Can the Keto Diet Help Boost Your Immune System
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The Keto diet has many benefits. The benefit that is focused on the most is the ability to achieve incredible weight loss results on a ketogenic diet. But Keto has lots of other benefits including increased energy levels, reduced risk of Type 2 diabetes, and improved brain function.
But one of the less explored benefits is that the Keto diets impact on your immune system. Your immune system’s functionality is directly impacted by your nutrition. Since Keto is a fairly restrictive nutritional plan, it can have a positive effect on your immune system.
Here are some ways the Keto diet has the potential to help boost your immune system.
Image Source: lifespan.io
Boosting Your T Cells
T Cells are a type of white blood cell. They are made in your bone marrow and are essential to a healthy immune system. There are lots of different types of T Cells, such as regulatory T Cells which help to control immune reactions. Cytotoxic T Cells are another type that kills the cells in your body which are contaminated by different infections.
Another hugely important function of T Cells is their ability to create a “memory” of past infections. Memory T Cells remain in your body after an infection has been dispelled. Then, if it detects the presence of that infection (or “antigen”) again, it motivates other T Cells to quickly react and fight the infection.
Your T Cells are the soldiers of your immune system. Without their presence and ability to memorize and effectively fight infections, humans would be much more susceptible to many diseases and illnesses.
2. Keto and T Cells
A study at the Yale School of Medicine involved groundbreaking research into the effects of the Keto diet on T Cell production.
In the study, two groups of mice were infected with the flu strain Influenza A. One group had been fed a ketogenic diet for a week prior to infection. The other group of mice was fed a standard diet.
The results of the study were pretty compelling. All of the mice who were fed a standard diet succumbed after four days. In the group of mice that were fed a Keto diet, only half of the mice died from the infection. The “keto mice” also lost less weight than the other group. Weight loss is a significant indicator of flu infection in animals.
After further analysis, the scientists found that the Keto diet had increased numbers of a specific T Cell type in the lungs. This resulted in increased mucus on the lungs and higher protection of cells in the lining of the lungs against infection.
While the same level of study has not been conducted in Keto and T Cell production in humans, the scientists were confident that a link between the two had been established in the study.
3. Reducing inflammation
Inflammation is a natural part of your autoimmune response. When infection occurs, inflammation happens as your body’s immune response rushes to the area, including things like T Cells built to fight the infection. Sites of infection that are inflamed can feel warm, swollen, and painful.
But when our bodies are out of balance, that immune response can run out of control, resulting in excessive inflammation.
Chronic inflammation is at the root of many autoimmune diseases, and there are studies that estimate that by controlling our environment, we have control over approximately 77% of our immune system responses.
The Keto diet has a direct and profound effect on inflammation. The biochemistry is fairly complex, but essentially boils down to how ketones produced during ketosis help to regulate pathways in the body that manage inflammation.
4. Keto means healthier
Many health issues such as obesity and Type 2 diabetes have been on the rise in modern society, largely due to unhealthy diets. When you’re on a standard diet, it’s easy to consume a lot of excess unhealthy fats and sugars which directly contribute to these health issues. Fast food and complex carbohydrates have become an unfortunate standard for many of us when we’re not paying attention to what we consume.
On the Keto diet, your carbs are restricted to approximately 20g per day, which naturally cuts out a lot of the unhealthy foods that contribute to an unhealthy immune system. To consume the calories you need on the Keto diet, your options automatically become a lot healthier once those carbs are limited.
5. Boost your micronutrients
While your macronutrients (carbs, proteins, fats) mainly provide energy, the Keto diet also encourages you to pay more attention to your micronutrient intake, too.
Micronutrients are the vitamins and minerals our bodies need to maintain optimal health. They contribute massively to the health of your immune system in particular.
Some micronutrients that are vital to immune system health include:
Vitamin B6
Vitamin C
Vitamin E
Magnesium
Zinc
A properly balanced ketogenic diet can help to support further boosting of your immune system through proper micronutrient intake.
6. Obesity reduction
The exact causation of obesity’s impact on the body’s immune response has yet to be conclusively established. However, several studies have proven that the link does exist.
The studies have shown that both animals and humans affected by obesity have reduced autoimmune response. High sugar diets can significantly increase your body’s risk of infection.
7. Changing your microbiome
Microbiomes are collections of organisms in the body such as different types of bacteria. They are crucial to balancing the immune system, hormonal levels, and metabolic functions in the body.
The microbiome in our guts is thought to have a huge impact on our immune systems, largely by regulating the health of our digestive system’s lining. Studies on the effect of a ketogenic diet on the gut microbiome are fairly limited so far, but initial research suggests that the Keto diet can reduce certain bacteria that promote inflammation in the body and help protect against a host of other illnesses and chronic conditions.
The Keto diet comes with a whole host of benefits, and improved immune system function is just the beginning of how a ketogenic diet can improve your health.
