For some time now, scientists have suspected that the ketogenic diet might be the answer to managing and easing symptoms of autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis and lupus.
Research has pointed to the possibility that the keto diet could calm the overactive immune system responsible for these diseases.
Now, we have reason to believe this could be true.
And, like so many crucial things in our bodies, it comes from the gut.
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An important way keto changes the gut
On the Keto diet, carbohydrate-rich foods like bread, pasta, fruit and sugar are severely restricted, but you’re allowed unlimited fat consumption.
Without carbohydrates to use as fuel, the body breaks down fat instead, producing compounds called ketone bodies. Ketone bodies provide energy for cells to burn.
They can also change the immune system.
Researchers at UC San Francisco found that the keto diet attenuated symptoms of multiple sclerosis in experiments involving mice. The key was the production of two factors in the guts of the mice.
One of these is a ketone body called beta-hydroxybutyrate (βHB).
The researchers found that mice that produced more βHB had less severe disease.
But βHB alone didn’t cause the improvement. It merely set off a chain reaction that ended with fewer symptoms.
The presence of βHB triggered the bacterium Lactobacillus murinus, already present in the gut, to produce a metabolite called indole lactic acid (ILA).
In turn, ILA blocked the activation of T helper 17 immune cells, which are involved in MS and other autoimmune disorders.
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Supplementing with βHB may be the answer
So, if βHB is the key to blocking immune cells from triggering autoimmune symptoms, what happens if your body can’t produce βHB?
The UCSF researchers have answered that question, too.
Some mice on the keto diet were unable to produce βHB in their intestines. Their inflammation was more severe. But when their diets were supplemented with βHB, the mice got better.
“What was really exciting was finding that we could protect these mice from inflammatory disease just by putting them on a diet that we supplemented with these compounds,” says Dr. Peter Turnbaugh, a UCSF Professor of Microbiology and Immunology.
But he cautions that the supplement approach still needs to be tested in people.
“The big question now is how much of this will translate into actual patients. But I think these results provide hope for the development of a more tolerable alternative to helping those people than asking them stick to a challenging and restrictive diet.”
Want to give the keto diet a try?
It’s not for everyone. But it is, at its core, an anti-inflammatory diet, and that could benefit pretty much anyone. You can find specifics about the keto diet here. Other anti-inflammatory diets include the Green Mediterranean diet and the Alkaline diet.
Beta-hydroxybutyrate supplements are readily available and WebMD reports they are typically used for dry eye, athletic performance, migraine, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson.
However, side effects may include stomach upset, diarrhea, constipation, especially if high doses are used.
Lactobacillus murinus isn’t typically found in probiotics, but a diet that includes fiber and prebiotics should help the amount already in your gut thrive.
Sources:
How the Keto Diet Could One Day Treat Autoimmune Disorders — UC San Francisco
A diet-dependent host metabolite shapes the gut microbiota to protect from autoimmunity — Cell Reports
Ketogenic diets alter gut microbiome in humans, mice — Medical Express
Ketogenic Diets Alter the Gut Microbiome Resulting in Decreased Intestinal Th17 Cells — Cell
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