A recent study published by Yale University conducted by Indian-origin Visha Deep Dixit- the Walderman Von Zedtwitz Professor of Comparative Medicine and Immunobiology and Akiko Iwasaki- the Walderman Von Zedtwitz Professor of Immunobiology and Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, an investigator of the Howard Huges Medical Institute disclosed that mice fed a ketogenic diet could tackle flu virus much effectively than mice on a regular diet.
Visha Deep Dixit alongside Ryan Molony who is a trainee working in Iwasaki’s laboratory had thought that what if diet could ruin the immune system with regards to pathogens like the flu virus.
When they put a bunch of mice on diet and then infected them with the influenza virus, they learnt that the one fed ketogenic diet disclosed a higher survival rate as compared to the mice fed high-carb meals.
It should be noted that a ketogenic diet is known to force the body to burn as many as fat for energy which helps with weight loss.
They learnt that the ketogenic diet activates the release of gamma delta T cells and they came to know that regular diet didn’t. These are nothing but immune system cells that produce mucus in the cell linings of the lung. In addition to that, mice on Keto diet didn’t lose much weight in their illness also.
Dixit added in a statement, “This study shows that the way the body burns fat to produce ketone bodies from the food we eat can fuel the immune system to fight flu infection.”
In an attempt to stay fit, many people have started to switch to a high-fat low-carb diet called a Ketogenic or Keto diet.