PROTEIN ON A KETOGENIC DIET
Contrary to popular belief, ketogenic diets are not meant to
be high in protein. This is because excess protein (beyond
what is required to maintain your muscle) can be
transformed into glucose in the body, a process called
gluconeogenesis. Dietary protein is also insulin-stimulating,
albeit to a much smaller degree than carbohydrates—insulin
helps to shuttle amino acids from the protein into skeletal
muscle tissue to aid in repair (this is helpful in the context of
resistance training, for example, where it promotes muscle-
protein synthesis).
The ketogenic diet has been in clinical use for over
eighty years as a powerful treatment for epilepsy, where it
can dramatically reduce seizure incidence and calm
inflammation in the brain. It’s been so effective, and its
safety record so robust, that it’s currently being evaluated as
a therapeutic option for numerous other neurological
diseases. Migraines, depression, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s,
and even amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, are all
conditions that have been associated with excessive brain
inflammation.^21 Any of these conditions may theoretically
benefit from ketones not only for treatment but in
prevention. (The ketogenic diet has been found to improve
memory function in patients with mild cognitive impairment
— considered pre-dementia —and even early Alzheimer’
disease.)^22