Myths About Keto: What’s True, What’s Not, and What the Science Really Says

Eating so much fat is going to make you fat. If you have ever started keto and felt that small voice inside you questioning your decision, you are not alone. There are so many misunderstandings around keto, it can make a person feel unsure about whether they are doing the right thing. Today I want to clear up some of the most common myths I hear all the time.

When I started keto, I was genuinely scared to eat fat. I came out of the fat free era where everything on the shelf proudly displayed the words “fat free” and somehow we were all convinced that fat was the enemy. So, when I finally decided to do keto, I was nervous. My husband also raised an eyebrow and probably wondered how this could possibly work. But, over time, as I started seeing results and learning more about the science, everything began making sense.

Myth 1: Fat is bad for you and eating fat makes you fat

This notion that eating fat will make you fat is still very much alive. Older research linked dietary fat to clogged arteries and heart disease, but those studies did not account for the amount of carbohydrates people were eating at the same time. When you remove the large amount of carbohydrates and look at fat intake on its own, the story changes completely.

There is no evidence that dietary fat alone causes clogged arteries or heart disease. More recent studies show that lowering carbohydrates improves inflammation, weight, and overall metabolic health.

Inflammation is at the root of so many health problems including cardiovascular disease, obesity, heart disease and insulin resistance. When inflammation improves, so do all the other health markers.

Much of our fear around fat comes from the Seven Countries Study by Ancel Keys. This study heavily influenced the dietary guidelines that shaped how the world eats today, and we now know that the data was incomplete and biased.

Nina Teicholz writes about this in her book Big Fat Surprise. She spent almost ten years investigating the history of nutritional guidelines and found that so much of what we were told to believe about fat was never based on solid evidence. She also explains how industry interests shaped the guidelines we still follow today. Her TEDx talk is worth watching if you want to understand how these ideas became so widespread.

The sugar industry also played a major role. As far back as 1968, they had evidence that high sugar intake increased the risk of heart attack, stroke and even bladder cancer. The moment those results appeared, the study funding was stopped. Instead, they funded research that downplayed the effects of sugar and redirected blame toward fat. We spent decades removing fat from our diets and replacing it with sugar and processed carbohydrates, and that is when the obesity statistics started exploding.

If you are still not convinced, let us look at some numbers:

• In 1970 the obesity rates were less than 14 percent in the US.

• As of 2016, 35.2 percent of the US population was overweight, and 29.6 percent was obese.

• If our society continues this trend, our projected obesity and overweight rate will be 46 percent by 2030.

Jimmy Moore, a well respected author in the low carb community, says this:

“In just the past few decades, the rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic illnesses have gotten considerably worse. And do you know what is most shocking about that. The spike in all these ailments coincides almost perfectly with the implementation of the governments Dietary Guidelines in 1980. Coincidence. I think not.”

Myth 2: Glucose is the most important fuel source

People often say that the brain needs glucose to function. This is partly true, but the misunderstanding is in how much glucose the brain actually requires and where that glucose comes from. The brain does need a small amount of glucose, but your body is not dependent on dietary glucose to supply it.

The fact is that your liver creates glucose through a normal process called gluconeogenesis. This happens whether or not you eat any carbohydrates. So, you do not need to eat carbs to meet the brain’s needs.

Ketones can cross the blood brain barrier and once you are in ketosis, the brain actually prefers ketones. They provide stable and clean energy and reduce inflammation. Many people notice clearer thinking, better focus and more stable mood once they adapt to burning ketones.

Myth 3: Keto is the same as Atkins

Many people compare the ketogenic diet to Atkins because both are low carbohydrate approaches, but they are not the same. Atkins is high protein and keto is moderate protein. That difference matters because too much protein can be converted into glucose which may raise blood sugar and interfere with ketosis. Keto intentionally keeps protein at a moderate level to avoid this.

There is a variation of the keto diet (there are actually a few) where you increase your protein intake, but it is not the same as the Atkins diet. Atkins has specific stages that you follow.

Some people, especially athletes, follow a modified ketogenic approach with higher protein, but traditional keto uses moderate protein intentionally. Your protein intake can be adjusted based on your goals, but the standard keto diet is not a high protein diet.

Myth 4: Keto will cause muscle loss

This is not the biggest fear, but definitely one of the common ones. People assume that if you are not eating large amounts of protein you will lose muscle. The body is far more intelligent than that. Ketones help preserve muscle (muscle sparing) and are anti catabolic which means they reduce muscle breakdown.

Your body will not sacrifice muscle unless it is in a true starvation state. Keto is not starvation. My husband is a good example. Before keto he ate very high amounts of protein to support his training. After switching to keto, his protein intake dropped significantly but his muscle remained the same. He also has more energy and clearer thinking now in his forties than he did in his twenties. Many studies confirm that keto preserves lean muscle very effectively.

This does not mean that you should not follow the guidelines of protein intake when you are following a muscle building program and that is a topic for another day.

Myth 5: It is not safe to do keto long term

The ketogenic diet has been around for over a century and it has been studied more extensively than almost any other dietary approach. Long term research shows improvements in inflammation, blood glucose, cholesterol profiles, triglycerides and weight management. Many of the well known keto educators I follow have been doing keto for years or even decades with excellent health outcomes.

I have personally been in ketosis for the majority of the last 6 years. It is only recently, as I entered peri menopause, that I started cutting back on my fasting protocols and pulled back from being in ketosis for extended periods of time.

Just a thought: although it is called a diet, ketosis is a natural metabolic state. Humans have moved in and out of ketosis for most of history depending on food availability. It is only in the modern era of constant carbohydrate intake that we stopped using this metabolic pathway. The aim is to be metabolically flexible.

Myth 6: Keto causes ketoacidosis

Ketoacidosis or DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis) is a completely different condition from being in nutritional ketosis. I would know. My son is a Type 1 diabetic. Ketoacidosis occurs because their pancreas does not produce any insulin and therefore cannot regulate ketone levels. Ketoacidosis is not something that happens to people with normal insulin function.

The moment you eat a carbohydrate rich meal, your pancreas produces insulin which shuts down ketone production. This is why you are kicked out of ketosis when you eat a carbohydrate rich meal.

Nutritional ketosis on the other hand is a safe and controlled metabolic state. When ketones rise, glucose naturally lowers, and the body balances everything through insulin production.

Many type 1 diabetics follow a low carbohydrate lifestyle successfully, and for type 2 diabetics, keto can be incredibly powerful because it addresses the root cause which is carbohydrate driven insulin resistance.

Myth 7: You cannot do keto without a gallbladder

You absolutely can, and I have successfully guided several clients who have had their gallbladders removed onto a keto diet.

Without a gallbladder your body still produces bile, but it releases it more slowly. This means you may not tolerate large amounts of fat in the beginning. The solution is simple.

Start with a lower fat intake and increase slowly as your body adapts. Many people also use ox bile supplements to assist digestion during the transition.

As always, if you have a medical condition it is best to speak with your doctor, especially if you plan to make significant changes to your diet.

There are very few reasons someone would not be able to follow a ketogenic diet. One would be a condition called porphyria. I had one client a couple of years ago who had porphyria and still wanted to do the keto diet, and she did very well, but we had to monitor her very carefully. For most conditions, the keto diet is a profound way to improve many health markers.