How the Keto Diet Works
Although ketogenic diets have been enjoying a wave of popularity in recent years, primarily for weight reduction, they have been in use therapeutically for a century, under carefully controlled conditions, to treat epileptic seizures in children. It’s not clear how a ketogenic diet reduces the hyperexcitability of nerve cells that leads to seizures. But there is mounting evidence that ketogenic diets, used judiciously for short periods, can benefit several systems of the body, especially the brain.
The diet gets its name from ketone bodies, which are metabolites of fat produced in the liver as it breaks down stored body fat for fuel use by the rest of the body. A distinguishing feature of ketone utilization is that insulin is not required to escort ketones into cells, as it is with glucose. Forcing the body to burn fat as fuel gives insulin time off. That restores the body’s sensitivity to insulin, resulting in lowered levels of both insulin and glucose in the blood. That has distinct metabolic benefits for the body, not just lowering weight but also cutting the risk of diabetes and other metabolic disorders and boosting brain function.
What do you eat on a keto diet?
The keto diet generally consists of low-carb vegetables, meat and seafood, dairy, eggs, oils, nuts and seeds, and certain high-fat, low-carb fruits such as avocados or berries. Such foods are combined in various amounts to provide approximately 75 to 90 percent of their calories from fat.
What can you not eat on a keto diet?
Keto dieters should avoid sugars, grains, starchy vegetables (such as potatoes or beets), fruits that are high in carbs or sugar (such as bananas or pears), and most processed foods. Some keto dieters avoid beans and legumes, as they are generally high in carbs, while others eat certain varieties in small amounts.
Consuming a high-fat diet (as in the keto diet) is one way to trigger ketosis, but it is not the only way. Fasting can do it too, as can general carbohydrate restriction. Bouts of extreme exercise and excess alcohol intake can also result in ketosis.
What is intermittent fasting?
Intermittent fasting refers to the practice of alternating periods of food consumption with periods of fasting, where either no calories or much fewer calories than normal are consumed. Some plans alternate between fast and non-fast days; others restrict eating to specific periods each day, with the rest of the time dedicated to fasting.
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How the Brain Benefits From Keto Diets
Glucose is the brain’s preferred source of fuel because it’s fast. But glucose is inefficient; it doesn’t burn clean. Debris accumulates in the mitochondria, the fuel furnaces of cells. And glucose generates free radicals of oxygen, which progressively damage cells. Oxidative stress also leads to the buildup of toxic proteins that are the hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. Over time, the processes that power brain cells lose efficiency, setting the stage for cognitive decline. The same processes may contribute to other psychiatric disorders, such as depression.
During periods of ketosis, by contrast, glucose is not available, and brain cells must call on fat as their back-up fuel; as a result, they get a more efficient source of energy. Oxidative damage to brain cells is curbed. Turning to ketones intermittently also resets the machinery of glucose utilization and insulin sensitivity, and it stimulates cell-renewal processes. Memory and mental processing speed are maintained.
Does the keto diet improve mood?
Can the keto diet help me sleep?
Can the keto diet protect against cognitive decline?
Some experts believe that the best way to retain cognitive capacity into old age is through periodic ketogenesis, but not necessarily triggered by the keto diet. Instead, evidence supports intermittent fasting, especially that which confines food consumption to an 8- to 12-hour window during the day and restricts intake, especially of carbohydrates, for 12+ hours overnight.
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