Keto diet won't leave you hungry, University of Sydney researchers say This diet is perfect for those of us who crack when we're hungry. IT'S a vicious cycle. You try to diet, end up starving and then stuff your face with food. But there is a meal plan that researchers say will actually make you less hungry. Not only will your waistline shrink, you won't find yourself obsessing about biscuits. It is a very low-carb, high-fat diet similar to Atkins. This is the ketogenic low-carbohydrate diet (keto diet), according to a study led by Alice Gibson from the University of Sydney Medical School and published in the journal Obesity Reviews. The very-low-energy diet works in the same way, researchers found, but it is used only in extreme medical situations. The keto diet is a very low-carb, high-fat regime, which works on the idea that when the body is left without carbs to burn for energy, it will switch to burning fat - a metabolic state known as ketosis. Researchers found that those following a keto diet were indeed "less hungry and had a reduced desire to eat," even when their calorie intake was strictly limited. Researchers found that even dieters on a low-calorie regime felt full. "The clinical benefit of a ketogenic diet is in preventing an increase in appetite, despite weight loss ... individuals may indeed feel slightly less hungry (or more full or satisfied)," the report said. Ketosis appears to provide a plausible explanation for this suppression of appetite. The keto diet is similar to Atkins, reducing carb intake to less than 20g a day, but without many other restrictions. Keto diet advocates advise adding a source of saturated or monounsaturated fats to each meal - butter, macadamia nuts, olives, olive oil, peanut butter, seeds, coconut oil, avocado and egg yolks. Dieters should limit their intake of Omega 6 fatty acids (vegetable oils, margarine, nuts) and up their intake of Omega 3 fatty acids (salmon, tuna, shellfish). You won't be reaching for the biscuits ever again. Fattier cuts of meat and poultry are favoured, ideally organic, along with non-starchy vegetables, including broccoli, spinach, mushrooms. Sweeter vegetables, including carrots and capsicums, should be limited, and starchy vegetables, including potatoes, peas, sweet potatoes and squash, avoided. Raw or organic full-fat milk products are recommended, including hard and soft cheeses, unsweetened yoghurt, marscapone and sour cream. Nuts should be soaked and roasted and occasional baking is permitted if nut flours (e.g. almond flour) are used. It certainly sounds like a dream diet, but it has also come under fire from dieticians who say it won't provide all the vitamins you need, and would require additional supplements.