The Lard Is Your Saviour?

Eating all the fat you want sounds like a delicious way to lose weight. But let’s see how long you can hack it

- Chris Mohr

RECENTLY I HAD A CLIENT TELL ME THAT she and her husband were eating almost a kilo of bacon a week – usually three strips for breakfast and one or two with a salad for dinner. I’ve been a dietitian for almost 20 years. Few things surprise me. But I had to ask: “Why?”

She told me that her husband had heard about a new diet on TV, the keto diet and they decided to try it. Six months and countless packages of bacon later, her husband had lost almost 10kg and said he felt more energetic.

I’m beginning to hear more and more people lecture me about the benefits of the ketogenic diet. “Keto burns fat fast! It turbo­ charges your energy! It fights disease! You can eat all the bacon you want!” But as is so often the case with diets, underneath all the initial excitement, there’s a gut check.

WHAT THE HECK IS KETOSIS ANYWAY?

Ketogenesis has existed as long as humans have. If you eat a very low amount of carbohydrates, you starve your brain of glucose, its main fuel source. Your body still needs fuel to function, so your brain signals it to tap its reserve of ketones. It’s like a hybrid car that runs out of gas and reverts to pure electricity.

Okay, but what are ketones? They’re compounds created by your liver from your fat stores when blood insulin is low. “Your liver produces ketones all the time, but the rate depends on carbohydrate and protein intake,” says dietitian Dr Jeff Volek, a professor of human sciences. Eat a normal amount of carbs and protein, and ketogenesis idles. Cut carbs and protein back and you push to half throttle. This takes about three days to induce.