Diet Beloved by Kim and Kourtney Kardashian Wrecks Your Body – Increases Risk of Silent Killer, Destroys Gut Bacteria

A trendy diet is destroying ‘friendly’ gut bacteria while increasing your risk of a silent killer that could leave you vulnerable to heart attacks, scientists say.

The ketogenic diet, better known as ‘keto’, is loved by Kim and Kourtney Kardashian and involves increasing protein intake and reducing carbohydrate intake.

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Kim is said to have used the diet, which is seen as a weight loss miracle, to lose a whopping 60 pounds after giving birth to her son Saint.

Her sister Kourtney also shared that her doctor put her on a diet to help her detox. She added: “My body has never looked better than when I was on the keto diet.”

Researchers at the University of Bath say switching to a ketogenic diet can indeed lead to fat loss.

But people following the keto diet may face a host of additional side effects, they warned.

When they asked healthy adults to eat fewer carbs for up to 12 weeks, they found that the keto diet increased cholesterol levels and decreased the number of good bacteria in the gut.

Cholesterol is a fatty substance produced by your liver that accumulates in your blood through your diet.

If there is too much of it in your blood, it is called ‘high cholesterol’. If you cannot lower your cholesterol, it can increase your risk of a heart attack or stroke.

Lead researcher Dr. Aaron Hengist commented on the study’s findings on cholesterol.

“Despite reducing fat mass, the ketogenic diet increased levels of unfavorable fats in our participants’ blood, which, if continued over years, could have long-term health consequences, such as an increased risk of heart disease and stroke,” he said.

By allowing only very small amounts of carbohydrates, the keto diet attempts to put the body into a state of ‘ketosis’, where it relies on a different type of fuel.

Instead of relying on sugars from carbohydrates, such as grains, legumes, vegetables and fruits, the keto diet relies on ketone bodies, which the liver produces from stored fat.

According to Harvard Health, burning fat seems like an ideal way to lose weight, but in order for the liver to produce ketones, you need to eat less than 20 to 50 grams of carbohydrates per day.

For reference, a medium banana contains about 27 grams of carbs.

Published in Cell Reports MedicineThe study followed 53 healthy adults for up to 12 weeks as they followed either a moderate-sugar diet, a low-sugar diet, or a low-carb keto diet, where they got less than 8 percent of their calories from carbs.

Both the keto diet and the low-sugar diet resulted in fat loss – about 6.5 pounds and 4.6 pounds per person, respectively.

However, researchers from Bath found that the keto diet increased participants’ cholesterol levels, especially compared to the low-sugar diet, which significantly lowered cholesterol levels.

The keto diet also changed the composition of the participants’ gut microbiomes, specifically decreasing beneficial bacteria called Bifidobacteria, which are often found in probiotics.

According to the study authors, this bacterium can inhibit pathogens and harmful bacteria while lowering cholesterol.

“Dietary fiber is essential for the survival of beneficial gut bacteria such as Bifidobacteria,” said Dr. Russell Davies, who led the gut health portion of the study.

“The ketogenic diet reduced fibre intake to around 15 grams per day, half the NHS recommended intake.

“This reduction in Bifidobacteria may contribute to significant long-term health consequences, such as increased risk of digestive disorders like irritable bowel syndrome, increased risk of intestinal infections, and weakened immune function.”

In contrast, the low-sugar diet had no significant impact on the composition of the gut microbiome.

Finally, the researchers found that the keto diet reduced glucose tolerance, meaning the participants’ bodies became less efficient at processing carbohydrates.

According to Professor Javier Gonzalez, this response may indicate that people are at greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes after stopping a keto diet.

“The ketogenic diet lowered fasting glucose levels, but also reduced the body’s ability to process carbohydrates from a meal,” he explained.

“By measuring protein in muscle samples from the participants’ legs, we think this is likely an adaptive response to eating less carbohydrates on a daily basis and that it reflects insulin resistance to storing carbohydrates in muscle.

“This insulin resistance is not necessarily bad when people are on a ketogenic diet, but if these changes persist when people switch back to a higher-carb diet, it could increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the long term.”

The authors concluded their study by saying that more research is needed on each diet to know how it might benefit people. However, if people are looking to lose weight, they recommend a low-sugar diet.

Dylan Thompson, who also oversaw the work, said: “The ketogenic diet is effective for fat loss, but it has different metabolic and microbiome effects that may not be suitable for everyone.

“In contrast, sugar restriction supports government guidelines to reduce free sugar intake, which promotes fat loss without apparent negative health effects.”

The government advises limiting free sugars – added to food or drink or naturally occurring in honey, syrups, fruit juices and smoothies – to less than 5 percent of total energy intake.

That amounts to about 30 grams of sugar per day.