Keto Clarity: Your Definitive Guide to the Benefits of a Low-Carb, High-Fat Diet (48 page)

The human brain is operating at its most efficient in an effective state of ketosis, which is increasingly being examined by researchers as a viable means of addressing—and possibly preventing or reversing—premature cognitive decline, dementia, and even Alzheimer’s. It is well understood by neurologists that dietary fat in the absence of sugar and starch is enormously stabilizing to the human brain and nervous system, potentially even enhancing cerebral blood flow by a whopping 39 percent!

– Nora Gedgaudas

There is a strong theoretical basis for putting a patient with Alzheimer’s on a low-carb, high-fat diet as a means for preventing the further progression of AD because the inflammation caused by gluten, carbohydrates, and high blood glucose levels has been associated with the development of this disease. Additionally, ketone bodies are readily taken in by the brain as an alternative fuel source when glucose is not present. In fact, the idea of delivering ketones instead of glucose to the brain to treat dementia-related diseases has led to the development of a new medical food called Axona. A randomized, controlled clinical trial showed that over a period of ninety days, increased blood ketone levels led to a slight improvement in brain function in patients with dementia, which, without treatment, almost invariably leads to Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s.

Dr. Mary Newport knows a thing or two about Alzheimer’s disease. Her husband, Steve, was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s at the age of fifty-one, and she quickly became frustrated by the lack of meaningful therapies to help slow its progression, much less reverse the damage that had already been done. But when Dr. Newport started feeding Steve large amounts of coconut and MCT oil while cutting out carbohydrate-based foods like bread, rice, and pasta, he started to “climb out of the Alzheimer’s abyss.” She shares the details of Steve’s miraculous turnaround in her book
Alzheimer’s Disease: What If There Was a Cure?

Dr. Newport’s experience isn’t isolated. She has heard from hundreds of caregivers whose Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and dementia patients have found varying levels of improvements following the same protocol that she did. Some of these patients have been stable for upwards of four years because they found success in ketosis. Thanks to a grant from a private foundation, a clinical study is already underway at the University of South Florida to examine the impact of coconut oil–induced ketosis on Alzheimer’s. Results from this study could help further the efficacy of the ketogenic diet in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.

I find the evidence that the brain prefers ketone bodies for fuel quite compelling. In addition, the fact that ketones are involved in lowering oxidative stress throughout the body begins to explain some of the remarkable improvements we see in health when folks switch to a ketogenic diet.

– Dr. Jay Wortman

The mechanisms of Parkinson’s disease are extremely similar to those of Alzheimer’s, which is why diet is also theorized to be an effective treatment for Parkinson’s. In an uncontrolled clinical study published in the February 22, 2005, issue of the journal
Neurology,
five patients who followed a very low-carb (2 percent of calories), very high-fat (90 percent of calories) diet for twenty-eight days showed improvement as measured by the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale. Their balance improved, their tremors and shaking ceased, and their overall mood was much happier. The brain loves ketones, especially when it has become impaired by Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s.

Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, and Other Mental Illnesses

As a neuroscientist, I find the most interesting beneficial aspects of being in ketosis to be the cognitive benefits. The research supports a general enhancement in things like short-term memory, verbal memory, and mood. Ketones have neuroprotective properties, which mean they protect your brain cells. They provide a clean-burning energy source, increase antioxidants, and decrease inflammation.

– Bryan Barksdale

Interestingly, it is being theorized that the root cause of many mental illnesses isn’t in the brain: it’s in the gut. Poor gut health can be brought on by a high-carb, grain-based diet; an overuse of antibiotics; common over-the-counter drugs; and even the state of your mother’s gut health when you were born. A low-carb, high-fat, ketogenic diet gives you a fighting chance to improve your mental health by stabilizing your brain chemistry through the changes made in the gut.

The possible link between gluten, a substance found in grains, and schizophrenia was first suspected when researchers noticed that there were fewer hospitalizations for this condition during World War II, when grains were rationed. In 1965, an uncontrolled clinical study showed that a ketogenic diet could decrease schizophrenia symptoms. And a more recent case study (whose researchers included my coauthor, Dr. Eric Westman) published in the February 26, 2009, issue of the journal
Nutrition & Metabolism
found that schizophrenic symptoms resolved after a ketogenic diet was begun for weight loss. There are also two other case studies showing that bipolar disorder similarly improves on a ketogenic diet.

Because of my interest in neuroscience, I am most impressed with the ability of a ketogenic diet to improve brain function. This is not just true for people with obvious brain disorders—it also applies to those who are quite healthy. In this complex world full of daily stresses, getting a leg up when it comes to brain function can improve your life in a multitude of ways. On the other hand, if you want to guarantee declining brain function, I suggest sticking with the Standard American Diet!

– Dr. Bill Wilson

When Hollywood actress Catherine Zeta-Jones checked herself into a clinic for help in dealing with her bipolar II disorder in 2011 and again in 2013, it shone a spotlight on this very serious mental condition. Depression and manic episodes are the hallmarks of bipolar disorder (bipolar I disorder tends to involve more obvious fits of full-blown mania, while bipolar II disorder can be milder in nature but still life-altering). Its primary treatment tends to be the exact same anticonvulsant medications that are also used to treat epilepsy. And as you learned in the previous chapter, a ketogenic diet was traditionally used to treat epileptic seizures. Could a low-carb, moderate-protein, high-fat nutritional approach help bipolar disorder as well?

The answer to that question is not as definitive as we might hope. Fueling the brain with ketone bodies instead of glucose should, theoretically, reduce the activity of neurotransmitters, helping to stabilize mood. But in an Israeli case study published in the February 2002 issue of the medical journal
Bipolar Disorders
, a bipolar patient who was nonresponsive to medication was put on a ketogenic diet for one month. Doctors even added MCT oil to the diet to help boost ketone production. But the patient saw no improvement.

The latest science is showing how ketone bodies provide better focus, less anxiety, and improved overall mental health.

– Maria Emmerich

That doesn’t really prove that the ketogenic diet does not help bipolar disorder, and there are plenty of anecdotal success stories being reported all across the Internet. More significantly, in a case study published in the October 2013 issue of the journal
Neurocase,
two women with bipolar II disorder who maintained a state of ketosis for more than two years both saw better mood stabilization than they had achieved with medication, and they tolerated the diet as a bona fide lifestyle change remarkably well, with no significant adverse effects.

Given the conflicting results of past case studies, a randomized, controlled trial examining the effects of a ketogenic diet on schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and other mental illnesses is sorely needed.

Narcolepsy and Other Sleep Disorders

Concerns about the human brain’s need for carbohydrates are entirely unfounded. If you cease consumption of all carbohydrates in your diet, then you will undoubtedly survive, even thrive, though you may have to endure several weeks of metabolic conversion to fatty acid oxidation, which can cause temporary fatigue.

– Dr. William Davis

Narcolepsy is a serious neurological disorder that leads to excessive daytime sleepiness and “sleep attacks.” Medications may help with some of the sleep issues related to narcolepsy, but they can become less and less effective over time.

In a clinical study published in the June 2004 issue of the medical journal
Neurology,
nine patients with narcolepsy were placed on a low-carb, high-fat, ketogenic diet for a period of eight weeks. One patient was unable to complete the study, but the rest experienced less sleepiness during the day, had fewer sleep attacks, and saw other improvements in the severity of their narcolepsy. The researchers concluded that all these improvements were likely due to lower glucose levels while the study participants were in ketosis.