The researchers have identified a putative mechanism for the benefits in aged male mice on ketogenic or keto diets.
The researchers hypothesised that switching male mice’s diets from a control to a ketogenic one would enhance the signaling across synapses in the brain.
A proof-of-concept study conducted earlier shown that feeding male mice a cyclic ketogenic diet reversed memory deterioration associated with normal aging and decreased their chance of death in midlife. John Newman, MD, PhD, one of the paper’s authors, published it.
Christian González-Billault, a professor at Universidad de Chile and the director of the Geroscience Center for Brain Health and Metabolism (GERO), said to Medical News Today, “We decided to study the effect of the ketogenic diet after reading two seminal papers published in 2017 that showed its beneficial roles in the overall health of aged mice, including brain performance.”
To further explore the previous findings, the researchers maintained 19 male mice, aged 20–23 months, which is considered a “old age” in mice, either on a control diet or a ketogenic diet, cycling with the control diet every other week.
The findings showed that in older animals, the ketogenic diet was linked to reduced blood sugar, enhanced memory, and enhanced motor function. The researchers also demonstrated that the hippocampal area of aged mice’s brains had more plasticity.
We concentrate on older mice since prior research indicated that the influence of diet on juvenile animals was less pronounced and occasionally did not differ significantly from a control diet. These earlier findings imply that preserving resilience in elderly mice and enhancing their physiological processes as they age would be among the diet’s advantageous effects, according to Gonzá lez-Billault.
A ketogenic diet is an excellent fit for foods like fish and shellfish. While salmon has very little carbohydrates, it is high in important minerals including B vitamins and omega-3. Lobster and shrimp are also excellent keto foods.
People who follow the ketogenic diet often eat meat and poultry because of its high fat content and low carb content.
