[Ketogenic Diet and its Evidence-Based Therapeutic Implementation in Endocrine Diseases]

Ketogenic Diet and its Evidence-Based Therapeutic Implementation in Endocrine Diseases Abstract. Abstract: The ketogenic diet (KD) is a high-fat and very low-carb diet, which has been used primarily for treatment of therapy-resistant epilepsy in children. Implementation of the KD in other target populations is increasingly being discussed. This literature review provides first indications for a clinical benefit of the KD in diabetes mellitus type 2 (T2DM) and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). In many analysed studies, KD led to significant weight loss and had beneficial effects on lipoprotein profile and insulin resistance. In half of the comparative studies with T2DM, the KD lead to signifiantly greater reductions in HbA1c-levels (HbA1c difference: -0.5 to -1.5 %) compared to reference diets (HbA1c difference: +0.2 to -0.5 %). Nevertheless, study results are too heterogenic for a general recommendation of the KD in this patient population.