According to the lead author of a recent study, the keto diet’s effectiveness derives from its ability to trick the body into burning fat. Vishwa Deep Dixit, DVM, PhD, the Waldemar Von Zedwitz Professor of Comparative Medicine and professor of immunology, evaluated the mechanisms by which the body processes different types of food—in this particular case, a diet’s low carbohydrate content—and made the unusual discovery.
Dixit warns, however, that the keto diet works for only a limited time period in mice, and that studies in humans are needed to find out whether humans can safely follow the diet for months or years.