Men's Health on Keto (2019): Vegetables, the 100 g Protein Cap and 90/6/4, Revisited

2019-01-12

In this video

A 46-minute live read-through of a Men's Health article on keto by Michael Easter, which I dated 10 January 2019. I made it so viewers had something to send back when friends forwarded the piece.

[0:00] Standard opener: not a qualified health professional, but good at spotting nonsense.
[2:00] "You strictly cap vegetables" is where the article lost me.
[3:30] Leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower and mushrooms can be eaten in huge amounts. My stall-breaker plan had seven cups of broccoli in a day.
[5:00] The limited ones are starchy roots, potatoes, carrots, corn. Small amounts of fruit are fine.
[6:00] A 100 g protein cap: protein is a target, not a limit.
[6:30] My definition: any diet that induces ketosis is ketogenic, so some ketogenic diets are dumb.
[8:00] Protein and fibre are the two most satiating parts of a diet.
[8:30] Ketosis isn't the goal. Low carb is; ketosis is a perk for energy and hunger.
[10:30] 90/6/4 and 4:1 are medical (epilepsy) formulas, not weight-loss keto.
[12:30] Fat quality: olive oil is mostly monounsaturated; butter and lard depend on how the animal was raised.
[14:00] In the weight-loss phase I steer people to lean proteins: white fish, chicken, tuna.
[23:00] Cholesterol: dietary and blood cholesterol are loosely linked, and which marker predicts risk is debated.
[25:00] The article's own expert concedes keto controls hunger. That's all I'm claiming.
[28:00] Some tumours depend on glucose, but don't go treating your cancer with keto.
[31:30] "Check your levels with a device": you don't need to.
[34:00] Fibre and magnesium are often short on keto. I agreed there.
[35:00] Weight loss comes from appetite suppression lowering intake. That's the point.
[35:30] I questioned the JAMA low-fat vs low-carb study the article cited.
[38:30] In social or work settings, eat the bun and go for a walk. You don't need to be in ketosis all the time.
[40:30] Regular check-ins with someone matter. If you don't want to pay a coach, a friend or spouse works.
[43:30] Read studies yourself: Google Scholar, or add "PubMed" to a search. Studies have to state their protocol.

Watching this in 2026

Most of my objections hold up. The tone doesn't. I called the magazine trash, insulted the author, and kept going for 46 minutes. The arguments don't need any of that, and the people I was trying to help weren't the ones who wrote the article.

What I'd keep is the move underneath: read the claim, check it against what keto actually means in practice, and concede where the other side is right. I did concede, twice, on hunger and on fibre.

The claim worth unpacking: is 100 g of protein a cap?

I said protein is a target. I advised women to start around 80 g, 100 g if active, 120 g with heavy training, and said I was at 140 g myself (video 1JbK1_ClDmY).

Here is how that compares with the research:

The adult RDA is 0.8 g per kg of body weight a day (National Academies, 2005). For a 70 kg (154 lb) woman, that's 56 g. The RDA is a floor, not a target.
During energy restriction, Phillips & van Loon, 2011 suggest 1.8–2.0 g per kg a day, depending on the deficit. For the same woman that's 126–140 g.
For adults over 65, the PROT-AGE group recommends 1.0–1.2 g per kg a day, more with illness.

So my 80–120 g range for women sits between the RDA and the dieting figures. A flat 100 g "at most" doesn't match any of them.

On kidneys: in adults without kidney disease, higher protein (including ≥100 g a day) did not change kidney filtration differently across 28 studies (Devries et al., 2018). If you have kidney disease, your protein number belongs to your doctor. More in protein and kidneys.

Where the article had a point I waved off: vitamin C

The article said people on keto often lack vitamin C, magnesium and fibre. I agreed on fibre and magnesium and said vitamin C usually isn't a problem (video 1JbK1_ClDmY).

The research is less sure. In Gardner et al., 2010, women on Atkins shifted toward inadequate intake of thiamine, folate, vitamin C, iron and magnesium by week eight. Other diets in the study had their own shortfalls. It is one more reason for the vegetables I was defending. See nutrient deficiencies on low carb.

The JAMA study

The JAMA study the article cites is most likely DIETFITS (Gardner et al., 2018): 609 adults over 12 months, 5.3 kg lost on healthy low-fat vs 6.0 kg on healthy low-carb, not significantly different. I guessed it relied on self-reports. The bigger point is that its low-carb arm was moderate, not ketogenic, so it isn't a test of keto at all. My conclusion was the same either way: a calorie deficit gets you there on both.

Then vs now: the meter

In 2017 urine strips were my favourite keto item (video DWI8qQl5BbY), and I made a whole video comparing tests (video 8wOheKcBEd8). Here I said you don't need a monitor. The two positions fit together: a strip can help a beginner learn, and later it tells you very little.

Also worth keeping

Cholesterol: I said I'm not a doctor and that which marker predicts risk is debated. The National Lipid Association (2019) found very-low-carb diets lower triglycerides and raise HDL, with a variable effect on LDL. Get yours checked.
90/6/4: that's the medical version. The StatPearls ketogenic diet overview covers clinical uses like epilepsy separately from weight loss. More in the classic 4:1 diet.
Cancer: "don't go treating your cancer with keto" (from the video). That one stays exactly as said.

Key points

Keto doesn't cap leafy greens or most vegetables. The ones limited are starchy roots.
Protein is a target. The RDA (0.8 g/kg) is a floor; dieting figures run 1.8–2.0 g/kg (Phillips & van Loon 2011).
Kidney disease changes the protein answer; ask your doctor (Devries 2018 covers people without it).
90/6/4 is a medical formula, not weight-loss keto.
Vitamin C, folate, iron and magnesium can run low on Atkins-style eating (Gardner 2010).
You don't need a ketone meter, and you don't need to be in ketosis every hour to lose weight.

Guide: types of keto · how much protein · protein and kidneys · protein for older adults · cholesterol · do you need to test? · reading headlines · reading studies · red flags
Blog: the Men's Health article, rebutted · the classic 4:1 diet · is the protein RDA enough? · vegetables on keto · nutrient deficiencies · DIETFITS explained · searching PubMed · do you have to be in ketosis? · keto vs low carb
Videos: three ways to test · keto is dangerous · spend your carbs on vegetables · pork chop meal prep