The initial phase of the diet is very low carb, which is designed to get your body into fat burning mode as quickly as possible. (freedieting.com)
If you use another sweetener such as honey, maple syrup or coconut sugar it is still healthy but will not put you in fat burning mode as there would be too much sugar. (drjockers.com)
And weight gain or difficulty losing weight is a huge side effect of mitochondrial dysfunction because your body is in resource conservation mode, not fat burning mode. (maryvancenc.com)