Ketogenic diets may accelerate heart and kidney aging

Researchers at the University of Texas at San Antonio, Texas, recently published a paper in the journal Science Advances examining the effects of ketogenic, also known as "keto," diets on mice.

With obesity rates on the rise, many people are turning to diets they believe can help them lose significant amounts of weight. The keto diet, traditionally used to treat epilepsy, is one such popular diet.

The main features of the keto diet include eating a lot of fat while reducing carbohydrate intake.

The researchers who conducted the current study looked closely at ketogenic diets, experimenting on mice to see what effects the diet had on health. They were primarily interested in whether the diet promoted cellular aging.

Their results showed that the group of mice on the ketogenic diet had higher levels of organ aging compared to the control group.

What characterizes the keto diet?

The macronutrients that the keto diet focuses on include:

• 55-60% of calories from fat
• 30-35% of calories from protein
• 5-10% of calories from carbohydrates (20-50 grams of carbohydrates).

By comparison, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends that less than 10% of calories come from saturated fat, which is found in beef, butter and pork.

The FDA also notes that people should focus on foods containing unsaturated fats, such as fish, avocados and nuts, as they may help manage cholesterol levels.

In addition, the FDA recommends that people consume 275 grams of carbohydrates per day, which is significantly higher than the recommended carbohydrate intake for the keto diet.

Keto accelerates cellular aging in mice

The study involved testing the effects of consuming a high-fat diet in mice. One group of mice served as a control and ate a diet consisting of 17% fat, 25% protein and 58% carbohydrates.

The test group primarily ate Crisco, which contains 84% unsaturated fat and 14% saturated fat. In the Crisco group, 90.5% of calories came from fat (significantly higher than the standard keto diet), 9.2% of calories from protein, and 0.3% of calories from carbohydrates.

The mice began eating their prescribed diets at 35 to 42 days of age and continued for 7 or 21 days. The researchers then killed the mice and assessed their condition.

The scientists monitored various health markers in the mice, such as ketones, glucose, insulin sensitivity, triglycerides, low- and high-density lipoproteins. They also checked samples of the heart, liver and kidneys for signs of damage.

Researchers found that in several major organs of the body, including the heart and kidneys, the ketogenic diet promoted cellular aging.

Aging of organs on different types of keto diet

The researchers also tested how mice in the Crisco group compared to a group eating another ketogenic diet and tested these mice using cocoa butter. Cocoa butter contains more saturated fat than Crisco (40% unsaturated fat and 60% saturated fat).

The cocoa butter group also showed signs of organ damage and cellular aging.

Applicability of these findings to humans

Scott Keightley, a registered dietitian and private nutrition practice owner in New York City who was not involved in the study, commented on the results:

"These findings are significant because they provide mechanistic insight into how long-term ketogenic diets can potentially lead to cellular senescence and dysfunction in critical organs such as the kidneys and heart."

"This highlights the need to carefully consider diet duration and composition when recommending ketogenic diets, especially for patients with existing organ problems or those at risk for chronic disease," Keatley continued.

He also noted that the next step would be long-term human studies to confirm whether ketogenic diets cause cellular aging.

Conclusion

Research shows that ketogenic diets can cause harm, but this can be managed either with medications that block certain proteins or by intermittent dieting.