Research

Mixed

A 5-week nutritional intervention combining a 3-week very low-calorie ketogenic diet (VLCKD) and a 2-week low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet (LCKD) significantly improves metabolic comorbidities—including BMI, blood pressure, lipid profiles, and insulin sensitivity—in patients with Cushing's disease.

If you have Cushing's disease, a structured 5-week ketogenic diet (starting with very low calories and carbs, then slightly increasing calories while keeping carbs low) can significantly improve your weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol. Importantly, this diet did not raise your cortisol levels, which is a common fear. This should be done alongside your prescribed medication and with a multivitamin supplement to ensure nutrient adequacy.

ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
The current study confirms that a ketogenic diet is effective in improving metabolic disorders in CD and shows that a nutritional approach may be combined with conventional CD therapy in order to improve metabolic and cardiovascular comorbidities.
Valentina Guarnotta et al. · Nutrients · 2023

Why this rating

Small sample size (N=15 per group), short duration (5 weeks), and lack of a long-term control group limit generalizability, though statistical significance was reported.

Source

Nutritional Intervention in Cushing’s Disease: The Ketogenic Diet’s Effects on Metabolic Comorbidities and Adrenal Steroids

Valentina Guarnotta et al. · Nutrients · 2023

DOI 10.3390/nu15214647

cohort · n=30Cited 3×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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