Can a Ketogenic Keto Diet Help Mild Alzheimer's Patients?

Can a Ketogenic Keto Diet Help Mild Alzheimer's Patients?

Hello readers! Welcome back to our blog with yet another insightful discussion. Today, we will talk about the latest scientific study that offers a ray of hope for millions of people around the world diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

Experts suggest that the human brain has a constant demand for fuel supply to feed the brain cells. However, in case of dementia patients, the brain faces extreme difficulty while burning glucose. This leads to sluggish activity of the brain, shrinkage of the brain, and even death of brain cells in the long run. 

Interestingly, it has been observed that other than in advanced cases, the brains of the Alzheimer’s patients face no difficulty whatsoever in creating energy by burning ketones.  Inspired by this fact, a study team from the University of Kansas decided to find out the impact of low-carbohydrate diets and ketone supplements on people with Alzheimer’s disease.  

The four month long study was conducted on fifteen male and female patients with mild to moderate levels of Alzheimer’s. Each of them was given a ketogenic or keto diet of 70% fat, 20% protein, and 10% carbohydrate along with a daily dose of MCT oil, vitamin D, multivitamin, phosphorus, and calcium supplements.

With help of a caregiver, ten out of the fifteen participants were able to complete the study. All of them were able to tolerate the ketogenic diet and completed the study safely. 

Summarized below are some of the key findings of the study.

• Out of the ten participants to complete the study, nine experienced significantly improved cognitive test results.
• In the Mini-Mental State Examination or MMSE, there was an increase of approximately one point.
• The cognitive test score improvements were lost as soon as the participants were shifted to their normal diets.

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Study Link:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352873717300707