Ketogenic diets are restrictive diet plans in which people have to feed on high amounts of fat, moderate amounts of protein, and minimal carbohydrates. This nutritional distribution can lead to worry for people suffering from imbalanced cholesterol levels. 

The worry is quite valid since dieters eat up to 80% of calories from fat on a daily basis. This means that you will be eating a lot of fat per day, and in order to meet this daily requirement, you may often end up choosing unhealthy fat sources, which can, in turn, spike up the cholesterol levels in your blood. Some studies also suggest that ketosis leads to lower good cholesterol levels, called high-density lipoprotein(HDL), and also raises bad cholesterol levels, aka low-density lipoproteins(LDL). Hence, keto diets may not be appropriate for all.

Since time there have been a lot of contradicting studies that often conclude different results. Some claims that keto diets are not good for heart patients, with a risk of spiking up their cholesterol levels, while some other claim that the ketogenic diet, in fact, contrary to popular belief, may not be as bad for your cholesterol as many might think. 

At the very bottom line, we can say that whether one’s cholesterol goes up or down solely depends on the quality of the keto diet that one follows. There are different types of keto diets. Hence always choose the one that suits your health conditions. Also, throw a regular visit to your doctor and keep your cholesterol levels under check. And you can make your keto plan work well for you even if you have an increased level of cholesterol.