2024-04-05 13:55:00
In recent times, the ketogenic diet and intermittent fasting have gained popularity not only as strategies to reduce body weight, but also for their potential beneficial health effects. Both are characterized by causing a drop in blood sugar (blood glucose levels).
Taking into account that glucose is the main nutrient for our brain, it is worth asking: is drastically reducing sugar consumption harmful or beneficial for our brain? Are these diets better than the traditional Mediterranean diet?
The ketogenic diet and intermittent fasting
The ketogenic diet began to be used almost a century ago as a treatment for patients with severe drug-resistant epilepsy. This eating plan consists of reducing sugar consumption (less than 10% of total calories consumed) while increases the consumption of fats of vegetable and animal origin (more than 75% of total calories).
The strategy causes an important change in metabolism. Our tissues begin to oxidize fats, instead of glucose, as the main source of energy. However, since neurons are unable to use fats as food, the liver is forced to manufacture ketone bodies from fats, which do serve as nutrients for the brain. This process is known as ketosis.
Something similar happens with intermittent fasting: prolonged fasting (more than 12 hours) forces the liver to temporarily synthesize ketone bodies until the next meal.
With ketone bodies memory improves
Studies in animals and clinical studies in humans have shown that ketone bodies generated by these diets or taken as nutritional supplements are not only adequate energy substitutes for glucose in the brain, but also have the ability to repair our neurons.
Specifically, they improve their functionality and plasticity, and this is an important stimulus for learning and memory. The strategy helps prevent cognitive deterioration in three types of groups: the elderly, patients with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, and individuals who have suffered brain trauma with cellular hypoxia. However, these beneficial effects are not noticeable in young and healthy people.
Ketone bodies reverse the negative effects of saturated fats
Its benefits do not end there. It is known that high consumption of saturated fats of animal origin (butter, sausages, hamburgers), in addition to being harmful to our cardiovascular and metabolic system, can cause a worsening of our intellectual abilities. However, as a recent study from our research group shows, oral supplementation with beta-hydroxybutyrate, the main ketone body, neutralizes the negative effects of fats on cognition.
That would explain why consuming animal fats as part of a ketogenic diet does not have a negative impact on brain function.
The Mediterranean diet is also beneficial for the brain
The Mediterranean diet is a traditional eating pattern of populations living in the Mediterranean basin, such as Greece, Italy and Spain. It is characterized by high consumption of carbohydrates (complex sugars found in legumes and cereals), unsaturated fats (present in vegetable oils, nuts, seeds and oily fish) and fiber (vegetables and fruit). On the contrary, the consumption of eggs, meat and sweets is very reduced.
This diet has been associated with numerous health benefits, including reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and some types of cancer. It has recently been shown to be beneficial in preventing cognitive decline in older people and Alzheimer’s patients. The high content of omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants and fiber are some of the factors that contribute to the beneficial effects of this diet.
So what is better? Mediterranean diet, ketogenic diet or intermittent fasting? There is a decisive difference: while the Mediterranean diet includes a balanced set of healthy nutrients and does not carry any health risks, adopting An intermittent fasting regimen or following a ketogenic diet requires medical supervisionsince they can be counterproductive in certain situations or pathological conditions.
High consumption of simple sugars does damage the brain
We have seen that reducing sugar consumption as promoted by the ketogenic diet is not harmful to our brain, since the liver generates ketone bodies as an energy substitute. But What happens if we abuse simple sugars? (sucrose, glucose and fructose), present in cakes, sugary drinks and sweets in general? These types of sugars, in addition to promoting the development of obesity and diabetes in the population of all ages, have been shown to be harmful to memory and cognitive functions.
The explanation lies not in the sugars themselves, but in the drastic fluctuations they produce in the hormone insulin. This leads to the development of insulin resistance, a factor that enhances cognitive decline, especially notable in neurodegenerative diseases.
This article was originally published on The Conversation.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nuria Casals Farre
#sugar