In the past, ketogenic diets have been tested on patients suffering from mild cognitive impairment. Yielding promising results, researchers were interested in testing this theory on patients living with more advanced memory dysfunction.

Being the first of its kind, a new study assessed the effects of a ketogenic diet in participants living with Alzheimer’s. This diet was shown to improve symptoms during the course of the trial. Once the intervention was complete, the patients then reverted to baseline.

What is a Ketogenic Diet?

In order to understand how the brain utilizes a ketogenic diet, it is important to first explore what it means to follow a keto diet plan. Based on our understanding of nutrition and physiology, the ketogenic diet alters how your body uses energy. By changing your body’s main fuel source, which is mainly the burning of glucose, this diet favors healthy, dietary fats.

Although this has been a key area of interest for individuals with diabetes and other hormonal imbalances, it is also being explored within neural and cognitive research. When following this diet, individuals:

• Consume high amounts of healthy fats — up to 80 percent of total calories consumed. This includes quality sources of olive and coconut oil; grass-fed butter; nuts and seeds; as well as sources such as avocado and wild caught fish.
• Consume all kinds of non-starchy vegetables, such as dark leafy greens, cucumber, zucchini, asparagus, broccoli, and more. This is because these vegetable varieties are significantly lower in carbohydrates.
• Consume moderate amounts of high-protein (but no- or low-carb) foods, including free-run eggs; wild caught fish; pasture-raised poultry; and grass-fed meat.
• Avoid processed foods; high-sugar foods, including fruit; foods made with grains; conventional desserts; conventional dairy products; and any other food that is high in carbohydrates.

Upon following this type of diet, your body will rely less on glucose. Instead, your liver will begin to produce ketones to be used as an efficient energy source. This also begins to significantly influence blood glucose and insulin levels. Although there are many benefits, while making this transition, you can experience a range of unpleasant symptoms.

There is a term known as the ‘keto flu’ — resulting in symptoms such as fatigue, dizziness, irritability, sugar cravings, nausea, brain fog, and stomach irritability. Lasting around a week, it is imperative that you continue eating high amounts of fat and a low intake of carbs. Increasing your salt and water intake will also be important.

Once you have overcome this initial stage, the benefits appear to be vast. However, since this diet causes significant changes within the body, you should never alter your diet without speaking to your physician. This is particularly true for individuals who currently suffer from any specific medical conditions or concerns.

Study Finds That a Ketogenic Diet May Improve Alzheimer’s Symptoms

From weight loss to blood sugar management, the ketogenic diet may offer therapeutic medical applications. Since it has been shown to improve mental energy and focus, researchers have been interested in this diet’s potential effect on Alzheimer’s.

Within this latest study, published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions, researchers conducted a 3-month, medium-chain triglyceride-supplemented ketogenic diet trial in participants with Alzheimer’s. This was then followed by a 1-month ‘washout’ period.

Observing patients with both mild and moderate Alzheimer’s, those who completed the study improved by 4.1 points on the Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale. It’s important to note that participants with moderate Alzheimer’s withdrew from the study, so these results solely reflect patients with mild Alzheimer’s. Following the 1-month washout period, improvements diminished.

Although these results are promising, more research needs to be conducted based on the small sample size and single-arm structure of this specific clinical trial. Based on these results, however, further ketogenic studies are justified in patients with mild Alzheimer’s.

How a Ketogenic Diet Influences the Brain

For years, fat was viewed as the enemy. The standard American diet has become high in carbs and low in dietary fats, causing health complications to arise. This includes an increase in diabetes, obesity, and even mental disorders, such as anxiety and depression.

Unlike the type of low fat, snacking lifestyle we’re used to, this does not match the lives of our ancestors. For thousands of generations, humans would go extended periods of time without eating, before filling up on gathered animal and plant sources. These meals were rich in fat and low in carbs.

Since our bodies can naturally convert protein into glucose, although we would perish without eating fat or protein, we could survive without consuming any carbohydrates. This could, of course, lead to some negative side effects, but a no-carb diet would not be as detrimental as a zero fat or zero protein diet.

While focusing on the brain, energy is everything. This organ is only 2 percent of our total body weight, but uses 20 percent of our oxygen and 10 percent of our glucose stores just to function. Although our brains utilize glucose as a key source of energy, this energy source is much less efficient in comparison to ketones — it also leads to more free radicals in the brain.

While focusing on Alzheimer’s, the brain begins to lose its ability to use glucose as a reliable energy source. In fact, some areas will be down by 40 percent in regards to glucose metabolism. It is believed that this gap in energy increases one’s risk of cognitive decline.

Being able to use ketones instead of glucose, it is believed that when given a ketogenic supplement, it may be possible to partially restore the supply of brain energy within patients who have mild cognitive impairment. Still in its infancy stages, we will continue to cover the research on Alzheimer’s and ketogenic interventions.

As mentioned, if you are interested in the benefits associated with a ketogenic diet, please speak with your physician. This is especially true if you are currently taking medication for high blood pressure or diabetes, as well as for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.