New study was just reported on the BBC Health: Diet 'can reverse kidney failure' in mice with diabetes
Quote:
A controlled diet high in fat and low in carbohydrate can repair kidney damage in diabetic mice, according to US scientists. The study, published in journal PLoS ONE, showed a "ketogenic diet" could reverse damage caused to tubes in the kidneys by too much sugar in the blood. ... After eight weeks the researchers noted that kidney damage was reversed. Professor Charles Mobbs, who led the research at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, said: "Our study is the first to show that a dietary intervention alone is enough to reverse this serious complication of diabetes.
The study:
Reversal of Diabetic Nephropathy by a Ketogenic Diet
Quote:
In mouse models for both Type 1 (Akita) and Type 2 (db/db) diabetes, diabetic nephropathy (as indicated by albuminuria) was allowed to develop, then half the mice were switched to a ketogenic diet. After 8 weeks on the diet, mice were sacrificed to assess gene expression and histology. Diabetic nephropathy, as indicated by albumin/creatinine ratios as well as expression of stress-induced genes, was completely reversed by 2 months maintenance on a ketogenic diet. However, histological evidence of nephropathy was only partly reversed. These studies demonstrate that diabetic nephropathy can be reversed by a relatively simple dietary intervention. Whether reduced glucose metabolism mediates the protective effects of the ketogenic diet remains to be determined.
Let's look at this detail, quote:
None of the conditions influenced blood pH, although there was a non-significant trend toward reduced blood pH (i.e., acidification) in diabetic mice, and the ketogenic diet reversed this trend.
In other words:
-- KETOGENIC DIET REVERSED DIABETIC ACIDIFICATION! --
Which totally undermines all the bullshit that the mainstream medical authorities together with vegetarian promoters used to hurl against Atkins! Furthermore:
-- KETONE PROTECTS AGAINST GLUCOSE TOXICITY AND AGAINST OXIDATIVE STRESS --
As the authors explain, quote:
The ketone 3-OHB is cytoprotective
To further assess potential mechanisms mediating the protective effects of the ketogenic diet, and since glucose toxicity in diabetes is thought to be mediated by glucose-induced oxidative stress, we assessed if the ketone 3-OHB would protect cells from oxidative stress enhanced by either high or low glucose. As shown in Figure 6, 3-OHB produced a dose-responsive cytoprotective effect at both elevated and reduced glucose.
The authors also concluded that:
-- REDUCTION OF GLUCOSE METABOLISM MAY BE GENERALLY BENEFICIAL --
Quote:
...we hypothesize that at least part of the restorative effect was mediated by reduction of glucose metabolism. This hypothesis is supported by several lines of evidence. First, the ketogenic diet appears to reduce the frequency of epileptic seizures by reducing glucose metabolism [11], [12]. Second, molecular responses to the ketogenic diet indicates a re-routing of cellular metabolism away from glucose utilization and toward the use of alternative fuels [13], [14]. Finally, we have shown that ketone 3-OHB blocks molecular effects of glucose [9]. We therefore hypothesize that the ketogenic diet reverses diabetic nephropathy by raising blood levels of 3-OHB which subsequently reduce glucose metabolism in at least some tissues including kidney. Since ketones and the ketogenic diet are neuroprotective in a wide range of conditions [31], a phenomenon we have corroborated in the present study (Figure 6), it seems highly likely that the ketogenic diet will be protective in diabetic neuropathy and possibly retinopathy as well..