I've got to say, pretty frustrating seeing answers like this. It just completely ignores all the real, valid difficulty that people have in fighting obesity. If you "just" follow this diet, that requires discipline, strong will, buying correct supplies, 2h of cooking a day, measuring, counting, adhering to strict eating timeline, for months (years for some people), you'll be golden! There is plenty of research into behaviour changes with obesity and mechanisms that prevent good decision making etc - apart from just the practicality of all of the above in one's daily life with work, kids...
I see in other replies that you've had success in losing weight, and congratulations - but that doesn't mean it can work for everyone else.
I don't look at any kind of "pill solution" lightly, and absolutely think lifestyle changes should be made as well - but I can definitely see how medication like this can help get people on track and get back control. It's very encouraging to hear about psychological effects in terms of self-control, decision making etc. I'm just worried that we'll discover serious negative side-effects before too long, as with previous attempts.
Cutting carbs only helps to the extent you’ve reduced calorie intake.
People drop their calories too low, and then they take a cheat week after a year or so where they eat pasta, and suddenly they feel a lot better and they’re back to eating more calories and back to gaining weight, leading to yo-yo dieting, which may even be worse than just having a higher than healthy but static weight.
That’s not true - the ketogenic diet is not a calorie restriction diet. It was invented early last century by a medical doctor to simulate fasting and treat epilepsy in children. Low calorie diet lead to yo-yo dieting which is not the case for keto were you are allowed to eat enough calories to be satiated. The binge eating comes for the oscillating glucose and insulin levels driven by the consumption of refined carbs. Carb addiction is the problem and that’s the root cause we should be addressing to stop the metabolic health epidemic that has only been getting worse despite all the pharma profits.
I’ve done keto a couple times in the past, even back when it was called Atkins. It absolutely was a calorie deficit diet since it was difficult to eat that many calories consistently to go over my BMR for more than a few days at a time.
Friends doing it also had the same experience as I did.
Not saying it isn’t as advertised, but everyone on it I knew (n=14 or so) was getting results from fewer calories after we all decided to start carefully logging food intake.
It’s a great diet that works, but via other mechanisms for many vs ketosis.
It’s still a restriction diet that poses a lot of challenges for most to remain consistent with on a long term basis.
I see in other replies that you've had success in losing weight, and congratulations - but that doesn't mean it can work for everyone else.
I don't look at any kind of "pill solution" lightly, and absolutely think lifestyle changes should be made as well - but I can definitely see how medication like this can help get people on track and get back control. It's very encouraging to hear about psychological effects in terms of self-control, decision making etc. I'm just worried that we'll discover serious negative side-effects before too long, as with previous attempts.