Research

Hormonal

The sex-based difference in VLCKD efficacy is attenuated in post-menopausal females, who experience benefits more similar to males than pre-menopausal females.

If you are post-menopausal, your body's response to a very low-carb ketogenic diet may be more similar to a man's than to a pre-menopausal woman's. This is likely due to hormonal shifts. You may see better results than expected if you adjust your strategy to account for these changes rather than assuming you can't lose weight.

ModerateQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
These differences are attenuated after menopause, probably because of changes in hormonal profile and body composition.
Marco D’Abbondanza et al. · Nutrients · 2020

Why this rating

Based on the same pilot study limitations (small sample, short duration).

Source

Very Low-Carbohydrate Ketogenic Diet for the Treatment of Severe Obesity and Associated Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: The Role of Sex Differences

Marco D’Abbondanza et al. · Nutrients · 2020

DOI 10.3390/nu12092748

cohort · n=70Cited 75×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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