Hello, I’m new to this forum. I’m a 50-year-old man and I started the ketogenic diet about 11 weeks ago. One week before that, I had my blood tested and there were no concerning results.
I began the ketogenic diet and everything went smoothly. After 10 weeks, I lost 16 kg and felt fine. However, in the 11th week, I started experiencing pain in the liver area. The doctor tested my blood, and my liver enzymes were 4 to 5 times higher than normal! Since I haven’t started any new medications or supplements, the doctor decided that I should stop the ketogenic diet to restore my liver function.
Does anyone know why my liver enzymes would suddenly spike so high? Am I not suited for the ketogenic diet?
On my 12th year of keto, and my liver enzymes were always low until I took new medication. I’ve since stopped taking that, and I’ll be interested to see what my enzymes are now.
I’d say the chance that keto is causing higher liver enzymes are near zero.
Is there anything else at all you’re begun to take, including vitamins/minerals/etc.?
It seems unlikely that keto would be the cause of that liver enzyme test result. Seems to me that one test can be an error and should be repeated since it is so sudden and high.
Many people have undiagnosed non alcoholic fatty liver disease which would be caused by excess carbohydrates being stored in the liver. Keto actually improves NAFL disease due to the removal of excess fat looking for a place to be stored. However there are familial/genetic liver diseases that can come on suddenly. So in terms of the health of your liver, I would want to investigate that lab result a little closer.
The only thing I added was electrolytes, but that was from the first day. What I might have done is eat too much protein in relation to fats. But I don’t know if that could explain the elevated liver enzymes.
PaulL
(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?)
#6
Take a look at your intake of sugar (sucrose), alcohol, and branched-chain amino acids (leucine, iso-leucine, and valine) for the possibility that you are overloading your liver. If you think you might be doing so, cut way back on those things. They are all handled by the same metabolic pathway in the liver, and when that pathway gets overwhelmed, fatty liver disease is the result.
Table sugar, sucrose, is as important to avoid as ethanol and BCAA’s, because it is one-half fructose. The glucose component causes other problems in the body if over-consumed, but fructose has been shown to be a liver toxin.
There are other liver toxins, of course, with different effects on the liver, and your problem may be related to some toxic exposure in the past. For example, I have recently developed emphysema as the result of exposure to airborne toxins at a job I had well over a decade ago.
The good news is that, in a pilot study done at UCSF, the researchers showed that liver enzymes were able to normalise in about 10 days, when the patients’ diet was adjusted. The conclusion is that, far from causing liver damage, a ketogenic diet can actually help reverse it.
By the way, here’s a pro tip: if you tell your doctor you are on a keto diet, the diet will be blamed for all sorts of things. But if you tell any medical professional that you are avoiding sugar, starches, and grains, you will get a sagacious nod of approval from him or her.
Thank you for your detailed and insightful response. I may need to pay closer attention to what I eat when following Keto.
I just went to the doctor again, and I’m happy with what he told me.
He wants me to temporarily come out of ketosis and eat a minimum amount of carbohydrates from low-glycemic index fruits and/or vegetables (strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, cauliflower, broccoli, etc.).
Once my liver enzymes normalize, I can start Keto again to see if the issues reoccur.
In the country where I live, Belgium, it is quite rare for a doctor not to disapprove of the Keto diet. Even more, he was very enthusiastic about my blood sugar levels and cholesterol during the past weeks in ketosis.
Thank you again, and I will definitely use this information in the future!
Thank you for your response. As far as I know, there are no liver problems in my family. The abnormal results could be a coincidence, but I am experiencing quite a bit of pain in the liver area, which concerns me.
On the doctor’s advice, Keto is now temporarily on hold, and an ultrasound will be taken soon. Once my liver enzymes normalize, I can return to ketosis.
Thank you. I have also read this study, and that’s why I started eating at least three eggs per day for the past three days.
I remember a video by Dr. Berg on YouTube, where he said that choline is very good for the liver.
If I have read the study correctly, it seems that a small percentage (5%) of people experience elevated liver enzymes during the ketogenic diet. However, there doesn’t seem to be a clear explanation for it.
Thanks again for your reply, it’s much appreciated!
Lots of reasons, fast weight loss also means detoxing a lot of built up crap, your liver is what deals with that, which means elevated enzymes. You’re only 11wks in, you’re still very much changing a lot of stuff, no labs are reliable until you level off a little. Especially cholesterol.
Assuming it was AST/ALT making this claim, what were the numbers? Elevated enzymes do NOT mean you have reduced liver function BTW, it’s a marker of stress on it, big difference. Which again, is pretty normal when you’re cleaning house.
You might also be able to use Milk thistle (silymarin). Of course, you have to find a good supplier. I’m using this now, though I can’t determine whether it’s helping or not.
Should’ve been in my original reply, but I think from a different mindset on here vs other forums. Grab yourself some TUDCA, it’s just shy of liver magic (and a really good supplement for you either way) We use it in the meathead world to drop liver enzymes when our…supplements? Are beating the crap out of it and that’s counteracting a direct beating, let alone something that’s happening as a transient thing.
Well, the liver does most of the fat-burning. It might just be healing, with systems being temporarily out of whack. You are still fat adapting, that will take up to a year. 9 months is about average. That can throw off any temporary reading. Overall, it should not be about readings, but about metabolic function. Having this too high and this too low does not indicate a pathology by design. It might be benign.
Did you consume diet products and stuff with sugar alternatives? They can heavily mess with the liver. Try to focus on REAL FOOD.
Do you feel well? Is your poop looking good? How is your insulin resistance? Focus on actionable metrics. Liver enzymes or Cholesterol readings don’t tell you enough on their own. The variability is massive.
And switch doctors ASAP. The ketogenic diet restores liver function. He’s a moron. But it needs to be a whole foods ketogenic diet. No industrial stuff. Especially no heated seed oils and no foods high in omega-6. No junk food. None. If you want to heal your liver, you preferably want saturated fat from animal sources. That’s what the liver has evolved on, it will go through that stuff in a breeze.
Keto will NOT cause problems with the liver. The doctor must be a complete moron, and simply can’t have the simplest inkling about endocrinology, not even a broad sense of what it might be. I mean, this stuff can be learned and digested within a few hours. There is no way a ketogenic diet would mess with liver enzymes, unless it is a junk food variant.
As far as being higher goes, those are pretty “normal”. You should see what they’d look like after a course of Prednisone! High 200’s - low 300’s easy! It’s not as crazy as it looks, as long as it doesn’t stay that way for a long time.
Right now got some stuff going, sure I’m up there as well!
and that’s counteracting a direct beating, let alone something that’s happening as a transient thing.