Ketones can help prevent neurodegenerative disease
The health benefits of metabolizing ketones in place of glucose also plays a huge role in brain disease prevention and management, especially since research has found that the brain loses its ability to metabolize glucose as we age. Chronically fueling the brain with glucose is one way to accelerate this. Like all cells in our body, the cells of the brain can develop insulin resistance, causing the brain to struggle to access fuel, thus forcing an energy crisis.
A starving brain is also not a healthy brain. In fact, research has shown that insulin resistance is a common driver of neurodegenerative diseases. Alzheimer’s has recently been described as Type III diabetes because it is becoming evident that as we age, our brain’s ability to metabolize glucose decreases. This can result in a slew of deficiencies that impair cognitive health. This and other indicators suggest that maybe our brain should not be only metabolizing glucose for fuel, especially for extended periods of time.
Research in neurodegenerative individuals has even demonstrated that keto can improve aspects of brain function such as memory. This is because the insulin resistant brain can still metabolize ketones despite its inability to effectively utilize glucose.
References
- Gustin, Anthony. (2019). Keto Answers Chapter 1. Understanding Keto (p. 68). Four Pillar Health.
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Type:🔴 Tags: Biology / Biochemistry / Nutrition / Medicine Status:☀️