Is Keto a good way to preserve muscle mass?

[Masharak]

The first thing I noticed 1 week after Keto is that I lost a LOT of weight, but I think most of it was water-weight held by earlier diet's carbs. Strength stayed the same and steady fat loss began. However, I am very concerned about losing muscle... Some say keto is a great way to lose fat only and maintain muscle and other sources say otherwise. What's the reality?

[danfleysher]

The first thing I noticed 1 week after Keto is that I lost a LOT of weight, but I think most of it was water-weight held by earlier diet's carbs. Strength stayed the same and steady fat loss began. However, I am very concerned about losing muscle... Some say keto is a great way to lose fat only and maintain muscle and other sources say otherwise. What's the reality?

Hard to tell as there hasn't been any concrete evidence. In general, as long as you eat enough protein, muscle loss will be minimal. The "enough" part is often debated but I recommend 1g/lb of LMM while cutting.

You're likely to lose some muscle while cutting, just how things go.

[Mrpb]

The first thing I noticed 1 week after Keto is that I lost a LOT of weight, but I think most of it was water-weight held by earlier diet's carbs. Strength stayed the same and steady fat loss began. However, I am very concerned about losing muscle... Some say keto is a great way to lose fat only and maintain muscle and other sources say otherwise. What's the reality?

If you're able to maintain strength and volume in the medium rep ranges you won't have to worry about muscle loss.

If you're losing significant strength muscle loss will occur eventually.

[EjnarKolinkar]

Best way to prevent muscle loss dieting is progressive resistance training with a modest deficit and adequate macro goals.

You don't really need to look any deeper than that. If you like keto and perform well on it I would not worry about advantages or disadvantages in terms of LBM retention.

[KyleAnacker]

Hard to tell as there hasn't been any concrete evidence. In general, as long as you eat enough protein, muscle loss will be minimal. The "enough" part is often debated but I recommend 1g/lb of LMM while cutting.

You're likely to lose some muscle while cutting, just how things go.

1g protein per lean mass on Keto is too high i think. That would probably kick you out of ketosis as your body would begin to convert the protein to glucose. Without a steady fuel source (your body will be going back and forth from ketones to glucose), you'll feel really bad/weak and will actually probably lose muscle that way. As per Dr. Jacob Wilson's advice, i think you should focus on 75% fat, 5% carbs, and only 20% protein. That will keep you in ketosis and you won't have to worry about losing muscle because your primary fuel source will be from fat intake and your own body fat. Just my .02. Dr. Jacob Wilson has a really informative video on Youtube all about ketosis. If you look that up he'll probably answer all the questions you may have.