Impact of Ketogenic Diets in Preventing Relapse in Obesity Management

Low-carb ketogenic diets have become extremely popular because of large weight loss in the short-term. Yet their potential benefits in preventing long-term weight regain have not been assessed in large scale studies. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of a low-carbohydrate (CHO) ketogenic diet, compared with an isocaloric balanced diet, on the maintenance of weight loss. The secondary aim is to investigate the impact of both diets on appetite. Adults with obesity (30\<BMI\<40 kg/m2), will first undergo 4 weeks of a very-low energy diet aimed at inducing 5-10% weight loss and then will be randomized to two different weight maintenance diets for 1 year. One will be a low-CHO ketogenic diet (50 g CHO/day) plant-based (e.g. with less animal protein and more plant-based), and the other a diet following the Norwegian Health Directorate recommendations. Only conventional foods will be used in both diets.