Does the keto diet raise cholesterol?

It may temporarily increase cholesterol.

This is an oversimplified talk and for more detailed data see Dr. Eric Berg’s video on LDL. However, as your fat cells shrink, the fat cell not only releases triglycerides, but cholesterol too. Many people do not know that fat cells are filled with both. The excess cholesterol either has to be eliminated through the liver and gallbladder (bile) or be recycled. This is all a normal process in ketosis; therefore it may increase cholesterol, but it’s a temporary effect.

As the fat cell shrinks, you can burn the triglycerides for fuel but you cannot burn the cholesterol because it is not a fuel source. It is going to be eliminated as you lose weight. As the fat cell is squeezed, the cholesterol is going to increase in the blood and is going to go into the liver and come out with the bile. As long as your liver is healthy and you’re eating a lot of vegetables, and as long as you have enough bile, you are totally fine even if your LDL is high.

The key thing is to make sure that your triglycerides are low because if you are not using your triglycerides as a fuel then there is a problem – you are probably eating too much sugar. When you are on a ketogenic diet and you are doing it correctly, and your triglycerides are low and your HDL and LDL are high, all that means is that you are burning more LDL and there are no bad effects that are going to happen. Just keep your vegetables high and as you come closer to your weight-loss goal, that will level out and come back to normal.