Research

Hormonal

In non-diabetic patients, a ketogenic diet increases LDL cholesterol and total cholesterol compared to low-fat diets, whereas in diabetic patients, it improves lipid profiles by lowering triglycerides and raising HDL.

If you are non-diabetic and overweight, be aware that a ketogenic diet may raise your LDL and total cholesterol compared to a low-fat diet. If you have diabetes, a ketogenic diet tends to improve your triglycerides and HDL (good cholesterol). Monitor your lipids closely if you choose this diet.

ModerateQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
Meanwhile, among nondiabetic patients, a relatively higher increase in total cholesterol (SMD, 0.34; 95% CI, 0.08 to 0.61; I2 = 11%; moderate to low quality evidence) and in LDL (SMD, 0.35; 95% CI, 0.09 to 0.61; I2 = 0%; moderate to low quality evidence) was observed with the ketogenic diet
Yeo Jin Choi et al. · Nutrients · 2020

Why this rating

Meta-analysis of 14 RCTs, moderate to low quality evidence, with heterogeneity in non-diabetic LDL results.

Source

Impact of a Ketogenic Diet on Metabolic Parameters in Patients with Obesity or Overweight and with or without Type 2 Diabetes: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Yeo Jin Choi et al. · Nutrients · 2020

DOI 10.3390/nu12072005

Meta-analysis · 14 studiesCited 197×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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