Ketogenic Ratio Determines Metabolic Effects of Macronutrients and Prevents Interpretive Bias

Tanya Zilberter (1) , Yuri Zilberter (1)

1 INS - Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes

Thomas Seyfried remarked in his book [(1), page 6]: “The definition of ketogenic diet allows for considerable leeway in food choices as long as the individual has reduced blood glucose and is producing ketones.” Unfortunately, these parameters are lacking in many if not most of studies into metabolic effects of macronutrients. Meanwhile, there is a precise way to predict whether or not a diet will induce ketosis and the aim of this opinion article is to advocate a broader usage of this way. Why is this so important? Excess of carbohydrate intake typical for consumers of the Western diet may cause detrimental effects on metabolism and increase risks of the onset and progression of many neurodegenerative diseases (2–4). On the other hand, diets high in fat and low in carbohydrates decrease appetite, probabilities of food addiction and obesity, and are neuroprotective (5, 6). Carbohydrate restriction induces physiological changes which are very similar to the well documented beneficial effects of calorie restriction (7, 8). Conversely, the hallmark of high-carbohydrate diets is homeostatic inadequacy (9), an overproduction of reactive oxygen species and advanced glycation products, both of which are implicated in neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration (10–12). However, the meaning of “high” or “low” in diets' definition has been drifting away from the previously established quantitative criterion known as ketogenic ratio.

Keywords: diet classification; ketogenic threshold; anti-ketogenic threshold; macronutrients; metabolic effects of diets

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]

Tanya Zilberter, Yuri Zilberter. Ketogenic Ratio Determines Metabolic Effects of Macronutrients and Prevents Interpretive Bias. Frontiers in nutrition, 2018, 5, ⟨10.3389/fnut.2018.00075⟩. ⟨hal-02335412⟩