one way to do keto. The classic, strict version of the diet has been used by doctors for decades to treat severe epilepsy. However, today there are more flexible (and tastier) versions, like the modified Atkins diet, which make it easier to fit a ketogenic plan into your life without losing…