Ketogenic Diet and Health

Abstract

Carbohydrate-restricted ketogenic diets (KD) were introduced in the mid-19th century as a weight loss method with a resurgence of its use in epilepsy treatment in the 1920’s. Research conducted over the last several years provides evidence that KD’s can confer beneficial effects for several chronic metabolic diseases, including obesity, type-2 diabetes, and polycystic ovary syndrome. In recent years, emerging evidence suggests KD’s may also have therapeutic benefits for some cancers and for neurological conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's' disease, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, and spinal cord injury. Finally, as the physiological mechanisms by which a KD operates become increasingly understood, we speculate that several other health conditions (e.g., autism, cystic fibrosis, COVID-19) that may improve from consuming a KD. The potential to reduce or eliminate long-term pharmaceutical treatments and their potential adverse effects by modifying diet patterns justifies additional research, particularly rigorously conducted clinical trials with long-term follow-up. This brief review describes a selection of the recent studies of KD as applied to chronic metabolic diseases, and provides an estimate of the quality of the evidence for KD’s effects. We also describe and appraise some of the risks and misconceptions attributed to KD which may limit the widespread use of KD’s among physicians and healthcare providers.

The Effect of Nutrition on Aging—A Systematic Review Focusing on Aging-Related Biomarkers

“…The adoption of a KD reduced CVD risk, by improving CVD biomarkers ( Figure 3 ) in T2D patients, and decreased inflammation [ 55 , 73 , 74 , 75 ]. Since inflammation has a role in every facet of CVD pathogenesis [ 76 ] and hs-CRP and WBC count are well-established markers of inflammation and risk factors for CVD [ 77 , 78 ], the decrease of these markers in the CCI indicated that inflammation was diminished after 1 year of intervention.…”

Ketogenic Diet for Cancer: Critical Assessment and Research Recommendations

“…As implied above, KD received its name because this diet induces physiologic ketosis which is manifested by increased concentrations of ketone bodies and decreased glucose and insulin concentrations in blood [21]. KD's beneficial effects have been observed in a range of conditions including epilepsy and other neurologic diseases, obesity, type 2 diabetes, polycystic ovary syndrome, and cardiovascular disease (see [22,23] for a recent review).…”