What happens to a rat's liver on a keto-like diet?
LIVER METABOLIC EFFECTS OF A HIGH-FAT LOW- CARBOHYDRATE DIET IN RATS: A STUDY UNDER DIFFERENT ENERGY CONDITIONS
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Calorie restriction didn’t protect against liver damage from the HFLC diet
Many assume that if you're losing weight on a low-carb diet, metabolic health improves — but here, hypocaloric (low-calorie) HFLC rats still had worse liver metabolism and impaired alanine breakdown.
Practical Takeaways
If following a high-fat, low-carb diet, consider monitoring liver health markers and blood glucose levels regularly.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Calorie restriction didn’t protect against liver damage from the HFLC diet
Many assume that if you're losing weight on a low-carb diet, metabolic health improves — but here, hypocaloric (low-calorie) HFLC rats still had worse liver metabolism and impaired alanine breakdown.
Practical Takeaways
If following a high-fat, low-carb diet, consider monitoring liver health markers and blood glucose levels regularly.
Publication
Journal
Arquivos do Mudi
Year
2023
Authors
Carla Indianara Bonetti, Mateus José Oliveira, Evelyn Silva Moreira, Bruna Lopes Correia, Gabriel Conti Souto, L. Bracht
Related Content
Claims (5)
Your liver makes its own sugar when you don’t eat carbs for a long time, and this process doesn’t hurt your liver or cause damage.
When rats eat a diet high in fat and low in carbs, their livers start making more sugar from lactate but get worse at breaking down an amino acid called alanine — especially if they're also eating fewer calories.
Rats on a very low-carb, high-fat diet for a month ended up with higher blood sugar and more fat in their livers—even if they didn’t eat more calories. This kind of diet might not be great for liver and blood sugar health in animals.
In rats, eating a high-fat, low-carb diet makes their bodies worse at handling sugar—even when calories are the same or higher—but doesn’t change how sensitive they are to insulin. This suggests the sugar problem might not be caused by insulin issues in these animals.
Even when rats eat fewer calories, a keto-like diet can still cause unhealthy changes in the liver, like making too much sugar and having trouble breaking down proteins.