Active Low-Carber Forums - How does a ketogenic diet stave off weight gain?

Active Low-Carber Forums (http://forum.lowcarber.org/index.php)

- LC Research/Media (http://forum.lowcarber.org/forumdisplay.php?f=4)

- - How does a ketogenic diet stave off weight gain? (http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=485973)

How does a ketogenic diet stave off weight gain?

Quote:

How does a ketogenic diet stave off weight gain?

Ketogenic diets support short-term weight loss, but the precise mechanisms behind metabolic changes are still unknown.
New research in mice and humans suggests the ketogenic diet may protect against obesity by increasing specific bile acids and decreasing calorie absorption in the intestines.
The long-term health effects of the ketogenic diet are not clear, and experts recommend plant-based diets, such as the Mediterranean diet, that promote more favorable gut microbiome diversity.

The ketogenic diet is a low-carbohydrate eating pattern that has been widely tested as a tool for weight loss. Yet exactly how it works to reduce body weight remains unclear.

Some propose that gut bacteria and their byproducts may play a role in the beneficial metabolic effects of a ketogenic diet. However, the specific bacteria or byproducts involved have yet to be well understood.

Now, a new study published in Nature Metabolism suggests that following a ketogenic diet results in changes to the gut microbiome that increase the blood levels of specific bile acids in mice.

These bile acids, namely taurodeoxycholic acid and tauroursodeoxycholic acid, may protect against obesity by decreasing calorie absorption in the intestines. This might lead to a decrease in body weight and fasting blood sugar levels.

Distinguishing their work from typical animal studies, the researchers took additional steps to investigate whether these findings might apply to humans.

They documented similar associations between the bile acids and metabolic traits in two human studies, adding to the potential significance of their findings.

This multimethod research highlights a specific interaction between the host and the gut microbiome that might explain how the ketogenic diet reduces body weight and fasting blood sugar levels in both rodents and humans.

Studying the effects of ketogenic diets in mice and humans

Researchers investigated the effects of a ketogenic diet on blood levels of bioactive metabolites by feeding mice either a ketogenic diet or a regular diet for seven weeks.

They found that consuming a ketogenic diet significantly changed these metabolites, along with notably reduced body weight and fasting blood sugar levels.

Further analysis showed that 22 specific metabolites increased, while 18 decreased on the ketogenic diet.

When the researchers tested another 7-week diet intervention involving supplementation with an amino acid, methionine, it reversed the decreases in body weight and fasting caused by the ketogenic diet. It also reduced six particular bile acids linked to weight and glucose changes.

Treating mice with four of these bile acids revealed that two — taurodeoxycholic acid and tauroursodeoxycholic acid — significantly lowered body weight and blood sugar levels and improved glucose tolerance. This was regardless of whether they were on a regular diet or a ketogenic diet supplemented with methionine.

Other detected bile acids were unaffected by diet changes and showed no link to body weight or fasting blood sugar levels.

Through a series of additional experiments, the researchers showed that consuming a ketogenic diet increased blood levels of taurodeoxycholic acid and tauroursodeoxycholic acid in mice while decreasing their body weight and fasting glucose levels.

How might the findings apply to humans?

The researchers who conducted the present study sought to determine whether their findings in mice were potentially applicable to humans.

They conducted an observational study, measuring bile acids in blood and stool samples from 416 healthy participants aged 20 to 60.

They also examined data from a previously published low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet intervention studyTrusted Source involving 25 adult women with overweight or obesity.

Consistent with their findings in mice, lower blood levels of specific bile acids in humans were significantly associated with higher body mass index (BMI) and fasting blood sugar levels.

They also found specific gut bacteria genes linked to human BMI and fasting blood sugar. The low-carb diet intervention appeared to reduce these genes significantly, and these changes were connected to BMI, fasting glucose, and bile acid levels.

How might changes in bile acids relate to weight loss, blood sugar levels?

In this study, increases in the levels of certain bile acids — taurodeoxycholic acid and tauroursodeoxycholic acid — were shown to result in decreased body weight and fasting glucose levels in mice. Similar associations were observed in humans.

The study authors explain that the ketogenic diet reduces the levels of a specific gut bacterium called Lactobacillus murinus ASF361, which produces an enzyme called bile salt hydrolase.

Lower levels of this bacteria or reductions in bile salt hydrolase increase the levels of the two mentioned bile acids, taurodeoxycholic and tauroursodeoxycholic acid.

These increased bile acids, in turn, reduce calorie absorption by interfering with the expression of a protein-coding gene called carbonic anhydrase 1 in the intestines, which may be linked to obesity.

The reduced calorie absorption results in weight loss and decreased fasting blood sugar levels, according to the study.

The researchers propose this regulatory mechanism for bile acids, as it aligns with their findings in animals and humans. However, they acknowledge that, due to limited evidence, other potential explanations cannot be ruled out.

Keto: What is its impact on gut microbiome, long-term health?

Medical News Today spoke with Alyssa Simpson, RDN, CGN, CLT, a registered dietitian, certified gastrointestinal nutritionist, and owner of Nutrition Resolution in Phoenix, AZ, who was not involved in the study.

She commented that the research suggests a new potential ketogenic diet mechanism of weight loss that extends to include calorie absorption, influenced by changes in bile acids.

Still, she does not generally recommend the ketogenic diet to patients, questioning its long-term sustainability and health implications because of its restrictive nature.

Simpson explained that:

“Although effective for [short-term] weight loss, the ketogenic diet raises concerns due to its impact on the gut microbiome, resulting in reduced diversity and altered bile acids, potentially impacting long-term health.”

She pointed out that previous research suggests that high-fat, no-carb diets reduce microbiome diversity in ways that may decrease the production of beneficial antioxidants and short-chain fatty acids.

“This study confirms the ketogenic diet’s impact on reduced microbial diversity, highlighting selective changes,” she affirmed.

Eliza Whitaker, MS, RDN, a registered dietitian and medical nutrition advisor at Dietitian Insights, who was also not involved in the study, agreed that the results should be interpreted with caution.

She mentioned study limitations, such as only including male mice, despite known variations in the bile acid profiles of males and females in humans.

Notably, Whitaker highlighted that “the findings differ from previous studies that have suggested higher fat diets may impact the gut microbiome in ways that could contribute to obesity.”

Both Simpson and Whitaker recommend diets more consistently associated with improved long-term health, including Mediterranean and DASH diets.

Compared to a ketogenic diet, these diets more reliably “promote microbiome diversity through a variety of plant foods and provide essential nutrients, [which] may better support overall well-being,” Simpson concluded.

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/ar...off-weight-gain

Quote:

Compared to a ketogenic diet, these diets more reliably “promote microbiome diversity through a variety of plant foods and provide essential nutrients, [which] may better support overall well-being,” Simpson concluded.

Oh, so this IS sheer speculation from mouse studies. Omnivores who have the enzymes to eat grains without processing.

But... the diets they are pushing don't work the same way as a ketogenic diet. That's the point.

Of course we can eat plants if we want. I love a seafood salad with romaine, but I can't eat that every day. My body starts going "watch the fiber!" and I have to.

Someone shared an article, I think it was Nina Teicholz, PhD, who said that the media pushes the idea that Carnivore is for gym-bros, but she said "it's mostly desperate middle-aged women." For whom it can do wonders. Like me.

My first autoimmune symptoms surfaced in 1999. By 2003 I was in a bad state and tried Atkins.

And I don't think I'd be here otherwise.

My point being that desperate middle-aged women are an extremely neglected demographic, medically. I remember an email from Dr. Terry Wahls saying she was getting more and more ketogenic with her diet for MS.

I'm convinced, from my own dramatic experiences, that carnivore works so well not only because of the increased nutrition, but also the oxalate dumping that follows. That's the "keto rash."

Dr Jack Kruse's Epi-Paleo diet emphasizes seasonal eating, with no plant foods during winter. This is the body's usual mechanism for dealing with oxalate.

Yes, we have "fresh produce" year round but they are spraying it with all kinds of things to extend its shelf life. That's how you cut into an apple and it's brown inside.

ALL of this is overlooked so someone can say "variety of plant foods and provide essential nutrients, [which] may better support overall well-being"

It's all to serve the agro-based lifestyle. Where our protein comes from dwarf wheat and peas.

Wheat and peas,or corn and soy, goes to my chickens. I eat the eggs. Not the corn.

Quote:

The long-term health effects of the ketogenic diet are not clear, and experts recommend plant-based diets, such as the Mediterranean diet, that promote more favorable gut microbiome diversity.

It's about the magic of plant-based diets. Which I think they are pushing so dang hard because the latest science of bio-availability is ripping that theory up by the ROOTS.

Quote:

The long-term health effects of the ketogenic diet are not clear, and experts recommend plant-based diets, such as the Mediterranean diet, that promote more favorable gut microbiome diversity.

The thing is, the Mediterranean diet is NOT even plant based!

Unless you consider dairy products, poultry/eggs, and fish/seafood to be plant based.

The Med diet doesn't require that you eat poultry, eggs and dairy, but it emphasizes over and over that you must eat fish and seafood.

And it certainly doesn't prohibit poultry/eggs, or even red meat - it just includes lots of plants in the diet.

Med diets (there's more than one) just claim that the traditional Med diet only included red meat very rarely - which is ridiculous considering that dairy products don't just magically appear out of thin air. There's a lot of calves, (goat) kids, and lambs that need to be born in order for the dairy animal to produce milk used to make all sorts of dairy products. That's a lot of red meat on the hoof to be feeding if you're not going to eat them except very rarely.

Quote:

just claim that the traditional Med diet only included red meat very rarely

Which only make sense to people who don't eat goats, I suppose.

Quote:

These bile acids, namely taurodeoxycholic acid and tauroursodeoxycholic acid, may protect against obesity by decreasing calorie absorption in the intestines. This might lead to a decrease in body weight and fasting blood sugar levels.

Does anyone else question this statement. My first thought was why would the bile be developed to STOP absorption of nutrients?

My understand ing was that bile made fats absorbable, not the opposite.

Quote:

Originally Posted by WereBear

It's about the magic of plant-based diets. Which I think they are pushing so dang hard because the latest science of bio-availability is ripping that theory up by the ROOTS.

And there are no long-term studies of the 'Mediterranean' diet. Just as there is no fixed definition of what the diet is.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ms Arielle

Does anyone else question this statement. My first thought was why would the bile be developed to STOP absorption of nutrients?

They also say "may" and "might" but what if this is simply a shortage and that's why the body makes these variations?

I've never met so many people missing their gall bladders.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Calianna

The thing is, the Mediterranean diet is NOT even plant based! <...>

Thank you Calianna.

My grandparents were born in Italy, which as you know is quite Mediterranean.

Italian bread, sausage, macaroni, a multitude cheeses, and so forth.

How about the French? Charles de Gaulle jokingly complained, "How can you govern a country which has 246 varieties of cheese?" And that's not all, so many different meat dishes.

The Spanish liked pork so much, they took their pigs wherever they went. We have a feral pig problem in Florida due to those that escaped in the 1700s and later.

I wish they would give that diet a different name.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob-a-rama

I wish they would give that diet a different name.

They could call it "Selective foods we currently approve of that people in Mediterranean countries eat." But that's kind of a mouthful.

It is true that they eat a lot of plant based foods - due to the mild winters, it's a wonderful area for growing all kinds of fruits and vegetables for much of the year. So with an abundance of fruits and vegetables available, it's to be expected that they'd enjoy a wide variety of plant based foods.

But they always had many different kinds of meats, dairy, poultry, and eggs available too. People eating traditional diets consisting of locally available foods also did not waste food, including meats, eggs, and dairy, which is why they made sausages, salted and smoked hams, dried meats, lots of cheeses, butter and so on.

What is currently being termed the "Mediterranean Diet" is not the traditional way of eating in the region, primarily because there's no single Mediterranean diet. The entire region abounds with many different cuisines, many different seasoning profiles, many different meat and cheese varieties, and many different types of dishes within each region. Just because some of it was plant based doesn't mean their entire diet was plant based.

When I visited my cousins in Italy, we went from Naples to Rome to Florence and ate a variety of foods from different regions. Not one meal was a vegetarian meal, most had meat and cheese.

My grandparents were born in Italy, and they ate a lot of meat and cheese.

In southern Spain, we ate meat and fish with every meal.

I actually detest the “Plant based” buzz-word, as it means nothing. Same for the Mediterranean diet.

------

OK here is my plant based meal of the day.

Plant based? Yes because the plants are on the bottom.

First of all, a round, low-carb, millet and flax lavash bread. (plant base).

On top of that, more plants, tomato sauce with herbs and spices.

Next, a mixture of 6 cheeses, pepperoni, bacon, and sausage.

Since the plants are underneath, it's plant based.

------

How about the fast food hamburger? Bun, lettuce tomato, surrounding beef, with perhaps cheese and bacon. Sounds plant based to me.

------

My mom made the best lasagna in the world.

Wheat noodles, and tomato sauce. Filled with tiny meatballs, mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese, romano cheese, slicked sausage, and with cheese sprinkled on top.

------

All Mediterranean, all plant based, all with animal protein.

I'm older now and found a ketogenic diet is the only way I can maintain a healthy weight.

So I eat grass-fed beef, fish, pork, cheese, nuts, chocolate, those tasty millet & flax lavash flatbread, olives, and so on.

IMO, Mediterranean, and Plant Based are simply advertising buzzwords for what industrial based food manufacturers find most profitable.

OK, the rant is over. I hope you found it amusing.