Hormonal
Very-low-carbohydrate ketogenic diets (VLCKD) significantly improve cardiovascular risk factors, specifically by lowering triglycerides, lowering LDL cholesterol, and raising HDL cholesterol.
If you follow a ketogenic diet (under 50g carbs/day), your cardiovascular risk markers like triglycerides and HDL often improve significantly. This happens because low insulin levels reduce your body's production of cholesterol, counteracting the potential negative effects of high dietary fat intake.
the majority of recent studies seem instead to amply demonstrate that the reduction of carbohydrates to levels that induce physiological ketosis... can actually lead to significant benefits in blood lipid profiles. The VLCKD effect seems to be particularly marked on the level of blood triglycerides, but there are also significant positive effects on total cholesterol reduction and increases in high-density lipoprotein.
Why this rating
The paper cites multiple studies showing consistent improvements in lipid profiles, though it acknowledges past negative opinions.
Source
Beyond weight loss: a review of the therapeutic uses of very-low-carbohydrate (ketogenic) diets
Antonio Paoli et al. · European Journal of Clinical Nutrition · 2013
DOI 10.1038/ejcn.2013.116
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