Research

Energy balance

A 45-day VLCKD significantly improves metabolic parameters (weight, BMI, blood pressure, lipids, insulin resistance) regardless of protein source, but animal protein may negatively impact renal markers.

A strict 780-calorie ketogenic diet for 45 days will significantly improve your weight, blood pressure, and blood sugar/insulin levels, regardless of whether you use whey, vegetable, or animal protein. However, if you have kidney concerns, be cautious with animal protein sources as they may slightly worsen renal markers in this context.

ModerateQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
VLCKDs led to significant weight loss and a striking improvement in metabolic parameters over a 45-day period... The markers of renal function worsened slightly in the animal protein group.
Sabrina Basciani et al. · The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism · 2020

Why this rating

Randomized pilot study, small sample size.

Source

Very-Low-Calorie Ketogenic Diets With Whey, Vegetable, or Animal Protein in Patients With Obesity: A Randomized Pilot Study

Sabrina Basciani et al. · The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism · 2020

DOI 10.1210/clinem/dgaa336

rct · n=48Cited 129×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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