In April 2025, JACC: Advances published the study, which looked at plaque build-up in 100 otherwise generally healthy people who had experienced an increase in their cholesterol levels while being on a keto diet. The study claimed scans performed one year apart by the company Cleerly showed the diet was not associated with the development of arterial plaques.

Critics began flagging the paper soon after publication, including in a May 2025 letter to the journal that raised other concerns, including “selective reporting” of data, questionable statistical analysis and too short a timeframe for the study. Others noted that one of the paper’s authors, Dave Feldman, is “a software engineer and entrepreneur without a medical license or training, who has devoted himself to all things keto and cholesterol.”

The paper has been retracted after widespread criticism of the study’s methods and claims. The journal found “the identified errors are too great to be corrected with a corrigendum,” according to the March 11 retraction notice.

Source https://retractionwatch.com/2026/05/22/widely-criticized-keto-diet-study-retracted/

Another high-profile case has interested scientists. Read now