Let's start with one exciting piece of news: the ketogenic diet can help keep your arteries young!
A recent study showed that increased levels of a particular type of ketone actually helps keep blood vessels youthful, healing both the smooth muscle cells supporting the arteries and the lining (endothelial) cells exposed to our circulating blood.
Our blood vessels are subject to the process of aging: poorly done, the endothelial and muscle cells become damaged and as such are sources of inflammation which causes further problems, such as thickening of the walls of the arteries. Aging properly done, whether in your blood vessels, brains, or bones, involves the cleaning up of damaged cells and their replacement with newer and more youthful versions.
The ketone that is helpful in the study is beta-hydroxy butyrate, a ketone produced when you follow a low-carbohydrate diet, incorporate intermittent fasting into your routine, or when you provide your liver with abundant pre-ketone fuel in the form of MCT (medium chain triglyceride) oil.
My fave way to do that is with Perfect Keto’s MCT Oil Powder: mixes easily into water, broth or ?? (surprise me!) and boosts ketone production over several hours, without the gastrointestinal activation experienced with the pure oil itself.
Second news item about ketones is what many have observed: One of three low-carb-eating groups of mice was given a ketone supplement. They spontaneously reduced their overall calorie intake, and even when that was matched (by one of the other groups of mice), the ketone-supplemeted mice lost more weight than any of the other groups.
So not only does a ketogenic diet OR a ketone-boosting supplement help your blood vessel health, it can also be a good tool for fat loss if that is one of your other goals.
