Keto Diet How Fast Lose Weight – Two trendy approaches promise better results when you do both at the same time. But can this combined approach be continued—and sustained?
Doing intermittent fasting and the keto diet together means eating a lot of fat and very little carbs only at certain times of the day. Tetsiana Kreminska/Adobe Stock
Keto Diet How Fast Lose Weight
Cutting carbs and fueling your body with fat is a popular diet strategy called the ketogenic diet, or keto for short. But if you’ve already had success losing weight with this approach, you may be thinking about taking things up a notch and combining keto with intermittent fasting to overcome a plateau or improve your results. Should I try it?
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The short answer is: maybe, although you should be aware in advance that this combination approach lacks rigorous research and has not been proven to work for weight loss. Experts say it might make sense, though a lack of research means you might want to think twice before diving into this approach to eating.
The combination of the two diets gained popularity when intermittent fasting expert Jason Fung, MD, author of The Obesity Code, recommended using keto as a fasting foundation, explains Lori Shemek, Ph.D., a Dallas-based nutrition and weight loss expert and author of the book “How to Fight Fat Inflammation. Celebrities, including Halle Berry and Jennifer Aniston, have been reported to use both diets together, says Dr. Shemek.
Scientists originally developed the keto diet in the 1920s to help control seizures in children with epilepsy, a study shows. This version, called the classic ketogenic or long-chain triglyceride diet, involves eating 3 to 4 grams (g) of fat for every 1 g of carbohydrates and protein, according to the Epilepsy Foundation.
The version of keto that many use today for weight loss is a bit different in that it is a high-fat, moderate-protein, and very low-carb plan. Fat makes up about 80 percent of your daily calories, and you’ll aim to consume between 20g and 50g of net carbs (carbs minus fiber) each day, depending on your personal needs.
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A typical keto diet list eliminates most carbohydrates, even healthy foods like fiber-rich whole grains and most fruits, while prioritizing fats like avocados, olive oil, grass-fed beef, and sometimes even bacon .
The idea behind this eating plan is to switch your body from burning glucose (or carbohydrates) for fuel to using fat for energy. This state is called ketosis or keto-adaptation.
While the keto diet appears to result in rapid weight loss in the short term, critics say most of this is water weight and point out that long-term studies (over two years) on people using keto for weight loss, not enough. Some available studies show that keto is no more effective than other diets for weight loss.
It’s also important to note that many of the claims that keto can treat conditions other than epilepsy, such as cancer, high blood pressure, polycystic ovary syndrome, diabetes and neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s, need more research, according to the review.
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Intermittent fasting is an approach to dieting in which you schedule a specific amount of time when you don’t eat. There are several ways to do intermittent fasting, which some people simply call IF.
For example, some people may follow the popular 5:2 IF, in which five days are normal eating and two are very low-calorie (around 500) fasting days. Other plans involve not eating for 24 hours, while others involve so-called time-restricted eating, such as eating for 8 hours and fasting for 16 hours a day.
When it comes to IF, exciting research is emerging, including the role the approach may play in treating obesity and insulin resistance (a hallmark of type 2 diabetes), according to the review. However, the authors of this review concluded that there is a lack of high-quality evidence on the health effects of IF and that it is still unclear which type of IF is best to follow.
Additionally, IF can be an effective way to lose weight – in fact, it has been shown to be just as effective as traditional calorie restriction. For obese people, when it came to losing weight or body fat or improving metabolic risk factors after one year, combining intermittent fasting with calorie restriction was as good as calorie restriction alone, according to a randomized trial. The IF group consumed 1,200 to 1,800 calories between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., while the calorie-restricted group had the same number of calories but no time restriction. Takeout? There are many ways to lose weight, and finding one that suits your preferences and eating style – which may or may not be WHEN – is the key to long-term weight loss.
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One major limitation is that many of the studies on IF (for weight loss or otherwise) have been done on animals, not humans, or have been short-term.
Doing keto or IF can help with weight loss in the short term, although every diet is very restrictive, so they’re certainly not for everyone. But what about combining them? Can two be better than one?
First, according to some experts, it makes sense to combine two approaches. The keto diet increases the level of ketones in the body; during fasting, ketones also increase. “The brain will rely less on glucose for energy when in a state of nutritional ketosis. So the transition to a fasted (ketogenic) state eventually becomes seamless after eating a low-carb or ketogenic diet for a few weeks,” says Dominic D’Agostino, Ph.D., associate professor at the University of South Florida in Tampa and founder of KetoNutrition .org .
This is the strategy that practitioners advise patients in the Functional Ketogenics Program at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. “Adding intermittent fasting can take things to a new level,” says Logan Kwasnik, MD, a functional medicine physician formerly of the Cleveland Clinic. The next level may be breaking through a weight loss plateau, as people can eat fewer calories while doing IF. It can also be a natural transition from the keto diet for those who feel full from eating so much fat (ketosis can also reduce appetite) and aren’t concerned about shortening the eating window.
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Anyone who has been on keto for more than two weeks and would like to add IF can do so with the approval of their healthcare team. Notably, it may not be suitable for people following keto as part of a prediabetes or diabetes plan. Kvasniczka says, “Asking these patients not to eat for a significant period of time can be dangerous.” Also, if you have chronic kidney disease or a history of eating disorders, are undergoing active cancer treatment, are pregnant or breastfeeding, it is unlikely that you are a good candidate for this combination diet. Even customized diets (keto and IF) cannot be recommended for these people. Consult your healthcare team.
If you’re currently on a keto diet and feel happy with the way you’re eating, you don’t need to add IF, notes Kwasniczka.
Cleveland Clinic practitioners do not advise people to start keto and IF at the same time. “Switching from glucose as a fuel to ketones is a big shock to your system, and implementing IF is a big change,” says Kvasnik. For this reason, people start out on keto and then after being on the diet for a few weeks to a few months may consider adding IF.
It is also important to choose the right time. Kvasnitskaya suggested to her patients to fast from 12 to 16 hours. For many people, not eating for 12 hours a day (for example, at night from 7 pm to 7 am) is a natural habit and does not require skipping meals.
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To get started, consider delaying breakfast (start with an hour and then slowly increase the time) so your body gets used to going for long periods of time without eating, Shemek suggests. As you adjust to your new eating routine, re-introduce breakfast earlier in the day and extend your overnight fasting, as eating breakfast not only improves cognition, but also improves metabolism and insulin sensitivity, according to a study (PDF). As for how long to stay on keto IF, she recommends no more than six months, after which you can transition to a more standard low-carb diet or other recommended healthy eating plan.
If you’ve gotten the green light from your healthcare team and want to try this combination approach, you may be wondering what you’ll be eating (and when). Your instincts are right: timing is all about this diet.
Here’s what Shemek says three days of the plan might look like, when they’re time-restricted eating on a 16-hour, 8-hour fast. This approach is not the only way to do IF – there are many ways to speed things up. For example, you can also do a 12- or 14-hour daily fast.
In this plan, you will find that snacks are optional. Also keep in mind that your carbs, proteins, and fats needed to maintain ketosis depend on your health. Work with
