While keto isn’t anything new, more and more research continues to be done showing its benefits, and telling us more about how it works in the body. Let’s take a look at some recent studies and what contributions they’ve made to the growing field of keto research.
1. Carbohydrate Restriction for Type 1 Diabetes
The Society of Metabolic Health Practitioners recently published a position statement on therapeutic carbohydrate reduction for type 1 diabetes in the Journal of Metabolic Health. Nearly 80 percent of adults with type 1 diabetes (T1D) in the US don’t achieve recommended targets for good glycemic control.
The authors of the position statement make the case that therapeutic carbohydrate restriction (TCR) is more effective than the American Diabetes Association’s “carb counting” approach. Moreover, TCR typically improves blood sugar control while allowing people with T1D to use lower doses of insulin, which results in less volatility in blood sugar and reduced risk for dangerous hypoglycemic events.
TCR encompasses a range of carb intake from a strict keto diet to simply reducing carbs, so it can be helpful even if someone prefers not to follow strict keto.
2. Keto for Autism
Researchers are looking at the potential for keto to improve autism spectrum disorder. A review published in Metabolic Brain Disease covers multiple ways by which keto could have a positive impact on some of the underlying issues in autism by addressing energy production in the brain, neurotransmitter function, and other factors.
3. Can Keto Help Anorexia?
A paper published recently in Frontiers in Nutrition notes that there are currently no effective biological treatments for anorexia and makes the case that keto may be helpful for improving this condition by addressing “brain neural energy metabolism and neurotransmitter function.”
This paper adds to the growing body of research in this area, which includes a case series published last year that profiled three subjects with anorexia that had not improved with standard therapies.
Each subject achieved remission of between 1-5 years (at the time of publication) via a ketogenic diet consisting primarily of animal foods, having gained over 40 pounds each and reporting decreased anxiety and improved mental wellbeing.
4. Ketones for Heart Failure
Medical professionals sometimes warn people away from keto diets, based on the fear that eating this way is dangerous for heart health.
Research, however, indicates just the opposite: ketogenic diets and ketones, themselves, are actually beneficial for cardiovascular health and may even be helpful for people with heart failure (in which the heart muscle weakens and is unable to pump blood properly).
A paper published in Frontiers in Pharmacology presented evidence that ketogenic diets and exogenous ketones can support better functioning of cardiac muscle. The authors stated that “ketones can serve as a ‘super fuel’ to promptly replenish energy” in the failing heart muscle.
5. Are Keto Diets Only for Wealthy People?
A criticism sometimes lobbed at keto diets is that they’re expensive and elitist. After all, not everyone can afford grass-finished meats, organic produce, and specialty items like MCT oil, ketone meters, and CGMs (continuous glucose monitors).
But this criticism is based on a false understanding of what keto is really all about: just keeping your carb intake low! Investigative journalist Nina Teicholz (author of the blockbuster book The Big Fat Surprise) set the record straight in a commentary on MDEdge, titled For Richer, for Poorer: Low-Carb Diets Work for All Incomes.
Her commentary profiles several people with limited incomes and difficult personal and socioeconomic circumstances who achieved significant weight loss and impressive transformations in their health by following a keto diet.
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