Let's Settle This: Is The Keto Diet Bad For The Environment?

The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, low-carb eating plan designed to help your body reach a state of ketosis, in which it burns fat as opposed to sugar. While there are ways to customize it, the classic keto diet calls for a lot of protein from animal products like beef, salmon, and eggs. Considering meat's high environmental impact1, you might be wondering if you can try the diet while remaining true to your sustainable values. Here's what the research says on whether the keto diet is actually bad for the planet:

The objective of a ketogenic diet is to help the body use fuel more efficiently. Think about it this way: When your car gets better gas mileage, it winds up using less gas. The same can be true for us: On the keto diet, we get more mileage out of the food we consume, and therefore we end up eating less. One 2015 meta-analysis found that the keto diet suppresses appetite2, causing us to consume fewer unnecessary calories.

For those of us who aren't ready to take on a vegan keto diet just yet, here are a few ways to further lesson the environmental impact of the diet:

Step one: Buy dairy products from environmentally friendly farms that are committed to some basic principles of sustainability. This means making sure your milk and cheese are antibiotic-free (growth hormone called rbST is often given to cows in the United States, even though it's been banned in other countries), and USDA certified organic. If they're from a local farm, even better!

You don’t have to cut red meat entirely out of your keto diet, but limiting it will certainly help the environment. Think of it as a special treat and opt for grass-fed, regeneratively grown meat when you can.

Moral of the story: No matter what kind of diet you choose, there will always be a way to minimize its impact on the environment.