As anecdotal evidence, I went on a strict keto diet three months ago and my mental state is far more stable. When I have a cheat day, I feel noticeably more anxious.
This is more evidence that you have an unknown food intolerance than keto being good for you. Red and processed meats are very clearly linked to heart disease and cancer. Most keto people eat large amounts of both.
I have celiac disease and before it was diagnosed my anxiety and depression was much worse. I even tried keto once and felt better, because I wasn't eating gluten for the first time in my life. I think there's a larger conversation to be had about how we develop auto-immune issues and food intolerances as we age, but we really don't see that as a regular thing to worry about. Nor do we really have the tools to see what foods we cannot handle well other than elimination diets, which is what keto seems to accidentally be for many people.
Yeah, there are a few comments like these now about how keto benefits must for-sure be a fluke correlation. Even though the submitted article apparently says otherwise. (On the other hand (comment says) my own anecdotes are rock-solid.)
It’s weird enough how all science articles attract but-what-about-correlation knee-jerk comments. But diet articles also seem to attract anecdote wars.
Animals feel stressed in zoos and modern people have few natural struggles. Diets are like natural wars and natural war feels natural and clean therefore feels good. People like telling war stories. War stories show where the teller overcame a real struggle, better story if struggle was natural and clean. Even better if teller was a hero in the story. Everyone is a hero in their own diet story.
A diet high in red meat can shorten life expectancy, according to researchers at Harvard Medical School. The study of more than 120,000 people suggested red meat increased the risk of death from cancer and heart problems.
Substituting red meat with fish, chicken or nuts lowered the risks, the authors said. The British Heart Foundation said red meat could still be eaten as part of a balanced diet.
The researchers analysed data from 37,698 men between 1986 and 2008 and 83,644 women between 1980 and 2008.
They said that during the study period, adding an extra portion of unprocessed red meat to someone's daily diet would increase the risk of death by 13%, of fatal cardiovascular disease by 18% and of cancer mortality by 10%. The figures for processed meat were higher, 20% for overall mortality, 21% for death from heart problems and 16% for cancer mortality.
The study, published in Archives of Internal Medicine, said: "We found that a higher intake of red meat was associated with a significantly elevated risk of total, cardiovascular disease, and cancer mortality.
That study you cited is junk science which relied on low quality data and failed to control for key confounders. A more comprehensive review study in the same journal concluded as follows.
"The magnitude of association between red and processed meat consumption and all-cause mortality and adverse cardiometabolic outcomes is very small, and the evidence is of low certainty."
That's kind of what I was thinking - and directly contradicts other claims in these comments that want to attribute it only to the weight loss.
Personally I've cycled through keto a few times. I will say that while it did not line up with my goals sufficiently (you cannot powerlift/bodybuild long term on keto - your body _needs_ exogenous glucose for that) I was way more clear-headed and alert despite being tired all the time (presumably that's more because of the workouts).
Sadly my experience is that keto did absolutely nothing for my overall mood. Strict keto for many (6+?) months. I was quite disappointed by my own lack of results, mentally. Physically: absolutely amazing results.
My data point also is the same. But concerning cheat days, I decided to reintroduce carbs one type at a time in measured amounts to find which ones and how much bothered me. It’s still underway but now I know to not have oats (commercial oat milk specifically; “organic”) in any amount, it bothers me too much even though it tastes nice. Or sour dough bread made with one specific brand of wheat for example. It’s easier to experiment this way so i can transition into a 3 month keto / 3 month low carb diet which is my goal after i reach the body composition i want.
I tried keto and felt good and lost weight, but everyone keeps telling me it's bad for my heart. I'm 30lbs overweight and don't have much energy, so that feels bad for my heart too.
I have celiac disease and before it was diagnosed my anxiety and depression was much worse. I even tried keto once and felt better, because I wasn't eating gluten for the first time in my life. I think there's a larger conversation to be had about how we develop auto-immune issues and food intolerances as we age, but we really don't see that as a regular thing to worry about. Nor do we really have the tools to see what foods we cannot handle well other than elimination diets, which is what keto seems to accidentally be for many people.