Ketone Supplements For Alzheimers
While there is no perfect memory loss remedy, there are several things that you can do to prevent it. First of all, exercising regularly can help keep your lungs in good shape. People who get regular exercise have better memories, and a regular exercise program can reduce stress. Additionally, exercising can help prevent memory loss by keeping your mind active. Here are some of the best ways to make your brain healthier and keep your mind sharp. Read on to learn more. Ketone Supplements for Alzheimers
Replacing Glucose With Ketones To Combat Alzheimers
The Alzheimers Association International Conference 2017 featured a session focused on the impact of brain ketone metabolism and ketogenic interventions in Alzheimers. Ketones are molecules produced by the liver from fatty acids, usually during periods of low food intake or carbohydrate restrictive diets and an energy source for the body.
Stephen Cunnane, Ph.D., from the University of Sherbrooke in Quebec, explains, We know that in Alzheimers disease, the brain loses its ability to use glucose to produce energy. Some areas of the brain are down by 40% in terms of glucose metabolism. We believe that this energy gap increases the risk of neuronal dysfunction and cognitive decline.
Dr. Cunnane also notes that glucose uptake into the brain frontal cortex has shown to be 14% lower in healthy seniors than in healthy young adults. Additionally, people with early Alzheimers have 20-30% less glucose uptake than cognitively healthy seniors. Anybody trying to function with 20% less brain glucose long term will suffer from brain exhaustion, he said.
Early studies show that the brain is able to use ketones instead of glucose and is prompting researchers to delve further into the relationship between ketones and the brain to see if ketones can delay cognitive decline in seniors.
Ketone Supplements May Protect And Improve Brain Health In People With Obesity
New research published in The Journal of Physiology has shown that ketone supplements may be a novel therapeutic strategy for protecting and improving brain health in people with obesity.
People with obesity are known to be at a higher risk of developing cognitive impairment and neurodegenerative diseases.
This new study found that giving a ketone supplement three times a day for 14 days enhanced blood flow to the brain and improved aspects of cognitive function, like working memory and processing speed, in adults with obesity.
Supplements specifically containing the ketone body beta-hydroxybutyrate that are safe for human consumption are relatively new and have mostly been investigated for physical performance .
It has previously been shown that ketone supplements are beneficial for older adults with mild cognitive impairment and dementia.
In this study, the researchers have extended these findings by demonstrating that ketone supplements may be a novel therapeutic strategy for protecting and improving brain health in people with obesity, who are at risk of developing neurocognitive impairment.
Adults with obesity volunteered to consume either a ketone supplement or a taste-matched placebo supplement three times per day, 15 minutes before each meal .
The researchers provided participants all meals and snacks for both 14-day intervention periods.
Dr. Jeremy Walsh, first author on the study said,
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A doctor will perform a physical exam to evaluate your mental processes. He or she will also ask you about any medications youre currently taking and any stressful situations youre facing. Your memory loss provider may also ask you about your symptoms and ask you to take notes on how youre feeling. The doctor may recommend that you get an appointment with a neuropsychologist. A neuropsychologist can help you figure out the best way to treat your memory loss.
A doctor will conduct a physical exam to determine the exact cause of your memory loss. He or she will also ask you about your medical history and whether youve experienced other forms of memory loss. After your medical history, your provider will discuss your options for treatment. If youre experiencing severe symptoms of memory loss, you should seek out a professional. It will help you get the right kind of care for your specific situation. So, take action today.
A healthcare provider will perform a physical exam to assess the condition of your memory. He or she will ask you about your family and friends and any medications youre taking. Once he or she has established the root cause, a proper treatment will be given. If you have a mild form of memory loss, you can still function independently and perform everyday tasks. If your symptoms are more severe, you may need to see a medical professional.
Does Keto Do More Harm Than Good
If youve done your homework, you already know that the keto diet is controversial.
For every new promising finding, an equal number of doctors, Hollywood celebrities, and internet experts warn that you shouldnt hop on the keto bandwagon.
Lets take a look at the most common claims about the harmful effects of the ketogenic diet and see how they stack up against real evidence.
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Lessens The Symptoms Of The Keto Flu
During the first few days and weeks after having started a ketogenic diet, you might feel sluggish, fatigued, and suffer from brain fog all common symptoms of the keto flu.
The keto flu is usually caused by an electrolyte imbalance, because youre not taking in enough sodium. As a result, your body doesnt have sufficient ketones to fulfill your energy requirements.
You might also experience keto-flu-like symptoms when your brain runs out of fuel before your body has become proficient in creating ketones. For such cases, exogenous ketones can help provide the fuel your brain needs.
Lessening the symptoms of the keto flu is one of the primary benefits of exogenous ketones. In fact, that was the reason why I stocked up on a couple of tubs of exogenous ketones before starting the diet.
Drawbacks Of Exogenous Ketone Supplements
Some people think of ketone supplements as a shortcut to ketosis, and as a way to lose weight without sticking to a ketogenic dietary lifestyle.
That doesnt work.
When you consume exogenous ketones, your blood ketone levels go up. However, that doesnt mean that youre in endogenous ketosis. If youre not, you forfeit many of the benefits of a ketogenic diet. Plus, taking exogenous ketones might negatively impact your bodys own production of ketones.
Most systems in the body operate based on a feedback loop. For example, supplementing with melatonin or injecting testosterone effectively reduces or halts the bodys own production of these hormones. Consuming exogenous ketones has a similar effect.
Unfortunately, there arent a lot of long-term studies on ketone supplementation available. However, based on my experience I recommend using ketone supplements during the first few weeks of your keto journey while you dial-in your nutritional needs and fat consumption.
I used exogenous ketones during the first week of my keto journey, until I figured out my correct fat and salt intake .
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Eating A Diet Featuring Ketones Could Protect Brain Cells Against Alzheimer’s Disease Study On Mice Suggests
Eating a diet featuring chemicals known as ketones could protect brain cells from the progress of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a study on mice.
Scientists wanted to see if increasing the levels of ketonesa type of fatty acidin mice could boost the production of a protein called SIRT3. This protein is thought to protect neurons.
As the brain starts to be affected by Alzheimer’s disease, the way some mitochondriathe powerhouses of cellswork is thought to be damaged, as are some brain cell networks, the authors explained in the Journal of Neuroscience.
The team studied mice with Alzheimer’s diseaseincluding some who had been genetically modified to have lower than normal levels of SIRT3as well as regular mice who acted as controls.
Mice with lower levels of SIRT3 were more likely to die prematurely and have seizures. Certain types of interneuronsbrain cells that transmit impulseswere also found to be more likely to die in these mice, when compared with the rodents with just Alzheimer’s disease and controls.
When researchers supplemented the mice’s diets with ketones, which boosted SIRT3 levels, the animals had fewer seizures, lived longer and their interneurons appeared to be preserved.
“People could consume MCT oils but these will only be converted to ketones during fasting,” they said.
Dr Zoltan P Rona Md Msc
Dr. Zoltan P. Rona is a graduate of McGill University Medical School and has a Masters Degree in Biochemistry and Clinical Nutrition from the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut .He is the author of 11 books on natural medicine three of which are Canadian bestsellers, The Joy of Health , Return to the Joy of Health , and Childhood Illness and The Allergy Connection .He is co-author with Jeanne Marie Martin of The Complete Candida Yeast Guidebook and is medical editor of the Benjamin Franklin Award-winning Encyclopedia of Natural Healing .He has had a private medical practice in Toronto for the past 42 years, has appeared on radio and TV as well as lectured extensively in Canada and the U.S. Visit his website for appointments, call 764-8700 Office: 390 Steeles Ave. W. Unit 19, Thornhill, ON
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When Diet Won’t Do
Adhering to a ketogenic diet isn’t easy. It requires strict discipline in planning, shopping and meal preparation. Social interactions, which often involve eating and drinking, can throw it off in a single evening. But eating 100 percent ketogenic isn’t the only way to induce ketosis. Stephen Cunnane, a researcher and professor at the Université de Sherbrooke in Quebec, is studying another way: an MCT oil supplement, given earlier in the disease process.
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The Powerful Effects Of Ketones On Alzheimers Patients
Most of the research regarding Alzheimers disease and ketones in humans has been conducted with ketone supplements rather than the ketogenic diet. However, they still can provide us with evidence of the effectiveness of both ketone supplements and the ketogenic diet.
Experiments on direct ketone supplementation in humans have shown that the ketone body, -hydroxybutyrate, improved cognitive function of Alzheimers patients. Even at lower doses, ketone supplementation has been shown to have a positive effect. For example, one study found that, just by providing the body with a minimal dose of ketone bodies, it was able to supply a fraction of the energy that the brain needed and improve cellular function. In short, giving your body a dose of ketones, small or large, can help preserve the function of aging brain cells that are struggling with metabolizing glucose.
Many other clinical trials have validated the neurological benefits that ketones have by giving MCT oil to Alzheimers patients and testing their memory. They found that patients in the earlier stages of the disease experienced greater memory recall and cognitive function that directly correlated with their ketone levels. However, little to no effect was found for Alzheimers patients with the APOE 4 allele when they were given MCTs.
Promising Results for A Severe Case of Alzheimers Disease
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Exogenous Ketone Salts Vs Esters
Before we dig into the details of each of these products, lets briefly talk about the metabolism of exogenous ketones in humans.
First, you need to understand that there are several types of exogenous ketone supplements on the market today:
The difference between the three has to do with how the ketone bodies are chemically bound to alcohol or salts.
Salts are much easier to manufacture, which is why most exogenous ketone supplements on the market are sold as salts. The problem with salts is that they can lead to stomach cramps and GI irritation, which is why I try to avoid them.
Plus, its worth noting that the only bioavailable form of BHB is D-BHB. As a result, products that contain a mix of both L-BHB and D-BHB are usually less effective than products that only contain D-BHB.
In the case of -1,3-butanediol, the liver can convert this alcohol to either AcAc or D-Beta-hydroxybutyrate , similar to certain medium-chain triglycerides , such as C8. While -1,3-butanediol isnt as toxic as ethanol , it can give you a buzz, so it might not be suitable for athletes.
While ketone esters used to be more expensive than their salt-based counterparts, theyve come down in pricing and are now often less expensive than ketone salts. Plus, ketone esters have one important benefit: they have been scientifically shown to improve exercise performance in endurance athletes.
The Best Ketone Supplements: Final Thoughts
Exogenous ketones can be a beneficial tool to support your ketogenic journey. Just dont forget that high-quality supplements are meant to supplement an otherwise healthy dietary lifestyle as opposed to enabling you to take shortcuts.
However, exogenous ketones are a convenient way to improve your endurance during certain types of exercises, to fuel your brain with energy when you need it, to provide an overall energy boost, and to reduce the symptoms of the keto flu.
I used ketone supplements when I first started on a ketogenic paleo diet to help lessen the symptoms of the keto flu, and I would do it again. After I had been on keto for several months, I stopped using ketone supplements .
These days, I strategically use exogenous ketones before certain workouts and to improve my mental performance.
Whats your experience with exogenous ketones, and whats your favorite product? Let me know by leaving a comment below!
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Dietary Intervention Restores Protective Protein And Decreases Death Rate In Mice
- Date:
- Society for Neuroscience
- Summary:
- A ketone-supplemented diet may protect neurons from death during the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, according to research in mice.
A ketone-supplemented diet may protect neurons from death during the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, according to research in mice recently published in JNeurosci.
Early in the development of Alzheimer’s disease, the brain becomes over excited, potentially through the loss of inhibitory, or GABAergic, interneurons that keep other neurons from signaling too much. Because interneurons require more energy compared to other neurons, they may be more susceptible to dying when they encounter the Alzheimer’s disease protein amyloid beta. Amyloid beta has been shown to damage mitochondria — the metabolic engine for cells — by interfering with SIRT3, a protein that preserves mitochondrial functions and protects neurons.
Cheng et al. genetically reduced levels of SIRT3 in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease. Mice with low levels of SIRT3 experienced a much higher mortality rate, more violent seizures, and increased interneuron death compared to the mice from the standard Alzheimer’s disease model and control mice. However, the mice with reduced levels of SIRT3 experienced fewer seizures and were less likely to die when they ate a diet rich in ketones, a specific type of fatty acid. The diet also increased levels of SIRT3 in the mice.
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Health Benefits Of Exogenous Ketone Supplements
I bet almost everyone who starts on a ketogenic diet tries a ketone supplement at some point. But do you need exogenous ketones? And, if so, what are the benefits? Some people even claim that exogenous ketone supplements are a scam that hurt more than they help.
The idea behind ketone supplements is to deliver the same or similar benefits that you get when your body is in nutritional ketosis.
But what does the scientific evidence say?
The short answer is that exogenous ketones are no replacement for a proper ketogenic lifestyle and a diet that puts your body into nutritional ketosis.
However, exogenous ketones can help by providing the following benefits:
- Improved cognitive performance.
- Extended peak cognitive performance during exercise.
- Increased endurance performance when you supplement with ketone esters.
- Less severesymptoms resulting from the keto flu.
- May treat or improve symptoms of patients with neurological conditions, such as Alzheimers disease.
- Can help you skip a meal without a drop in energy levels.
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They Also Took Blood Samples To Measure Hormones That Are Like Fertilizer For The Brain Helping Neurons Grow And Improving Cognitive Functions
Following 14 days of ketone supplementation the researchers observed significant improvements in cerebral blood flow and vascular conductance in the common carotid, internal carotid and vertebral arteries, and improved delivery of oxygen to active regions of the brain. Additionally the subjects scored significantly higher on post-treatment cognitive performance tests.
Dr Jeremy Walsh, first author on the study said: Once validated with a larger group of people, we expect that these supplements can be used to protect and improve brain health in people with obesity.
The study was conducted at the University of British Columbias Okanagan Campus and was funded by a Grant-in-Aid from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada. Authors received support from the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research during the conduct of the research.
Jeremy J. Walsh, Hannah G. Caldwell, Helena Neudorf, Philip N. Ainslie, Jonathan P. Little. Short-term ketone monoester supplementation improves cerebral blood flow and cognition in obesity: A randomized cross-over trial. The Journal of Physiology, Oct. 4, 2021 DOI: 10.1113/JP281988
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Recent Findings And Research Gaps
As highlighted in previously published reviews in this field , KD or KS in animal models have repeatedly shown improvements of cognitive performance, motor function or behavior. These clinical benefits were accompanied with decreased inflammatory markers, but also with alleviated brain A load or tau burden. In humans, a growing body of evidence has also suggested the potential interest of KS or KD to slow down cognitive decline or to enhance cognition. Several studies have pointed out the change in brain metabolism assessed by PET imaging, after KS.
Table 1. Studies of ketone supplementation or ketogenic diet with regards to cognition or AD biomarkers.
Another major concern for drawing conclusions regarding AD is the definition of the disease. Henderson et al. who included patients with mild to moderate AD, correctly acknowledged that up to 40% of clinically diagnosed patients with AD are likely to be amyloid-negative, hence misdiagnosed , which could have resulted in slower progression on cognitive performance under KS. Only two studies of this review assessed the change on biological outcomes i.e., CSF biomarkers. Both showed significant improvement after 6 weeks of KD in adults without dementia. The role of ApoE4 could mitigate the effect of ketone energy metabolism, given that ApoE4 differentially impacts insulin resistance, glucose metabolism and microglia . Yet, KD or MCT intake appeared to be more efficient in non-ApoE4 carriers .
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