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New study suggests a specialized low-calorie keto diet could reverse biological aging by more than six years A groundbreaking study from Spain has uncovered remarkable evidence that a very low-calorie ketogenic diet might literally turn back the clock on aging at the cellular level. The research, focusing on individuals with obesity, found that this specialized eating approach could reverse biological aging by more than six years—potentially opening new doors for health interventions beyond mere weight loss. Powered By TrackerDistroScale Logo What the research discovered about aging and obesity The Spanish researchers examined two distinct groups: individuals with normal weight and...

A few years ago, West Virginia, which has the highest obesity rate in the nation, quietly began a small and unusual pilot program that would touch hundreds of lives: It started covering obesity drugs for state employees—even as many other insurers balked at what they considered expensive “vanity” drugs. The program was, by health measures, a success. Patients shed as much as 120 pounds, their cholesterol dropped, their prediabetes faded, and they cut down on blood-pressure meds. As word began to spread, more patients wanted to join. A school nurse told me her weight loss inspired at least six other...

Elon Musk, who is spearheading President-elect Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, is touting GLP-1 drugs to treat obesity. “Nothing would do more to improve the health, lifespan and quality of life for Americans than making GLP inhibitors [sic] super low cost to the public,” Musk wrote in a post on X Wednesday. “Nothing else is even close.” Musk’s comments come just two weeks after the Biden administration made an 11th-hour push to require Medicare and state Medicaid programs to cover obesity drugs. The administration is proposing to reinterpret a 2003 law banning Medicare from covering popular GLP-1s directly for...

"Nothing would do more" to bolster Americans’ health, he wrote in a post on X.Elon Musk, who is spearheading President-elect Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, is touting GLP-1 drugs to treat obesity. “Nothing would do more to improve the health, lifespan and quality of life for Americans than making GLP inhibitors [sic] super low cost to the public,” Musk wrote in a post on X Wednesday. “Nothing else is even close.” [Snip] It’s not clear how Musk would make GLP-1s “super low cost.” The drugs are expected to be eligible for Medicare price negotiation down the line, which could...

Ketone bodies, produced by the body to provide fuel during fasting, have roles in regulating cellular processes and aging mechanisms beyond energy production. Research shows that ketone bodies can best be understood as powerful signaling metabolites affecting brain function in aging and Alzheimer's disease. A new study demonstrates that ketone bodies and similar metabolites have profound effects on the proteome and protein quality control in the brain. Scientists, working on mouse models of Alzheimer's disease and aging, and in the nematode C. elegans, reveal the ketone body β-hydroxybutyrate interacts directly with misfolded proteins, altering their solubility and structure so they...

Scientists have long suspected the keto diet might be able to calm an overactive immune system and help some people with diseases like multiple sclerosis. Now, they have reason to believe it could be true. Scientists have discovered that the diet makes the gut and its microbes produce two factors that attenuated symptoms of MS in mice. If the study translates to humans, it points toward a new way of treating MS and other autoimmune disorders with supplements. The keto diet severely restricts carbohydrate-rich foods, but allows unlimited fat consumption. Without carbohydrates to use as fuel, the body breaks down...

Patients improved their insulin responses after being taken off medications and adjusting lifestyle. Type 2 diabetes patients who went on a low-carbohydrate diet saw their insulin production double, potentially eliminating their need for medication, according to a new study published Tuesday in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. Type 2 diabetes occurs when insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells become less effective. Insulin is needed to regulate blood sugar levels, and when there is not enough being produced, blood sugar levels rise, causing various diseases linked to Type 2 diabetes. No conventional drug for Type 2 diabetes has been shown to...

Researchers at Aarhus University have synthesized a molecule called LaKe that replicates the metabolic effects of exercise and fasting. This advancement allows the body to mimic the beneficial states of high lactate and ketone levels, which could transform into an innovative nutritional supplement aiding those unable to maintain rigorous exercise and diet routines, and potentially assist in treating brain-related conditions like Parkinson’s and dementia. Exercise and Fasting Benefits Mimicked by New Molecule Regular exercise and periodic fasting are widely recognized for their numerous health benefits. These activities strengthen the heart and lower blood fat levels due to the body’s natural...

The ketogenic (keto) diet may lower testosterone levels in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), according to a paper. PCOS is the most common hormone disorder in women, affecting 7–10% of women of childbearing age. It can cause infertility and raises the risk of developing diabetes, obesity and other metabolic health problems. Women with PCOS have at least two of these signs: Elevated levels of testosterone and other androgen hormones associated with male reproduction, irregular periods, and large ovaries with many small follicles. The keto diet is a high fat, low carbohydrate diet that has shown promising effects in women...

Keto, carnivore, low-carb. These are all just “fad diets,” right? Not so fast. Scientists at UC San Francisco recently published a study in Nature that showed a high-fat ketogenic diet combined with fasting restricted the growth of pancreatic tumors in mice.The study took a look at how certain tumors use ketone bodies as an energy source and that fasting and a ketogenic diet change the way messenger RNA “feeds” those tumors. Let’s take a step back for a moment and talk at a basic level about how this all works. Disclaimer: I am a mere journalist and not a doctor...

A team of health and nutrition specialists has found that people on a ketogenic diet may experience an increase in LDL cholesterol levels, higher apolipoprotein B levels and reductions in certain gut bacteria. In their study, volunteers went on a ketogenic diet for a month so the researchers could study its impact on their bodies. A ketogenic diet consists of a drastic reduction in consumption of carbohydrates, replacing them with fats. In this new effort, the research team suspected that the diet may also lead to increases in LDL cholesterol levels and possibly other problems. To find out if that...

A strict "keto-friendly" diet popular for weight loss and diabetes, depending on both the diet and individual, might not be all that friendly. A new study led by researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio) found that a continuous long-term ketogenic diet may induce senescence, or aged, cells in normal tissues, with effects on heart and kidney function in particular. However, an intermittent ketogenic diet, with a planned keto vacation or break, did not exhibit any pro-inflammatory effects due to aged cells, according to the research. The findings have significant clinical...

For the roughly 150,000 AIDS patients who come down with a life-threatening infection called fungal meningitis each year, there's only one treatment: a drug called fluconazole that works for less than half of patients. Now, a study suggests there may be a way to improve the odds—simply by changing what patients eat. In animal tests, the researchers found that taking fluconazole in combination with a low-carb, high-fat keto diet worked significantly better at killing the fungus than taking the medication alone. For the new study, the researchers wondered if a keto diet—which deprives the body of glucose by cutting carbohydrate...

Adding a pre-ketone supplement—a component of a high-fat, low-carb ketogenic diet—to a type of cancer therapy in a laboratory setting was highly effective for treating prostate cancer, researchers found. Prostate cancer is resistant to a type of immunotherapy called immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy. ICB therapy paves the way for our body's fighter cells, T cells, to kill the cancer. Murphy divided the models into different groups: immunotherapy alone, ketogenic diet alone, a pre-ketone supplement alone, the ketogenic diet with the immunotherapy, the supplement with the immunotherapy, and the control. While the immunotherapy alone had almost no effect on the...

A new study shows that a ketogenic diet significantly delays the early stages of Alzheimer's-related memory loss in mice. This early memory loss is comparable to mild cognitive impairment in humans that precedes full-blown Alzheimer's disease. The ketogenic diet is a low-carbohydrate, high-fat, and moderate-protein diet, which shifts the body's metabolism from using glucose as the main fuel source to burning fat and producing ketones for energy. Researchers previously found that mice lived 13% longer on ketogenic diets. The new study, which follows up on that research, found that the molecule beta-hydroxybutyrate, or BHB, plays a pivotal role in preventing...

The findings were presented Monday at an American Heart Association meeting in Chicago and focused on a popular version of intermittent fasting that involves eating all your meals in just eight hours or less...commonly known as "time-restricted" eating...People who adhered to the eight-hour eating plan had a 91 percent higher risk of dying from heart disease compared to people...who eat their food across 12 to 16 hours each day.

— Reports are promising, but rigorous trials are needed, experts sayThe ketogenic diet has long been known for its use in treatment-resistant epilepsy, but attention is now turning to its potential benefits in mental illness as well. Could something as simple as a diet actually improve notoriously difficult-to-treat conditions including major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia? The evidence to date has been less rigorous than gold-standard randomized controlled trials. But new studies are underway, and more clinicians are keen to explore reports of patientsopens in a new tab or window whose psychiatric conditions improved when they adhered to a...

For the first time in the U.S., KFC is poised to roll out a combination fried chicken and pizza dish, appropriately dubbed the "Chizza." Instead of a dough crust like traditional pizza, the Chizza features a base layer of fried chicken topped with sauce, cheese, and pepperoni. "It's not pizza, it's Chizza: two 100% white meat Extra Crispy™ fried chicken filets topped with zesty marinara sauce, melty mozzarella cheese and crispy pepperoni," a press release explained. The concoction will be available for a limited time in the U.S., beginning on February 26, but people will be able to try it...

A 45-year-old Brooklyn woman has been arrested after human remains, including a head, were found inside a refrigerator at her apartment earlier this week, the NYPD said Friday. Heather Stines is charged with concealment of a human corpse in the case, which two senior NYPD police officials is now being treated as a homicide linked to a narcotics dispute. Attorney information for her wasn't clear. Investigators went to her Nostrand Avenue apartment Monday after Crime Stoppers received an anonymous tip, said Joseph Kenny, the NYPD's chief of detectives. The tipster indicated the possibility of a dead body being stored in...

A predominantly plant-based or vegetarian diet is linked to 39% lower odds of COVID-19 infection, finds research. The findings prompt the researchers to suggest that a diet high in vegetables, legumes, and nuts, and low in dairy products and meat, may help to ward off the infection. Participants were surveyed on their usual eating patterns and food group frequency, as well as lifestyle and medical history, including vaccination against COVID-19. They were then divided into either omnivorous (424) or predominantly plant-based (278) dietary groups. The plant-based food group was further divided into flexitarians/semi-vegetarians who ate meat three or fewer times...