Yes, you heard right! Does a low-carb diet play a role in stabilizing mood disorders, including depression? Or maybe I should phrase it like this; Do ketones play a role in our brain energy profile?
What are ketones?
Let me explain the previous sentence a bit more. When we eat carbohydrates, our bodies break them down into glucose. This crosses the blood-brain barrier and feeds our brain. Our bodies always choose to use glucose as an energy source before using another fuel source.
When we eliminate carbohydrates from our diets, we are unable to use glucose as a fuel source. So our bodies begin to process the proteins and fats that we eat. It processes these proteins and fats into ketones.
These ketones can also be used for fuel and can cross the blood-brain barrier as well. And this different kind of brain fuel seems to mess with it.
Why do ketones work?
One of the best known effects of a ketogenic diet is its remarkable effect on seizures in epileptic patients. Some people are truly seizure free, while others have a substantial reduction in their seizures. The effects of the ketogenic diet continue even after carbohydrates have been reintroduced.
There is talk that a ketogenic diet can benefit many mental disorders, including depression, bipolar disorder, and Alzheimer’s. If this diet could only help a faction of people who are plagued by these conditions, it would be revolutionary!
We are not entirely sure why and how these ketones affect the brain. But some theories suspect that this different ketone fuel helps with global brain hypometabolism. It seems that the brain can use ketones more efficiently. Ketosis is also believed to lower intracellular sodium concentrations, which is exactly what mood stabilizers do.
It doesn’t take many human trials to see the benefits of a ketogenic diet on mental disorders. But it’s definitely guaranteed!
What exactly is a ketogenic diet?
Ok great. Now that we know what ketones are and how they work. Let’s take a look at what you would need to do to be on a ketogenic diet.
A ketogenic diet is a diet that actually reduces carbohydrates to a minimum. The most widely accepted version of the ketogenic diet is to have less than 20g of carbs a day.
But everyone is different, and some people may still respond to higher amounts of carbohydrates per day.
Ketosis, so when we are producing ketones, can be controlled through the use of keto-sticks.
Maintaining 20g of carbs a day is quite a challenge, trust me.
Where do we find carbohydrates?
Carbohydrates are found in a variety of natural products and foods.
The most obvious place to find carbohydrates is in sugar. This includes sugar that has been added to beverages, food products, candy, cakes, and chocolate.
We also find carbohydrates in our starches, including rice, couscous, bread, oatmeal, and pasta. These are normally completely eliminated on a ketogenic diet.
Fruit also contains fructose, which is a sugar, and will also increase your carbohydrate intake. Fruit intake is normally controlled quite strictly.
Other types of sugar, mainly lactose, are found in dairy products.
A ketogenic diet is not for the faint of heart!
So what can I eat?
As you can see, a large number of foods are taken out of the equation when we are on a ketogenic diet. What can be eaten in large quantities are non-starchy vegetables, that is, vegetables that have very few carbohydrates. And then we can eat all our meat, eggs and fish. They are normally cooked with unlimited amounts of fat.
It’s not an easy diet to follow, but once people feel the benefit of it, they say they’ll never go back. It is advisable to work with a supportive dietitian and doctor when attempting the ketogenic diet.
