While there is no dearth of fad diets these days, one of the most popular ones still remains to be ketogenic diet. Keto diet has gained momentum over the past few years for its miraculous benefits. No matter whichever diet you follow, one always looks forward to 'cheat days', which happens to be a common fixture in most diets. On cheat days, we wish to indulge to our heart's content; in other words, we tend to savour foods that are carb-dense. However, in a recent study published in the journal Nutrients, it was found that 75-gram dose of glucose is equivalent to a large bottle of soda or a plate of fries.
"The ketogenic or keto diet has become very common for weight loss or to manage diseases like type 2 diabetes. It consists of eating foods rich in fats, moderate in protein, but very low in carbohydrates and it causes the body to go into a state called ketosis," said Jonathan Little, associate professor in the School of Health and Exercise Sciences at UBCO and study senior author of the study.
According to the researchers, in keto diet, the body comes in the ketosis phase and it eventually begins to aggressively burn stored fat, which further results in weight loss and may also reverse the symptoms of Type-2 diabetes.
"We were interested in finding out what happens to the body's physiology once a dose of glucose is reintroduced. Since impaired glucose tolerance and spikes in blood sugar levels are known to be associated with an increased risk in cardiovascular disease, it made sense to look at what was happening in the blood vessels after a sugar hit," said Cody Durrer, UBC Okanagan doctoral student and study the first author.
For the study, nine healthy young males participated and the researchers had them consume a 75-gram glucose drink before and after a seven-day high fat, low carbohydrate diet. The diet consisted of 70 per cent fat, 10 per cent carbohydrates, and 20 per cent protein, similar to that of a modern ketogenic diet.
Ketogenic Diet
"We were originally looking for things like an inflammatory response or reduced tolerance to blood glucose. What we found instead were biomarkers in the blood suggesting that vessel walls were being damaged by the sudden spike in glucose," said Durrer.
Little said the most likely culprit for the damage is the body's own metabolic response to excess blood sugar, which causes blood vessel cells to shed and possibly die.
"Even though these were otherwise healthy young males when we looked at their blood vessel health after consuming the glucose drink, the results looked like they might have come from someone with poor cardiovascular health. It was somewhat alarming," added Little.
The researchers also observed that more work is required to verify their findings as only nine individuals were studied. However, the results should give those on a keto diet pause when considering a cheat day.
"My concern is that many of the people going on a keto diet -- whether it's to lose weight, to treat Type 2 diabetes, or some other health reason -- may be undoing some of the positive impacts on their blood vessels if they suddenly blast them with glucose. Especially if these people are at a higher risk for cardiovascular disease in the first place," he said.