The term “keto diet” got 25.4 million unique Google searches in 2020. And while it's lost a bit of its trendiness since then, estimates are that 13 million Americans are still spending a couple billion dollars annually on ketogenic foods.

Are they getting the weight loss and health benefits they think they are?

That depends on whether you look at the short-term or long-term results of eating a high-fat, low-carb diet.

In the short term, a keto diet has been shown to aid weight loss, and there are indications it helps stabilize blood sugar.

But a new lab study published in the journal Science Advances found that when mice stick with a keto diet for a long time, they develop impaired insulin secretion that leads to elevated levels of bad LDL cholesterol, fatty liver disease and dysfunction (especially in male mice), and glucose intolerance.

It seems that excess fat intake blocks insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas from functioning as they should.

And that’s on top of the very clear risks — including heart disease, dementia, liver problems — that come from eating a lot of saturated fat in red and processed meats, full-fat dairy, and ultra-processed foods.

In addition, one study conducted by the Mays CANCER Center at UT Health San Antonio found that adherence to a keto diet kills off cells in multiple organs, including the heart and kidney, promoting premature aging.