Effects of a 12 Week Ketogenic Diet Intervention on Obese and Overweight Females with Glucose and Lipid Metabolism Disturbance.

Background/objectives: We evaluated the effects of a 12-week hypocaloric ketogenic diet (KD) on glucose and lipid metabolism, as well as body mass, in overweight, obese, and healthy-weight females. One hundred adult females completed the study, including 64 obese (97.99 ± 11.48 kg), 23 overweight (75.50 ± 5.12 kg), and 11 with normal body mass (65.93 ± 3.40 kg). All participants followed a KD consisting of less than 30 g of carbohydrates, approximately 60 g of protein, and 140 g of fat per day (80% unsaturated and 20% saturated fat).

Methods: Glucose (Gl), insulin (I), glycated haemoglobin (HBA1c), HOMA-IR, triglycerides (TG), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) were measured before and after the intervention. Additionally, body mass (BM), BMI (Body Mass Index), waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC), and thigh circumference (TC) were recorded.

Results: After 12 weeks of the KD, significant improvements were observed in GL, I, TG, HDL-C, HOMA- across all groups. Also BM, BMI, TC, WC, and HC were significantly reduced in all participants. Notably, obese participants showed greater reductions in all variables compared to overweight and healthy-weight females.

Conclusions: A 12-week KD led to more pronounced improvements in biochemical markers and body mass in obese females compared to other groups. A KD may be particularly beneficial for obese females with hyperglycaemia, hyperinsulinemia, and lipid profile disturbances.