A Diet To Prevent The Flu?

The Ketogenic Diet Reduces Flu and Flu Related Deaths (at least in mice).

I’ll briefly discuss a recent study published in the Journal of Immunology that shows a surprising benefit of ketogenic diets.

Before I do though, think about this one thing… throughout human history, we’ve relied upon seasonal, locally available plants and animals for our food.

During the summer months, we were provided with more fruits and plants that provided greater sources of carbohydrates. This served to fatten us up for the scarcity of winter.

In later fall and winter, historically we had to rely primarily upon animals for food. This means we were eating very low amounts of carbohydrates.

This put us into ketosis where we could access our body fat because our blood sugar and therefore insulin levels fell causing us to unlock body fat stores so the liver could produce ketones.

Have you ever noticed that the cold and flu season is fall and winter, a time traditionally associated with us being in ketosis?

In our modern world, this doesn’t naturally occur because we package all the processed junk foods that line the grocery store shelves providing an endless supply of carbohydrates/sugar which prevents us from ever entering the process of ketosis that we innately have within us to access and burn our body fat stores.

We also ship our modified larger and sweeter fruit from distant parts of the world to our local supermarkets where we can access them any day of the year.

These foods are not congruent with our natural history and have strongly contributed to obesity, diabetes, and all chronic health problems.

Taking this to a next logical step, Could it be that failing to maintain our normal cycles that we increase our susceptibility to colds and flu viruses?

Maybe, the natural cycle was protective against this seasonal problem that plagues us today?

The study I mentioned above found that the ketogenic diet made mice better at fighting the flu by improving the way that immune cells in the lungs perform, helping boost their natural response to the flu.

More research is needed to know if the same is true in people, but I’ve certainly seen less colds and flus in both myself and my patients that are following a ketogenic diet. Certainly this is not a double blinded research finding… Still it’s important as an observation.

In the research referenced below…

Mice on keto diets also maintained their weight better if they did get the flu, upping their chances of survival.

The same wasn’t true of other mice, even if they were fed high-fat diets (which included more carbs), or were administered chemical ketone bodies (instead of making their own), suggesting there’s something special about being in ketosis, the fat-burning metabolic state from eating a keto diet.

The ketogenic diet which for people includes meat, fish, poultry, and non-starchy vegetables activates a type of immune system T cells in the lungs improving mucus production from airway cells that effectively trap the virus and allow our bodies to get rid of it, the researchers report.

References:
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-11-ketogenic-diet-flu-virus.amp
https://immunology.sciencemag.org/content/4/41/eaav2026

Concerning lifestyle and diet – there isn’t one perfect diet for everyone.

There are individual differences in people. This one fact is why diet can be so confusing to everyone. We have differences specific to each of us even if some things are pretty universal.

Some of these differences relate to food sensitivities and other immune reactions that require eliminating foods. The worse case scenario is that the immune reactions are driving autoimmunity.

These are very common in people. Almost all plant foods due to the plant’s chemical defenses that they produce to protect themselves from infection or being eaten.

Two common exceptions to the plant only problem are dairy and eggs (primarily egg whites) both of which often trigger immune reactions in people driving inflammation and health problems… but some can consume these whereas others can not.

Other differences depend on certain health problems like diabetes and many chronic diseases that require careful attention to lowering blood sugar/insulin levels and keeping them stable over time. This is especially true if people are taking medications to artificially lower their blood sugar.

In other people wanting to lose weight, it’s important to keep blood sugars down.

A ketogenic diet is very often the best way to lose weight.

Another dietary difference might depend upon sports and exercise.

Depending upon many factors within you and the type of exercise you’re doing, it might make sense to be a little higher carb at times and other times very low carb or ketogenic.

For example, many world class endurance athletes are doing ketogenic diets to give them access to their fat stores during long events. Many strength athletes have found a ketogenic diet works very well for them.

Whereas doing something like crossfit with high sprint-like demands most often would not do as well in ketosis and may in fact cause themselves harm.

So for different athletes, it depends.

Personally, I lift heavy weights and train Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

I’ve been in ketosis for over 5 years without ever coming out of ketosis.

My endurance is better, my inflammation and recovery is better in ketosis. Prior to that I was primarily low-carb paleo for almost 20 years. This also worked well for me.

A final word on this, there’s a lot more to a healthy lifestyle than diet alone.

It’s just that diet is where almost everyone needs the most work. Other areas include endurance and resistance exercise, sleep, stress, getting outside, among other things.