Conclusion – Will You Live Longer on a Ketogenic Diet?
Does the ketogenic diet extend lifespan?
It doesn’t seem to hurt your chances of living longer, and there are signs of positive effects by improving cellular and neuronal functioning.
In today’s world, most westerners are consuming higher carbohydrate diets than what’s been seen in our history. The effects of this drastic change in diet are just beginning to be understood. The research indicates that a high-carbohydrate diet can be damaging.33 So, the idea of modifying one’s diet to eliminate carbohydrates is certainly a logical and tantalizing one.
The signs are promising, but ultimately more research needs to be conducted before we can arrive at a solid conclusion whether eliminating carbohydrates will add years to your life. Further, there are questions about the long-term sustainability and safety of a very low-carbohydrate diet.34,35
A Paleo diet, which is low in sugar, rich with antioxidants, and nutrient dense, is a surefire way to improve your health and help slow down the aging process.36,37 While Paleo diets generally are not considered ‘ketogenic’, a Paleo diet remains on the lower spectrum of carbohydrate intake among popular diets. While the science behind ketogenic diets is only in its infancy, the many positive effects of vegetables, high quality proteins, and healthy fats espoused by the Paleo diet are well documented.
References
[1] Peng C, Wang X, Chen J, et al. Biology of ageing and role of dietary antioxidants. Biomed Res Int. 2014;2014:831841.
[2] Genkinger JM, Platz EA, Hoffman SC, Comstock GW, Helzlsouer KJ. Fruit, vegetable, and antioxidant intake and all-cause, cancer, and cardiovascular disease mortality in a community-dwelling population in Washington County, Maryland. Am J Epidemiol. 2004;160(12):1223-33.
[3] Lee D, Hwang W, Artan M, Jeong DE, Lee SJ. Effects of nutritional components on aging. Aging Cell. 2015;14(1):8-16.
[4] Heilbronn LK, Ravussin E. Calorie restriction extends life span--but which calories?. PLoS Med. 2005;2(8):e231.
[5] Nankervis SA, Mitchell JM, Charchar FJ, Mcglynn MA, Lewandowski PA. Consumption of a low glycaemic index diet in late life extends lifespan of Balb/c mice with differential effects on DNA damage. Longev Healthspan. 2013;2(1):4.
[6] Luvano-contreras C, Chapman-novakofski K. Dietary advanced glycation end products and aging. Nutrients. 2010;2(12):1247-65.
[7] Martin B, Mattson MP, Maudsley S. Caloric restriction and intermittent fasting: two potential diets for successful brain aging. Ageing Res Rev. 2006;5(3):332-53.
[8] Lv M, Zhu X, Wang H, Wang F, Guan W. Roles of caloric restriction, ketogenic diet and intermittent fasting during initiation, progression and metastasis of cancer in animal models: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS ONE. 2014;9(12):e115147.
[9] Balietti M., Casoli T., DiStefano G., Giorgetti B., Aicardi G., Fattoretti P. (2010a). Ketogenic diets: an historical antiepieptic therapy with promising potentialities for the aging brain. Ageing Res. Rev. 9, 273–279.
[10] Paoli A, Bosco G, Camporesi EM, Mangar D. Ketosis, ketogenic diet and food intake control: a complex relationship. Front Psychol. 2015;6:27.
[11] Baranano K. M., Hartman A. L. (2008). The ketogenic diet: uses in epilepsy and other neurologic illnesses. Curr. Treat. Options Neurol. 10, 410–419.
[12] Gano LB, Patel M, Rho JM. Ketogenic diets, mitochondria, and neurological diseases. J Lipid Res. 2014;55(11):2211-28.
[13] Cullingford TE, Eagles DA, Sato H. The ketogenic diet upregulates expression of the gene encoding the key ketogenic enzyme mitochondrial 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA synthase in rat brain. Epilepsy Res. 2002;49(2):99-107.
[14] Navarro A, Boveris A. Brain mitochondrial dysfunction in aging, neurodegeneration, and Parkinson's disease. Front Aging Neurosci. 2010;2
[15] Bough K. J., Wetherington J., Hassel B., Pare J. F., Gawryluk J. W., Greene J. G., Shaw R., Smith Y., Geiger J. D., Dingledine R. J. (2006). Mitochondrial biogenesis in the anticonvulsant mechanism of the ketogenic diet. Ann. Neurol. 60, 223–23510.
[16] Xu K., Sun X., Eroku B. O., Tsipis C. P., Puchowicz M. A., LaManna J. C. (2010). Diet-induced ketosis improves cognitive performance in aged rats. Adv. Exp. Med. Biol. 662, 71–75.
[17] Yang X., Cheng B. (2010). Neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory activities of ketogenic diet on MPTP-induced neurotoxicity. J. Mol. Neurosci. 42, 145–153.
[18] Yao J., Chen S., Mao Z., Cadenas E., Brinton R. D. (2011). 2-Deoxy-D-glucose treatment induces ketogenesis, sustains mitochondrial function, and reduces pathology in female mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. PLoS ONE 6, e21788.
[19] Krikorian R, Shidler MD, Dangelo K, Couch SC, Benoit SC, Clegg DJ. Dietary ketosis enhances memory in mild cognitive impairment. Neurobiol Aging. 2012;33(2):425.e19-27.
[20] Edwards C, Copes N, Bradshaw PC. D-ß-hydroxybutyrate: an anti-aging ketone body. Oncotarget. 2015;6(6):3477-8.
[21] Yudkoff M, Daikhin Y, et al. Response of brain amino acid metabolism to ketosis. Neurochem Int. 2005;47(1–2):119–128.
[22] Wolf G. Calorie restriction increases life span: a molecular mechanism. Nutr Rev. 2006;64(2 Pt 1):89–92.
[23] Mccarty MF, Dinicolantonio JJ, O'keefe JH. Ketosis may promote brain macroautophagy by activating Sirt1 and hypoxia-inducible factor-1. Med Hypotheses. 2015;85(5):631-9.
[24] Masoro EJ. Dietary restriction and aging. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1993;41(9):994-9.
[25] Cosgrove MC, Franco OH, Granger SP, Murray PG, Mayes AE. Dietary nutrient intakes and skin-aging appearance among middle-aged American women. Am J Clin Nutr. 2007;86(4):1225-31.
[26] Schagen SK, Zampeli VA, Makrantonaki E, Zouboulis CC. Discovering the link between nutrition and skin aging. Dermatoendocrinol. 2012;4(3):298-307.
[27] Zhou W, Mukherjee P, Kiebish MA, Markis WT, Mantis JG, Seyfried TN. The calorically restricted ketogenic diet, an effective alternative therapy for malignant brain cancer. Nutr Metab (Lond). 2007;4:5.
[28] Manninen AH. Metabolic effects of the very-low-carbohydrate diets: misunderstood "villains" of human metabolism. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2004;1(2):7-11.
[29] Seyfried TN, Marsh J, Shelton LM, Huysentruyt LC, Mukherjee P. Is the restricted ketogenic diet a viable alternative to the standard of care for managing malignant brain cancer?. Epilepsy Res. 2012;100(3):310-26.
[30] Rho J. M., Stafstrom C. E. (2011). The ketogenic diet: what has science taught us? Epilepsy Res.
[31] Henderson S. T., Vogel J. L., Barr L. J., Garvin F., Jones J. J., Costantini L. C. (2009). Study of the ketogenic agent AC-1202 in mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial. Nutr. Metab. (Lond.) 6, 31.
[32] Maalouf M., Rho J. M., Mattson M. P. (2009). The neuroprotective properties of calorie restriction, the ketogenic diet, and ketone bodies. Brain Res. Rev. 59, 293–315.
[33] Myles IA. Fast food fever: reviewing the impacts of the Western diet on immunity. Nutr J. 2014;13:61.
[34] Masino, S. A., M. Kawamura, C. A. Wasser, L. T. Pomeroy, and D. N. Ruskin. 2009. Adenosine, ketogenic diet and epilepsy: The emerging therapeutic relationship between metabolism and brain activity. Current Neuropharmacology 7(3):257–268.
[35] Dashti HM, Mathew TC, Hussein T, et al. Long-term effects of a ketogenic diet in obese patients. Exp Clin Cardiol. 2004;9(3):200-5.
[36] Pitt CE. Cutting through the Paleo hype: The evidence for the Palaeolithic diet. Aust Fam Physician. 2016;45(1):35-8.
[37] Masharani U, Sherchan P, Schloetter M, et al. Metabolic and physiologic effects from consuming a hunter-gatherer (Paleolithic)-type diet in type 2 diabetes. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2015;69(8):944-8.
