Keto diet alters immune cell function

Eating a version of the low-carbohydrate, high-fat ketogenic diet for six months led to an anti-inflammatory shift in immune cell populations among people with stable, relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) in a Phase 2 trial.

These changes were accompanied by metabolic alterations in the immune cells that researchers believe could influence their activation state.

Among the diets proposed to be of possible benefit in MS is the ketogenic diet, a type of low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet that leads to ketosis, a state in which the body burns fat instead of sugar to produce energy.

This study used a modified Atkins diet, or MAD, a less restrictive version of the ketogenic diet that doesn’t require the same degree of carbohydrate limitation, which researchers said may be easier for people to adhere too, long-term.