Can Ketogenic Diets Affect The Risk Of Chronic Disease?
Ketogenic dietoften refers to a low-carbohydrate, moderate-protein, high-fat diet. This fuel combination is intended to promote ketosis or form ketone bodies, which serve as an alternative energy source for neurons and other cell types that cannot directly metabolize fatty acids. Urinary ketone levels are frequently used to assess dietary adherence.
Ketogenic dietsmay give short-term relief and assist in managing the management of symptoms in some chronic conditions. Such diets have affected an effect on diet quality, mood, and subjective well-being, but there is no evidence of long-term beneficial effects on metabolic and vascular health. Long-term gains in weight control and other health outcomes have been linked to isocaloric balanced meals.
Does Keto Impact Chronic Disease?
- The ketogenic dietis a biochemical model of fasting or starvation that encourages the use of Ketone Bodies as the primary fuel source in the central nervous system to replace glucose. This may alter the neuropathological and metabolic changes seen in Alzheimer's disease. The ketogenic diet can directly lower amyloid plaque deposition while reversing beta-amyloid toxicity; moreover, Ketone Bodies may protect against beta-amyloid neurotoxicity.
- Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is a dangerous disorder in which excess fat is accumulated in hepatocytes, resulting in steatosis, which can proceed to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis and raise the risk of hepatocellular cancer. Several clinical trials in overweight or obese people compared low-fat and low-carbohydrate hypocaloric diets and found equivalent reductions in intrahepatic fat. Ketogenic diets often increase saturated fat, cholesterol, and animal protein consumption, linked to insulin resistance, oxidative stress, and an increased influx of free fatty acids to hepatocytes. It has been proposed that attaining ketosis may be beneficial in treating fatty liver, although research supporting this claim is few and often restricts calorie intake.
- Long-term evidence on the effects of ketogenic diets on cancer outcomes are few. However, specific ketogenic diet dietary components, such as red and processed meats, have elevated cancer risk. Whole grains, fruits, and vegetables have been associated with a decreased risk of cancer and all-cause mortality; however, except non-starchy vegetables, these items are often avoided on ketogenic diets.
- An essential worry is the effect of low-carbohydrate diets on plasma lipid concentrations. It has long been recognized that any method of weight loss results in a reduction in total cholesterol of roughly 2 mg/dL per kilogram lost and a reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Weighing The Benefits Against The Risks
Ketogenic diets have been recommended for weight loss and, less frequently, for other health reasons. The most well-defined "classic" ketogenic diet is a highly low-carbohydrate diet that is typically medically monitored, with a 4:1 or 3:1 weight ratio of dietary fat to combined dietary protein and carbohydrate. Low-carbohydrate diets" are carbohydrate intakes that are less than the recommended dietary requirement of 130 g/day but are not low enough to cause ketosis.
Ketogenic diets have lower seizure frequency, in particular people with drug-resistant epilepsy. These diets can also help you lose weight, although not as well as other dietary regimens in the long run or when matched for calorie consumption. Ketogenic diets can also reduce blood glucose levels; however, their effectiveness usually wears off after a few months. Extremely low-carbohydrate diets are connected with significant hazards. Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels can grow significantly, at times substantially. Even when folic acid is supplemented, pregnant women on such diets are more likely to have a kid with a neural tube abnormality.
Furthermore, specific diets may raise the risk of chronic disease: Foods and dietary components that typically increase on ketogenic diets (for example, red meat, processed meat, saturated fat) have been linked to an increased risk of chronic kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer's disease, whereas intake of protective foods (for example, vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains) typically decreases. According to current data, the hazards of such diets exceed the benefits for the vast majority of people.
Who Should Avoid Keto Diets?
People with renal damage, those at risk for heart disease, pregnant or nursing women, those with type 1 diabetes, those who have a pre-existing liver or pancreatic issue, and those who have had their gallbladder removed should avoid the keto dietof the hazards involved.
