The now-trendy keto diet is said to turn fat into fuel. But a new, small study says it may also change the vast array of microbes residing in your gut (the microbiome). That could be a good thing, as those changes may ultimately strengthen the immune system by tamping down inflammation, researchers say. The keto diet, which severely restricts carbohydrates and emphasizes fats and protein, has been touted as a way to rein in epilepsy, diabetes and expanding waistlines. Yet despite rising popularity, it remains controversial, and much is unknown about its true impact on health. The new finding follows a two-month study that tracked diet-related shifts in microbiome content among 17 overweight or obese men, with follow-up tests in mice. “There has been a lot of work on ketogenic diets,” noted study author Peter Turnbaugh, an associate professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of California, San Francisco. “But we didn’t know much about how these diets differ from other high-fat diets, how exactly they impact microbes, or whether or not these diet-induced changes to gut microbes matter,” he said. To find out, Turnbaugh and his colleagues first placed half the men on a one-month “standard” Western diet composed of 50% carbs, 15% protein and 35% fat. The other half started off on a keto diet made up of 5% carbs, 15% protein… read on >
