Two new studies have discovered that a ketogenic diet may improve memory in old age as well as lengthen lifespan. A ketogenic diet is one in which carbohydrates are minimized or eliminated from the diet in favor of eating protein or fat. By minimizing carbohydrate intake, the body lacks glucose to use as energy and thus will begin to break down fat stores to create energy. This leads to the production of ketones, which build up in the blood and are eliminated in urine.
These two latest studies were performed on mice and studied the effects of four different diets – ketogenic, low-carbohydrate, high fat, and control. Scientists studied the effects of the different diets on various tasks the mice performed as they aged. The first study found that a ketogenic diet had similar effects on the mice as fasting did. Furthermore, cycling the ketogenic diet with the control diet prevented obesity, reduced mid-life mortality, and prevented memory loss in the mice.
In fact, the older mice on the ketogenic diet had better memories than the younger mice. This was particularly interesting since the mice were placed back onto a control diet for memory testing, leading to speculation that the effects of the ketogenic diet lasted even after the diet had been abandoned.
The second study found similar effects to the first one, noting that mice fed a high-fat diet had a 13 percent increase in lifespan versus mice fed a high-carbohydrate diet. Those mice on a ketogenic diet also preserved their motor function and muscle mass better than the mice on a high-carbohydrate diet. If the findings translate to human subjects, it could provide even more evidence of the health benefits of ketogenic diets.