• Welcome to Phoenix Rising!

    Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of, and finding treatments for, complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia, long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.

    To become a member, simply click the Register button at the top right.

Review: Ketogenic Diets and Chronic Disease: Weighing the Benefits Against the Risks

pattismith

Senior Member
Messages
3,946
keto diet reduces glucose level but lower glucose tolerance.

In many studies with keto diet, the biais of calory restriction associated to keto diet makes the result difficult to understand.
In fact any diet with calory restriction will improve insulin sensitivity and reduce fasting glucose and insulin levels!

I am on Keto diet for 2 weeks( and I try to keep my colory intake which is not easy), and even if my glucose level went down, my blood lactate level didn't go down as I expected!
 

pattismith

Senior Member
Messages
3,946
My view of the goal of ketosis is to switch the brain over to ketones, not to spare glucose for use by the brain. I think for me, and perhaps others, one of the benefits of having the brain use ketones is that they are calming and may reduce inflammation in the brain.
.

I agree Keto diet reduces brain inflammation, but this study also suggests that glycemic control may also improve CD8 immunity which is very important against all the Herpes Virus (+ many other virus as well)

Hyperglycemia and Not Hyperinsulinemia Mediates Diabetes-Induced Memory CD8 T-Cell Dysfunction | Diabetes | American Diabetes Association (diabetesjournals.org)

In contrast, we could show in vitro and in vivo that hyperglycemia significantly impairs the antiviral capacity of memory CD8 T cells. Our findings indicate that obesity impairs the memory CD8 T-cell response against viral infection and cancer through the detrimental effects of hyperglycemia rather than hyperinsulinemia.
 
Last edited:

Violeta

Senior Member
Messages
2,947
Everytime I tried to switch to a ketogenic diet, I had bad cold sores, and one time I switched I got shingles.
 

pattismith

Senior Member
Messages
3,946
Everytime I tried to switch to a ketogenic diet, I had bad cold sores, and one time I switched I got shingles.
that's interesting but not a good news for me...I have recurrent HSV1/HSV2, so I expected to improve my immunity with the Keto diet, you killed all my hopes :D
 

Violeta

Senior Member
Messages
2,947
I guess it's possible that the immune system is kicking in. If you try it, let us know how it goes. I have a brother that is doing pretty good on it, and he had shingles at age 16. I wish I could remember the name of the author of Life without Bread. He recommended not going too low carb too fast because he said it would make your immune system kick in.
 

Violeta

Senior Member
Messages
2,947
Everytime I tried to switch to a ketogenic diet, I had bad cold sores, and one time I switched I got shingles.
At a family get together we realized that every one of my siblings and both of my parents have had shingles, so I was wondering if there is a possibility that some genetic problem predisposes one to coming down with it.

I found this article, which may explain it. Issues with MTHFR.

My brother is the only one of the 6 siblings that has had genetic testing and MTHFR is the one thing that showed up for him.

I tried taking methylfolate and it disagreed with me, I have to try to find out why and how to work through that. I know others have had that problem, it was talked about quite some time ago here.

That may be why the ketogenic diet always causes a herpes virus flare, the diet puts stress on the adrenals (in some people, I realize not everyone).

The article:
https://www.beyondmthfr.com/mthfr-viral-infections/