The ketogenic diet.
Why I think eating fewer carbohydrates during the first wave helped me never catch COVID-19.
A THREAD 🧵
The ketogenic diet (keto for short) is a low carb, high fat diet that offers many health benefits.
It involves drastically reducing carbohydrate intake and replacing it with fat. This reduction in carbs puts your body into a metabolic state called ketosis.
When this happens, your body becomes incredibly efficient at burning fat for energy. It also turns fat into ketones in the liver.
Ketone bodies not only work as a fuel substrate but have other physiologically beneficial properties.
jacc.org/doi/10.1016/j.…
I have been eating low-carb for a while now, and have seen these benefits:
- Clearer thinking
- Muscle gain and fat loss
- No sugar cravings
- Ability to fast for long periods of time comfortably
- No dips in energy or mood after meals
- Reduced visceral fat
I also believe it was one major reason I didn't catch C-19 whilst working frontline.
My diabetic parents, who have improved on the keto diet, have also not contracted C-19 so far.
And the emerging science continues to prove my hypothesis.
Infections love blood sugar.
A multicentre retrospective study from China showed that high fasting glucose levels at admission were an independent predictor of increased mortality in patients with COVID-19 who did not have diabetes mellitus.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32647915/
In other words, if you don’t have diabetes but have an increased blood sugar level, you may still be at greater risk of contracting symptomatic COVID-19.
Interestingly, virus aside, blood glucose taken on the admission of those who suffered heart attacks has also been shown to be an independent predictor of long-term mortality in patients with and without known diabetes.
jamanetwork.com/journals/jamai…
A fantastically in-depth study using machine learning went through nearly a quarter-million articles on SARS-CoV-2 and repeatedly noted that elevated blood glucose was a key facilitator in the progression of COVID-19.
frontiersin.org/articles/10.33…
Researchers of the paper state:
“elevations of glucose provide ideal conditions for the virus to evade and weaken the first level of the immune defence system in the lungs, gain access to deep alveolar cells, bind to the ACE2 receptor and enter the pulmonary cells,...
...accelerate the replication of the virus within cells increasing cell death and inducing a pulmonary inflammatory response, which overwhelms an already weakened innate immune system to trigger an avalanche of systemic infections, inflammation...
...and cell damage, a cytokine storm and thrombotic events.”
Chronically raised blood sugar levels can be caused by insulin resistance.
Insulin is a hormone that functions to regulate the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins by enhancing the absorption of blood glucose from the circulation into fat cells, muscles, + the liver.
However, excess blood sugar levels and increased underlying inflammation over a long enough period of time cause the body to not respond to insulin and/or not produce insulin like it once did.
This is insulin resistance.
Obesity, high blood pressure, low cholesterol levels, nonalcoholic fatty liver, cognitive disorders, polycystic ovarian syndrome, and virtually all other common chronic conditions are now widely accepted to be linked to insulin resistance in some way.
nature.com/articles/s4159…
Worldwide, the prevalence of insulin resistance ranges from 15.5 to 46.5%, among adults.
Worrying if you also understand that our immune cells are also regulated by insulin.
bmcendocrdisord.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.11…
It has been known since the late 1970s that T cells and other immune cells express insulin receptors.
jci.org/articles/view/…
A 2018 study showed that insulin and its downstream signalling through its insulin receptor shape adaptive immune function through modulating T cell metabolism.
cell.com/cell-metabolis…
In essence, they found that insulin signalling acted as a stimulatory pathway or “boost” on T cells, driving proliferation, cytokine production, and glycolytic and aerobic metabolism, which ultimately result in strengthening the host's defence against infection.
The researchers go on to say that insulin receptors are essentially worn out and/or don't work as well in people with insulin resistance and may be one important reason for immunocompromisation caused by insulin resistance.
Insulin resistance and higher than normal sugar levels impair the immune system via causing:
- Unenergized T cell response
- Sluggish innate immune response
- Cytokine impairment
- Defects in pathogen recognition
- Inhibition of antibodies
hindawi.com/journals/iji/2…
Both of my parents have type 2 diabetes. To keep them from getting sick, I learned early on how important it was to control their blood sugar levels. To help them, I advised and encouraged them to start the ketogenic diet. I began eating ketogenically too.
The keto diet improves insulin resistance.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35469570/
It also increases blood levels of ketone bodies, acetoacetate, and beta-hydroxybutyrate (ßOHB).
Other than being a fuel, ketone bodies have been shown to exert genetic-level changes that reduce oxidative stress and can display immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory properties.
Before you scroll down any further, if you'd like to know more about keto and other fundamental health changes that may help you stop from getting unwell, then I have written all about it in the book.
Clink on the link to find out more.
callingouttheshots.xyz
There are many proposed ways in which ketone bodies may help reduce the likelihood of infection as well as decrease the resultant inflammatory reaction. These include:
Inhibiting NLRP3/inflammasome activation.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
Increasing T-cell expansion.
Mice on the KD for seven days had better T cell response and displayed a better blood O2 saturation compared to control chow-fed mice.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
Indirectly inhibiting NF-κB.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
Inactivating SARS-CoV-2 spike protein142 (theoretical)
Ketones may act similarly to other biocidal agents that appear to interact with specific parts of the spike protein of some coronaviruses resulting in spike inactivation.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
Upregulating expression of antioxidant genes and directly scavenging free radicals.
β-hydroxybutyrate functions as a direct antioxidant and can inhibit mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) production.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
Closing mitochondrial permeability transition pore.
Mitochondria have pores and these are used by some viruses (including the influenza virus) to promote cell death and disrupt the energy-making process. Ketone bodies can help close these pores.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
Preserving and improving organ function, tissue resistance and tolerance.
In a study of patients with COVID-19 who were ventilated, results showed a significant difference in survival and need for the intensive care unit by those on the KD compared to those on a standard diet.
While working during the pandemic, I felt a little more confident knowing that my blood sugars were stable and my body was producing healthy amounts of ketones.
I am thankful for not squandering it all by eating junk that was handed out on the wards.
It is comforting to read about new studies that prove what I already thought.
“...ketone bodies profoundly impact human T-cell responses. CD4+ , CD8+ , and regulatory T-cell capacity were markedly enhanced, and T memory cell formation was augmented.”
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34151532/
A goes on to conclude,
“Our data suggest a very-low-carbohydrate diet as a clinical tool to improve human T-cell immunity. Rethinking the value of nutrition and dietary interventions in modern medicine is required."
Keto is a fast-mimicking diet.
Fasting is greatly beneficial for our health.
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