Can Keto Cure You? 10 Conditions It May Help and 5 It Won't

Ketosis is a metabolic state where your body burns fat instead of glucose for energy. The keto diet provides several health benefits, including weight loss and treating chronic illness. It works by altering the metabolic pathway of your body by adopting a diet that involves fewer carbs and a high amount of fat, which triggers ketosis.

Asking your body to run on alternate fuel may impact your insulin regulation and inflammation and even help you manage some health conditions. Since a keto diet is severely restrictive, you must speak to a doctor. If your doctor approves it, you can approach a registered dietician to plan a specialized keto diet that maximizes nutrients and minimizes potential deficiencies.

 Ten health conditions that can benefit from a Keto diet

Obesity

A ketogenic diet may help you lose weight, including boosting metabolism and reducing hunger pangs. These diets include foods that help make you feel full and satiated for a longer duration, which minimizes the hunger-stimulating hormones in your body. Researchers found people taking on Keto lose 2-5 pounds more than those following a low-fat diet within a year.

Acne breakouts

Of all the various causes, diet and blood sugar remain the primary reasons for an acne breakout. Eating a diet with processed and refined carbs may balance the bacteria in your gut, causing your blood sugar to rise and fall rapidly. This can trigger various skin issues in your body. Studies say that decreasing carb intake through Keto can reduce acne symptoms in most people.

Cardiovascular health

While the Keto diet focuses on increasing the fat level in your diet, that doesn't signify it as a bad diet for your heart's health. In fact, it involves incorporating healthy fats, such as avocado, omega 3 &6, etc., in your diet to reduce bad cholesterol (LDL) levels and increase good cholesterol (HDL).

Alzheimer's disease

A keto diet generates ketone, known for offering neuroprotective benefits in humans. It can strengthen and protect your brain and nerve cells. This is why a Keto diet may help you prevent or manage degenerative disorders like Alzheimer's.

Some people consider Alzheimer's disease type-3 diabetes, as both conditions are linked with insulin resistance. Experts say that fuelling your brain with ketones or carb restriction is similar to a cleaner burning fuel, which is a great way to delay brain aging. 

A small 2012 study involving 23 older adults with higher risks of Alzheimer's experienced improved memory function after six weeks following a ketogenic diet. Similarly, a recent review of 12 studies found that the keto diet can help with improved brain metabolism and cognitive benefits, which can help people prevent or delay Alzheimer's.

Seizures

A keto diet triggers ketones, which your body uses as an alternative fuel for energy by putting your body in ketosis. The Epilepsy Foundation suggests that procedures like ketosis can help reduce seizures in people with epilepsy. It was even helpful for patients who didn't previously respond to another form of treatment. 

PCOS

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a hormonal disorder characterized by excessive male hormones, polycystic ovaries, and ovulatory dysfunction in patients. A high-carb diet is known to have an adverse effect on people with PCOS, casing skin issues and weight gain. 

In a study involving five women over 24 weeks, researchers found that a ketogenic diet can help reverse several adverse effects of PCOS by improving several markers such as weight loss, hormone balance, luteinizing hormone (LH), and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) ratio and fasting insulin levels.

Another study in 2019 found the ketogenic diet beneficial for people with hormonal disorders, PCOS, and type 2 diabetes. 

Gout

A ketogenic diet contains food with anti-inflammatory properties, which could be beneficial for preventing Gout. However, the research on this subject still needs to be more conclusive. Hence, you may follow a keto diet for prevention but not as a cure for Gout. This is why; if you notice a gout flare, you should consult your doctor. 

Certain Cancers

Some epileptic syndromes are caused due to the same genetic mutation in PIK3CA seen in some cancers. Ketosis is known to improve the efficiency of radiation and chemotherapy. However, you need to be extremely careful while planning a keto diet. This is because some keto diets include foods high in saturated fat and low in fiber. This increases the chance of eliminating foods like fruits and legumes from your diet, which can be protective against cancer. 

Different oncologists will give different advice, and only a minority of physicians recommend low-carb diets for their cancer patients. This might only change if FDA takes on the reign in this topic and conduct some well-designed clinical trials to prove this.

Migraines

Inflammation plays a significant role in migraine headaches, and the anti-inflammatory properties of a keto diet may help you get rid of these migraines. According to the American Migraine Foundation, a keto diet is not the only diet to control migraine. However, it can still be pretty valuable, especially when suffering from multiple inflammatory conditions.

Autism

The Keto diet can help improve behavior in patients with an autism spectrum disorder. It was discovered in a small study in 2018 involving 15 children. They were given a modified gluten-free keto diet and supplemental MCT (medium-chain triglyceride). After three months, patients showed a positive reaction to the diet with a better improvement in some behavioral symptoms associated with autism. While the previous study has limited size and scope, one more review of seven collective studies also has the same verdict. 

Conditions that cannot be cured with a Keto Diet

Type 1 Diabetes

The Keto diet is not recommended for people with type-1 diabetes. In fact, it could be dangerous to follow severely limiting carbs in the diet and lower your blood sugar levels.

Eating Disorders

People with anorexia or bulimia, or any other eating disorders should not try to change their diet as it could lead to relapse. If you have concerns over your health, there are plenty of other diets to follow that could address your health concerns without triggering your existing eating disorders.

Binge-Eating Disorder (BED)

Binge eating disorder is a severe disorder that cannot be treated with a severely restrictive diet like Keto. Most people claim that the fat in the keto diet helps them stay full, but these behaviors are only temporary, and sooner or later, people with BED will soon start bingeing to compensate for their cravings.

According to experts, hunger is a normal body response that one shouldn't suppress. Therefore, patients with BED require regular, proper, and satiating food intake coupled with psychological therapy to cope with stress and emotions triggering their binge eating episodes.

Thyroid disorders

Several pieces of evidence suggest that the keto diet suppresses the thyroid hormone T3, which is unsuitable for people with hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism. However, the opinions are conflicting. In a study, participants experience more weight loss after taking a keto diet and also see a favorable concentration of thyroid hormones in their bodies. The topic requires more in-depth research; until then, patients with thyroid issues should stay on the keto diet.

'Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

Since the keto diet is sometimes recommended for neurodegenerative diseases, some think it is a treatment for multiple sclerosis. However, research on this topic needs more evidence. According to a test tube and animal studies review, the keto diet improves mitochondrial functions. It increases ATP production, which can preserve brain functions and slow down MS progression in patients. However, this is all in theory, and further studies are required.