Changes

There is no established definition of what constitutes a low carbohydrate diet beyond the idea that they all have some type of restriction on carbohydrate intake. Therefore I will classify low carbohydrate diets as "Carbohydrate Optimization Diets", "Non-Ketogenic Low Carbohydrate Diets", "Ketogenic Diets", and "Extreme Calorie Restriction Diets", as well as the baseline "Standard American Diet". The specific diets can then be mapped into these categories.

{{Skeleton}}

=Low Carbohydrate Classifications=

* '''Standard American Diet (SAD)'''. This is the baseline from which the diets can generally be compared. The SAD is generally high in carbohydrates, and includes carbohydrate sources such as refined sugars and refined grains.

* '''Ketogenic Low Carbohydrate Diets (KLCD)'''. A ketogenic diet restricts both carbohydrate and protein intake so that the body metabolizes fat to produce ketones. There is no established definition of what level of ketones are required for a diet to be considered ketogenic. (Fasting ketone levels are typically ~0.3 on the SAD [Effects of a high-protein ketogenic diet on hunger, appetite, and weight loss in obese men feeding ad libitum].) Also, because it takes time to adjust to a ketogenic diet, I do not consider a diet to be a 'ketogenic diet' even if it elevates ketone levels for less than two weeks. A ketogenic diet should only be started under medical supervision. A Ketogenic diet is sometimes referred to as a Low Carbohydrate Ketogenic Diet or LCKD.

* '''Extreme Calorie Restriction Diets'''. These diets are intended to treat severe obesity by dramatically reducing calorie intake.

==Low Carbohydrate Diets==

The table below maps some specific diets into the classifications described above.

| Yes

|}

* '''Standard American Diet (SAD)'''. This is the baseline from which the diets can generally be compared. The SAD is generally high in carbohydrates, and includes carbohydrate sources such as refined sugars and refined grains.

* '''Food Avoidance Diets'''. There are a number of dietary modifications that avoid the specific types of food. Examples would be a gluten-free diet, or diet that avoids sugars such as fructose. These specific Food Avoidance Diets can be combined with other types of diet. For instance, a Low Glycemic Index Diet could also be gluten-free.

* '''Cyclic Ketogenic Diet (CKD)'''. Like the Targeted Ketogenic Diet, this diet also comes from Lyle McDonald's book. As the name suggests, this TKD cycles between periods of a ketogenic diet with periods of high carbohydrate intake<ref name="McDonald1998-P128"/>. McDonald suggests 5-6 days of the ketogenic diet and 1-2 days of a high carbohydrate diet, although he indicates that other periods could be used. As McDonald acknowledges, there is no evidence to indicate how this cycling between ketogenic and non-ketogenic will affect [[Ketoadaptation]]. More importantly, it is unclear how the CKD might change the [[Health Risks of the Ketogenic Diet]].

* '''[[MCT Diet]].''' This is a variant of the traditional diet that uses Medium Chain Triglycerides ([[MCT]]) that produces more ketones than other oils. The MCD Diet is typically only used for the treatment of epilepsy.

* '''Low Glycemic Index Treatment (LGIT).''' The LGIT restricts the carbohydrate intake to only those foods with a [[Glycemic Index]] of less than 50<ref name="Kossoff-2011-3230"/>. However, the LGIT is more than just restricting the glycemic index, and requires a fat intake of 60% with a [[Ketogenic Ratio]] of 1:1. The LGIT is similar to the MAD and restricts carbohydrates to 40-60 grams/day.

* '''[[Ketogenic Ratio Diet]]'''. The [[Ketogenic Ratio]] is commonly used to construct a diet to treat drug resistant epilepsy. The ketogenic diet measures the ratio of grams of fat to the grams of protein plus net carbohydrates. For example a 4:1 diet has 4 grams of fat to each gram of carbohydrate or protein. However, this ratio is slightly misleading, as there are other constraints on the diet. By tightly controlling the overall calorie intake and <span style='color:#FF0000'>XXXXX</span>

* '''Starvation'''. This is not actually a diet so much as a condition. During extreme calorie intake diets the body will burn the stores of body fat and produce ketones. However, once those body fats become depleted then the body will change to burning the protein from muscle and other tissues. At this point ketosis will end and the protein will be converted to glucose. This is sometime seen in children on the Ketogenic diet who have insufficient body fat; if they get too few calories from fat they may drop out of ketosis and suffer breakthrough seizures.

{{KetoSeeAlso}}

=References=

<references>