HOW A KETOGENIC DIET CAN BOOST YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM

 The coronavirus definitely makes us feel a little helpless. We feel like we can just sit at home and wait to get infected. It can be assumed that the best thing you can do to prevent infection and relieve symptoms is to just be as healthy as possible - apart from washing your hands often!

Find out what science is saying about nutrition, the immune system, and why the keto diet may offer unique immune-boosting benefits when compared to other diets.

Can keto or other diets affect your immune system?

The most effective cold and flu prevention tips may be common knowledge, but what are the causes of the foods you eat regularly? As it turns out, scientific studies have found that diet affects your immune function in several ways.

For example:
• A lack of nutrients in your diet increases the risk of infection.
• Insulin resistance from overeating carbohydrates increases inflammation and changes the way your immune system works.
• Including microbiome-enhancing probiotics and fermented foods in your diet can lower the risk of infection, reduce the severity of the disease, or help you recover faster.
• Obesity, especially excessive belly fat, can lower immune function and increase the risk of infection.

Basically, research suggests that a balanced diet that isn't high in carbohydrates or calories is fantastic for your overall health and immune function.

Read on for new and exciting insights into the keto diet and your immune system.

What science says about the ketogenic diet and your immune system

Keto can boost your immune system to fight viruses

In a flu study conducted at Yale University in 2019, researchers came across a surprising result: mice that were given a keto diet had a higher survival rate compared to mice that ate a diet high in carbohydrates.

Akiko Iwasaki and her colleagues published their research in the peer-reviewed journal Science Immunology.

For the purposes of the experiment, the scientists divided mice into two groups, one on a low-carb, ketogenic diet and the other on a much higher-carb diet.

After an infection with the influenza virus, the “keto diet mice” not only had a higher probability of survival but also better lung function.

Iwasaki and colleagues found that the lungs of mice on the keto diet were less affected by the flu and that the ketogenic diet gave the lung cells of infected mice more energy to fight the infection.

As a result, the mice on the keto diet produced more gamma-delta T cells, protective, mucus-producing immune cells that helped increase their survival rate.

While it is not yet 100% certain whether keto has similar anti-flu effects in humans, the study's authors believe the likelihood is high.

The ingestion of exogenous ketones did not work in the mice, which is why the researchers suspect that humans, like the mice, must achieve ketosis to achieve immune-boosting effects.

Insulin resistance and infection

It is common knowledge that poor insulin sensitivity and high blood sugar increase your risk of certain diseases, but did you know that infectious diseases can actually cause insulin resistance?

In a study in middle-aged men, low-level chronic infections not only increased inflammation but also decreased insulin sensitivity. And other research shows that even short-term viral or bacterial infections can impair your body's ability to use glucose correctly.

What does it all mean? We know that metabolic problems like insulin resistance are undesirable. Fortunately, the keto diet can help improve your insulin sensitivity and give insulin-resistant cells the energy they need to do their job properly.

Beta-hydroxybutyrate reduces inflammation

The ketogenic diet may reduce the damage infections do to your body by helping to reduce inflammation.

If you eat very few carbohydrates, your body will burn fat. And when you get into ketosis, your liver also makes ketone bodies - including beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB). The keto diet is anti-inflammatory, and BHB seems to be one of the main reasons for it.

For example, studies show that BHB is an efficient source of energy for mental function while reducing inflammatory activity in your brain. Also, researchers have found that BHB can reduce inflammation in other areas of your body as well.

BHB's anti-inflammatory effects are due in part to its ability to block the formation of inflammatory comes. And, as we've covered earlier, overactive inflammatory cells in your body can cause damage during and after a flu infection.

Let's analyze the points: if you are dealing with a viral or bacterial infection, inflammasome formation can wreak havoc in your body, but ketosis seems to reduce the immune system's harmful responses thanks to BHB. Therefore, it is possible that the ketogenic diet could reduce the adverse effects of a wide variety of infections, not just the flu.

The keto diet could fix your microbiome

At least seven human studies and three animal studies suggest that using keto could change your microbiome.

And some researchers believe that changes in gut bacteria on the ketogenic diet may be responsible for the ability to treat autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis, irritable bowel syndrome, and inflammatory bowel disease. Essentially, your gut flora and the bacteria throughout your body play an essential (and complex) role in immune function. And disturbances or imbalances in the bacteria in your body can increase the risk of some health problems, including infections.

Conclusion - keto and immune function

Research on keto and immune function is young but extremely promising. The ketogenic diet can give your immune system more energy to fight infections like the flu.

It also has beneficial effects on your microbiome, lowers inflammation levels in your body, and helps reverse insulin resistance - all good news for the flu and other infections.

So stay tuned for more fascinating keto study results in the years to come. However, if you are struggling to choose a particular diet, don't forget that starting today, a very low-carb, high-fat diet can improve your health.

In addition to a keto diet with reduced carbohydrates, a daily intake of multivitamins and foods rich in vitamin C can also help fight infections until a cure for the coronavirus is found.

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