Spanish researchers have reported a very low-calorie ketogenic diet can turn back epigenetic ageing – how the body ages at a molecular level – by more than 6 years.
The scientists, whose study was published in Nutrients, found that people with obesity who were on a very low-calorie ketogenic diet for 180 days had an epigenetic age of more than 6 years lower than when they started.
The keto diet – which depletes the body of its sugar reserves, causing it to break down fat for energy – is an eating plan which focuses on foods that provide a lot of healthful fats, adequate amounts of protein, and very few carbohydrates; the goal is to get more calories from fat than from carbs.
In addition to experiencing an age deceleration, people on the very low-calorie ketogenic diet saw improvements in glucose and insulin levels – significant ‘since people with obesity are at a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes’, noted medicalnewstoday.com.
‘Overall, the scientists established that obesity and biological ageing are connected and that it can potentially be reversed.’
However California surgeon Dr Mir Ali (not involved in the study) warned: ‘A very low-calorie ketogenic diet does show benefits, but any weight loss leading to a patient achieving a healthy weight has been shown to improve all medical conditions and prolong the life span. It is difficult to definitively conclude that the type of diet is independent of the weight loss.’
