Keto Diet Reduces Muscle Mass Even When Eating In A Caloric Surplus

[Hans]

Efficacy of ketogenic diet on body composition during resistance training in trained men: a randomized controlled trial
In this study they compared a keto group vs a non keto group. Macros were: 20% protein, 55% carbs, 25% fats for the non keto group and 20% protein, <10% carbs (42g) and 70% fats for the keto group.

Their conclusion:

"this research showed no significant changes nor effect size on LBM, despite hyperenergetic condition and high protein intake (2.0 g∙kg− 1⋅d− 1) in resistance-trained men of the KD group. Thus, we conclude that low-carbohydrate dietary approaches, such as KD, would not be an optimum strategy for building muscle mass in trained men under the training conditions of this study (mechanical tension-focused RT protocol during 8 weeks)."​

Although they lost more overall fat as well as visceral fat, they actually lost a little muscle as well, even when in a caloric surplus and eating high protein.

"To guarantee a hyperenergetic condition, a daily energy intake of ≈39 kcal·kg− 1·d− 1 was used in all subjects."​

 

[ecstatichamster]

Excellent find. Thank you.

 

[tara]

"To guarantee a hyperenergetic condition, a daily energy intake of ≈39 kcal·kg− 1·d− 1 was used in all subjects."

Am I reading this right?
39 cals per kilo per day expected to ensure an energy surplus in trained adult men?
I expect that would be a surplus for some, but not not all, such adult men.
That's about 3000 cals for a 77kg man, right?
I think there are men here who maintain weight on both more and less than this.

 

[Hans]

Am I reading this right?
39 cals per kilo per day expected to ensure an energy surplus in trained adult men?
I expect that would be a surplus for some, but not not all, such adult men.
That's about 3000 cals for a 77kg man, right?
I think there are men here who maintain weight on both more and less than this.

Point being that both groups ate in a surplus, even if it was small, and the non-keto group gained more muscle, whereas the keto group lost a small amount. If the surplus was bigger, the non-keto group would still have gained more muscle.

 

[Bogdar]

Well, the study did last for 2 month, so it's juste enough time for the ketogenic group to adapt. I think they should have done it on people who were already keto-adapted, to see more accurate results

 

[Cirion]

It is important to note that LBM and muscle mass are NOT the same thing. You can lose LBM and gain muscle mass. Not that I think a keto diet is necessarily smart anymore (I used to swear by them), but it's important to make that distinguishment, because it's possible the keto group might have gained muscle, but lost LBM. I say that because going keto will indeed make you lose alot of glycogen right off the bat, but that's just water, yet it's still considered LBM. You could in theory gain muscle tissue, but lose more in glycogen/water weight than you gained in tissue, thus having a net LBM loss. Especially if you're new to low carb/keto, you will lose a dramatic amount of water weight going into it, so that result is really not that surprising.

 

[milkbasedvegan]

The study says:

No significant increases were observed in total body weight (− 0.9 [− 2.3, 0.6]; p > 0.05; ES = [− 0.18]) and muscle mass (− 0.1 [− 1.1,1.0]; p > 0,05; ES = − 0.04) in the KD group

They dropped water because that’s what keto does, and more fat than the other groups and in spite of the water drop, their muscle mass barely budged.

If anything this is a pro keto study... here is another one in elite athletes:

Ketogenic diet does not affect strength performance in elite artistic gymnasts

I’m far from endorsing keto because I’m not some sort of anti sugar weirdo that hates on rodent science and anti fat epidemiology but is happy to quote Lustig, however let’s not say that keto makes people “lose muscle even in a caloric surplus”. It’s not happening.

 

[berk]

Lets fight:

Low-carb protein diet causes muscles to grow without training
Sports scientists at the University of Michigan discovered this when they did an experiment with 8 young men and women. And interestingly, the subjects did no weight training.

Insulin, textbooks continue to tell us, is an important anabolic hormone. Because your insulin level rises if you eat carbohydrates – the insulin level reacts less to glucose fed intravenously – scientists believed until recently that a low-carb diet reduces muscle mass. Empirical evidence and studies by anthropologists and archaeologists, however, indicate that the reverse is true.

That's why these researchers decided to do an experiment in which 4 men and an equal number of women, average age 29, exchanged their standard diet for a low-carb protein diet for a week. The figures: the subjects' diet before starting consisted of 60 percent carbs, 30 percent fat and 10 percent protein [Before diet]. They replaced this with a diet consisting of 35 percent protein, 60 percent fat and only 5 percent carbohydrates.

The figure below shows that the diet caused a drastic lowering of the subjects' insulin level. You'll notice how the insulin level peaked after the 3 main meals in the 'Before diet', but that on the low-carb protein diet the peaks have almost disappeared.

The manufacture of growth hormone decreased but the decline was not statistically significant. The same is true for the concentration of IGF-1 in the bloodstream. Most of the IGF-1 found in the bloodstream comes from the liver cutting up growth hormone into smaller pieces.

You'd expect muscle mass to decline, but this didn't happen. The researchers extracted cells from the vastus lateralis leg muscle and recorded the muscle tissue growth. This actually increased after the subjects went over to the low-carb diet.

The protein diet had increased the activity of anabolic signal molecules in the muscle cells. The most noticeable effect was that the muscle cells started to produce more IGF-1. This is different IGF-1 to that found in the bloodstream.

Source:
J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2005 Sep; 90(9): 5175-81.

 

[milkbasedvegan]

Absolutely, lower insulin levels = better sensitivity = better tissue levels = growth

that said, it’s a scientific shame that those scientists didn’t bother equating protein intake for both groups ‍

 

[Zigzag]

Neverending battle between "High carb" vs "Low carb" camps...

 

[Hugh Johnson]

Lets fight:

Low-carb protein diet causes muscles to grow without training
Sports scientists at the University of Michigan discovered this when they did an experiment with 8 young men and women. And interestingly, the subjects did no weight training.

Insulin, textbooks continue to tell us, is an important anabolic hormone. Because your insulin level rises if you eat carbohydrates – the insulin level reacts less to glucose fed intravenously – scientists believed until recently that a low-carb diet reduces muscle mass. Empirical evidence and studies by anthropologists and archaeologists, however, indicate that the reverse is true.

That's why these researchers decided to do an experiment in which 4 men and an equal number of women, average age 29, exchanged their standard diet for a low-carb protein diet for a week. The figures: the subjects' diet before starting consisted of 60 percent carbs, 30 percent fat and 10 percent protein [Before diet]. They replaced this with a diet consisting of 35 percent protein, 60 percent fat and only 5 percent carbohydrates.

The figure below shows that the diet caused a drastic lowering of the subjects' insulin level. You'll notice how the insulin level peaked after the 3 main meals in the 'Before diet', but that on the low-carb protein diet the peaks have almost disappeared.

The manufacture of growth hormone decreased but the decline was not statistically significant. The same is true for the concentration of IGF-1 in the bloodstream. Most of the IGF-1 found in the bloodstream comes from the liver cutting up growth hormone into smaller pieces.

You'd expect muscle mass to decline, but this didn't happen. The researchers extracted cells from the vastus lateralis leg muscle and recorded the muscle tissue growth. This actually increased after the subjects went over to the low-carb diet.

The protein diet had increased the activity of anabolic signal molecules in the muscle cells. The most noticeable effect was that the muscle cells started to produce more IGF-1. This is different IGF-1 to that found in the bloodstream.

Source:
J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2005 Sep; 90(9): 5175-81.

One week, 3,5 times the proton intake, and only 8 people. I can't access the study, so tell me if there was an actual measured, statistically significant increase in muscle mass.

 

[RWilly]

I was on a low-carb and sometimes ketogenic diet for 4 years, and it made me very insulin resistant and I kept putting on weight.

Insulin resistance is hard to reverse. It's still something I'm working on. But I can tell you that all my health numbers (lipid panel, fasting insulin, AST, ALT, and more)
look much better now than when I was on a low carb diet.

 

[milkbasedvegan]

Neverending battle between "High carb" vs "Low carb" camps...

That’s people don’t understand that we all have a different blend of neurotransmitters and that plays a massive impact on our gut function + how our brain feels on a specific diet...