What Is the Keto Diet and How Does It Work? The Unedited Original
This is the uncut recording behind my YouTube video What is the keto diet and how does it work?, uploaded the next day. The script is the same from start to sign-off. The original just runs a few seconds longer, with some quiet before I start talking at [0:16]. The full write-up, with what the metabolic-ward studies say about the "secret", is on the YouTube post. This page lists what I said and adds a short note.
In this recording
- [0:16] A ketogenic diet is one kind of low-carb diet. I said recent studies found low-carb diets have better adherence than low-fat ones: people find it easier to restrict carbs than fat.
- [0:30] When glucose stays low for a while, glycogen in the muscles and liver runs down and the body speeds up fat breakdown. That's ketosis, and it releases three ketone bodies: beta-hydroxybutyrate, acetoacetate and acetone.
- [0:55] I said the brain mainly uses acetoacetate and acetone, and the muscles mainly use BHB. Insulin gets in the way of lipase, the enzyme that breaks down stored fat.
- [1:48] A lot of people have insulin resistance, pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes. Low-carb diets control insulin, which lets lipase work on your fat stores. Fat adaptation takes two to four weeks in thinner people and three to eight in heavier people.
- [2:34] Calories in, calories out is still true. The real question is how to eat less and still keep your energy up, without mood swings, so you can keep going. My answer: control insulin by controlling carbs.
- [3:16] That answers "why are fat people still hungry?" Once fat stores are unlocked you have steady energy all day, and keeping ketosis going is what keeps you on the diet.
- [3:58] Steady energy suppresses the hunger that drives overeating, so you can be in a deficit without forcing calorie restriction. I said studies found people who count only carbs do about as well as people who count carbs and calories.
- [4:42] I said low carb avoids the drop in metabolic rate, tiredness and lethargy that often come with low-fat dieting.
- [5:27] A ketogenic diet isn't a food list. Any mix of foods that keeps you in ketosis counts. The restriction is on carbs, not specific foods.
- [6:12] Strict keto adds rules like no grain or no dairy. I didn't weigh in on whether those help weight loss. People do keto for epilepsy, some because it may starve certain tumours, most for weight loss. Grass-fed versus regular beef doesn't matter for ketosis.
- [6:52] Protein: women start around 50 to 60 g a day and can go up to 100 or 120 g. Men start around 80 g and go up to about 140 g or more for very intense athletes.
- [7:34] Carbs: under 20 g a day to start. Some people tolerate up to 50 g, but 20 is a good number for finding your own limit.
- [8:11] Be patient: it's a body-wide change of fuel. Hydration and electrolytes matter, and so do fibre and leafy greens. They have carbs, but they carry vitamins and minerals you need.
- [8:52] Sign-off: best of luck, much love, bye from KetoDick.
Watching this in 2026
This is still the chain I'd teach first: carbs down, insulin down, fat available, hunger down, so you eat less without white-knuckling it. The most useful line is at [5:27]. Keto is a carb limit, not a shopping list, and grass-fed beef or dairy-free rules are choices, not requirements.
A few lines I'd change.
- The brain fuel line. The classic fasting study found BHB and acetoacetate became the brain's main fuel after weeks without food (Owen et al., 1967). BHB belongs on the brain's list. Acetone doesn't lead it.
- "Avoids the metabolic slowdown." In metabolic-ward studies, keto didn't burn more fat at equal calories. Fat loss was 53 g a day with carbs cut versus 89 g a day with fat cut (Hall et al., 2015). Switching to keto at the same calories raised energy expenditure by only 57 kcal a day (Hall et al., 2016). The benefit I'd still defend is the hunger one, which those studies don't test because they fix how much people eat.
- Adherence. In DIETFITS, 12-month weight loss didn't differ significantly between healthy low-carb and healthy low-fat. Pick the version you can stay with.
- Carbs-only versus carbs-and-calories. I can't point to that study on the evidence pages I use now, so treat it as my claim, not a finding.
- Fat adaptation timelines. Two to four weeks and three to eight weeks were my rules of thumb, not measured figures.
- Tumours. I mentioned cancer as a reason some people do keto. That's a decision for your oncologist, not a diet group.
The protein numbers hold up as a range. My 50–60 g start for women is near the US adult RDA of 0.8 g per kg. My upper end is closer to the 1.2–1.6 g/kg a day one review linked with better appetite control (Leidy et al., 2015). The closing point on fibre holds up well: in a large review, people eating the most fibre had 15–30% lower all-cause and cardiovascular mortality than those eating the least (Reynolds et al., 2019).
If you have type 2 diabetes or take blood-pressure medication, tell your doctor before cutting carbs. Your doses may need to change.
Key points
- Keto is a carb limit (start under 20 g), not a list of approved foods.
- Lower carbs mean lower insulin, more access to stored fat and less hunger. Calories still count.
- Get adequate protein, and keep up electrolytes, water, fibre and greens.
- The ward studies don't support a fat-burning edge at equal calories. The hunger effect is the real reason to try it.
Related
- Guide: Keto basics · Ketosis · Fat adaptation · Insulin · Hunger · How much protein · How many carbs · Fibre · Electrolytes · Medications
- Blog: Kevin Hall's metabolic-ward studies · DIETFITS explained · Why 20 grams of carbs? · Is dairy keto? · How long to get into ketosis
- Videos: The YouTube version · Why keto works: adherence · Do calories still matter?