Updated
Updated · Gizmodo · May 26
JACC Advances Retracts 100-Patient Keto Artery Study After Data Anomalies Emerge
Updated
Updated · Gizmodo · May 26

JACC Advances Retracts 100-Patient Keto Artery Study After Data Anomalies Emerge

1 articles · Updated · Gizmodo · May 26
  • JACC: Advances withdrew a 2025 paper that had claimed arterial plaque in 100 healthy keto dieters was unrelated to the elevated cholesterol tied to the diet.
  • Coauthor Nicholas Norwitz said the authors themselves sought the retraction after Dave Feldman’s deeper review found anomalies, though critics had challenged the paper’s methods for months.
  • A letter published one month after the study appeared accused the team of selective reporting and weak controls, including comparison subgroups as small as 17 participants.
  • The paper had become a flashpoint in the keto debate because its counterintuitive findings were widely promoted by coauthor Feldman, whom some physicians described as a social media influencer with conflicts.
  • Norwitz, Feldman and colleagues have already posted a preprint reanalyzing the retracted data and are continuing to promote related keto research on X.
How did a flawed study from social media influencers pass peer review at a major cardiology journal?
A retracted keto study claimed high cholesterol was safe. What does the corrected data now reveal about heart plaque?
With AI tools both creating and debunking research, can we still trust the process of scientific discovery?