The keto or ketogenic diet is characterized by being high in fat and low in carbohydrates, which leads to the generation of ketones, a type of chemical substance produced by the liver when it breaks down fats. Typically, people on a keto diet get 70% to 80% of their calories from fat and only 5% to 10% from carbohydrates. Although this dietary pattern improves certain health conditions and has become popular among people who want to lose weight, reduce blood sugar levels or improve their sports performance, pro-inflammatory effects have also been reported.
In fact, it may have advantages or disadvantages depending on the type of diet and its duration, as well as the individual characteristics of the patient, since a new study led by researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio) has revealed that following a ketogenic diet continuously over the long term can induce senescence or aging of cells in normal tissues, with effects on heart and kidney function in particular.
However, an intermittent ketogenic diet that included a planned ketogenic break did not show any pro-inflammatory effects due to aging cells, according to the research. The findings have important clinical implications suggesting that the benefits of a ketogenic diet could be enhanced with planned breaks.
Relationship between the ketogenic diet and the increase in senescent cells
The research was led by Dr. David Gius, assistant dean for research and professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine at UT Health San Antonio, and associate director of cancer for translational research at the institution’s Mays Cancer Center. He and his team investigated the effects of the ketogenic diet on p53, a powerful cancer-fighting protein whose function is to orchestrate cellular senescence, telling stressed and rebellious cells to stop dividing before they cause problems. .
They discovered the relationship between the keto diet and senescence by giving mice a ketogenic diet in which around 90% of the calories came from fat, while a control group of rodents consumed foods in which fat provided only 17%. % of calories. After the mice were on these diets for 7 or 21 days, the researchers analyzed tissue samples from their hearts, kidneys, livers, and brains and found that levels of the p53 protein increased in the animals fed the ketogenic diet. The scientists also detected an increase in other molecules that indicate the presence of senescent cells.
We’re not saying the diet is bad, but, as with other nutritional interventions, you need to ‘take a keto break’
They then tested whether the cells disappeared after switching the mice to a normal diet and found that after a three-week pause, the level of senescent cells had almost returned to normal. Gius and his colleagues also investigated the effects of taking a temporary break from the ketogenic regimen, the so-called intermittent diet. They gave the mice a high-fat food for four days, allowed them to eat normal food for seven days, and then repeated the cycle two more times. Senescent cells did not accumulate in these rodents, an analysis of the animals’ organs showed. The findings have been published in the journal Science Advances.
“As cellular senescence has been implicated in the pathology of organic diseases, our results have important clinical implications for understanding the use of a ketogenic diet,” Gius said. Although the effects have not been replicated in humans, Gius notes that the results They can serve as a warning for people following ketogenic regimens. “We’re not saying the diet is bad,” he says, but, “As with other nutritional interventions, you need to ‘take a keto break,'” he concludes.
