Ketogenic dieting includes consumption of food with high-fat content, adequate-protein content, and low carbs contents. This type of dieting has beneficial effects on the human body. A Keto diet plan should be strictly followed to avoid any adverse consequences like low blood pressure, constipation, and nutritional deficiencies. The ketogenic diet is contraindicated for patients who have diseases related to pancreas, liver, gallbladder, and thyroid.
Benefits of a keto diet include the following:
1. Increased Memory and Cognition clarity
A ketogenic diet helps in maintaining healthy long term and short term memories. It also helps in increasing the intellectual level and brilliance. These effects are due to altered brain chemistry and controlled blood glucose level that helps improve cognition and memory. Molecular mechanisms behind these benefits are neurons stability, increased activity of mitochondria in the brain cells, and up-regulation of mitochondrial enzymes. In addition to these effects on the brain, the ketogenic diet prevents many brain-related diseases that are fatal and common. These diseases are Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, dementia, and migraines.
The keto diet also causes increases mitochondrial mass by upregulation of mitochondrial genes and genes employed in metabolism. These mechanisms protect against Stroke and neurodegenerative diseases.
2. Controlling Uric Acid levels
It is documented that when a patient with increased uric acid levels starts taking a keto diet, the uric acid level first goes up for 4-6 weeks along with ketone levels. After this, ketone levels in the body keep on rising, but uric acid levels return to previous levels or may fall below even further. The elevated uric acid level is the main cause of kidney stones, gout, and impaired renal functions. The ketogenic diet can help to lower uric acid levels and prevent or treat Gout and Renal stones. Risk factors in these diseases include obesity, high sugar intake, genetics, and dehydration. Ketogenic dieting can also help to eradicate some of these risk factors.
3. Improving Gastrointestinal and Gallbladder Health
A high carbohydrate diet can cause acid reflux and heartburn, bloating, compromised digestion, and increased risk of gall stones. Consuming a low carb diet can prevent these conditions and antagonizes inflammation, bacterial infection, and autoimmune diseases that are the main causes of the conditions given above. Researches have proven that carbohydrates present in the diet are the main substrates that make up the gallstones. A person taking a keto diet can prevent the formation of gallstones by reducing carbohydrate consumption.
Paoli A, Rubini A, Volek J, Grimaldi K. Erratum: Beyond weight loss: a review of the therapeutic uses of very-low-carbohydrate (ketogenic) diets. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2014;68(5):641-641. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23801097
Mohan V, Shilpa J. Ketogenic diets: Boon or bane?. Indian Journal of Medical Research [Internet]. 2018;148(3):251. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6251269/
