Source: news.yale.edu<\/p>\n
A ketogenic diet \u2014 which provides 99% of calories from fat and protein and only 1% from carbohydrates \u2014 produces health benefits in the short term, but negative effects after about a week, Yale researchers found in a study of mice.<\/p>\n
The results offer early indications that the keto diet could, over limited time periods, improve human health by lowering diabetes risk and inflammation. They also represent an important first step toward possible clinical trials in humans.<\/p>\n
The keto diet has become increasingly popular as celebrities, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Lebron James, and Kim Kardashian, have touted it as a weight-loss regimen.<\/p>\n
In the Yale study, published in the Jan. 20 issue of Nature Metabolism, researchers found that the positive and negative effects of the diet both relate to immune cells called gamma delta T-cells, tissue-protective cells that lower diabetes risk and inflammation.<\/p>\n
A keto diet tricks the body into burning fat, said lead author Vishwa Deep Dixit of the Yale School of Medicine. When the body\u2019s glucose level is reduced due to the diet\u2019s low carbohydrate content, the body acts as if it is in a starvation state \u2014 although it is not \u2014 and begins burning fats instead of carbohydrates. This process in turn yields chemicals called ketone bodies as an alternative source of fuel. When the body burns ketone bodies, tissue-protective gamma delta T-cells expand throughout the body.<\/p>\n
This reduces diabetes risk and inflammation, and improves the body\u2019s metabolism, said Dixit, the Waldemar Von Zedtwitz Professor of Comparative Medicine and of Immunobiology. After a week on the keto diet, he said, mice show a reduction in blood sugar levels and inflammation.<\/p>\n
But when the body is in this \u201cstarving-not-starving\u201d mode, fat storage is also happening simultaneously with fat breakdown, the researchers found. When mice continue to eat the high-fat, low-carb diet beyond one week, Dixit said, they consume more fat than they can burn, and develop diabetes and obesity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey lose the protective gamma delta T-cells in the fat,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Long-term clinical studies in humans are still necessary to validate the anecdotal claims of keto\u2019s health benefits.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore such a diet can be prescribed, a large clinical trial in controlled conditions is necessary to understand the mechanism behind metabolic and immunological benefits or any potential harm to individuals who are overweight and pre-diabetic,\u201d Dixit said.<\/p>\n
There are good reasons to pursue further study: According to the Centers for Disease Control, approximately 84 million American adults \u2014 or more than one out of three \u2014 have prediabetes (increased blood sugar levels), putting them at higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. More than 90% of people with this condition don\u2019t know they have it.<\/p>\n
\u201cObesity and type 2 diabetes are lifestyle diseases,\u201d Dixit said. \u201cDiet allows people a way to be in control.\u201d<\/p>\n
With the latest findings, researchers now better understand the mechanisms at work in bodies sustained on the keto diet, and why the diet may bring health benefits over limited time periods.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur findings highlight the interplay between metabolism and the immune system, and how it coordinates maintenance of healthy tissue function,\u201d said Emily Goldberg, the postdoctoral fellow in comparative medicine who discovered that the keto diet expands gamma-delta T cells in mice.<\/p>\n
If the ideal length of the diet for health benefits in humans is a subject for later studies, Dixit said, discovering that keto is better in small doses is good news, he said: \u201cWho wants to be on a diet forever?\u201d<\/p>\n
The research was funded in part by grants from the National Institutes of Health.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4242,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[1104,273,139,835,222],"class_list":["post-4241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-weight-loss-gain","tag-carbohydrates","tag-health","tag-keto-diet","tag-ketogenic-diet","tag-researchers"],"yoast_head":"\n