Ketogenic diets and appetite regulation

This review examines recent evidence on how ketogenic diets affect appetite. It reports that ketogenic diets suppress the rise in the hunger hormone ghrelin and in feelings of hunger that is otherwise seen with weight loss from non-ketogenic diets, and that research using exogenous ketones points in the same direction. It also states that the more ketotic participants are, measured by plasma beta-hydroxybutyrate, the smaller the increase in ghrelin and hunger and the larger the increase in satiety peptide release. The exact mechanisms remain to be fully determined.