Research

Macro partitioning

Very low-calorie ketogenic diets (VLCKDs) containing whey or vegetable proteins reduce visceral adipose tissue (VAT) more effectively than those containing animal proteins, while also promoting a healthier gut microbiota composition (increased Bacteroidetes, decreased Firmicutes).

If you are using a very low-calorie ketogenic diet for visceral fat loss, choose whey or vegetable proteins over animal proteins. This study suggests you will lose more belly fat, have better gut health, and avoid potential kidney stress markers compared to animal-based protein sources. Ensure your total calories remain under 800 kcal/day for the first 45 days.

ModerateQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
Patients fed with whey proteins and vegetable proteins had a more pronounced decrease of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) compared with the group fed with animal proteins... VLCKDs based on whey or vegetable proteins induce a larger reduction of VAT, have a safer profile and determine a healthier microbiota composition compared to those containing animal proteins.
Sabrina Basciani et al. · Journal of the Endocrine Society · 2020

Why this rating

Small sample size (n=48), short duration (45 days), and lack of long-term follow-up limit generalizability.

Source

MON-607 Very Low-Calorie Ketogenic Diet Modifies Visceral Adipose Tissue Distribution and Taxonomic Composition of Gut Microbiota in Obese Patients with Insulin Resistance Depending on Protein Source

Sabrina Basciani et al. · Journal of the Endocrine Society · 2020

DOI 10.1210/jendso/bvaa046.1388

rct · n=48Cited 2×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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