The ketogenic dietary approach for preventing or reducing blood pressure in people with hypertension has been gaining popularity for its effectiveness in preventing and treating the condition.
However, the ketogenic approach also has drawbacks.
A keto diet can increase the risk of metabolic syndrome, which is associated with an increased risk of heart disease and stroke, and hypertension.
There are also other health concerns, such as an increased likelihood of developing diabetes and obesity.
A new study by the University of California, San Francisco and Northwestern University suggests that the keto approach to blood pressure may have a number of other health benefits.
Researchers from UC San Francisco, Northwestern University, and the University College London, looked at the effects of a ketogenic ketogenic low carbohydrate diet (KLD) diet, a high-fat ketogenic meal replacement, and an Atkins diet on blood pressure and fasting blood glucose levels in 24 adults with moderate to severe hypertension.
The researchers found that participants who followed a keto low carbohydrate (KLC) diet for eight weeks had an average of a 0.15mmHg decrease in systolic blood pressure.
In contrast, participants who used a high fat ketogenic breakfast had an increase in sydolic blood pressures of 0.37mmHv compared to a baseline of 0,4mmHl.
The authors also found that those who followed the ketos keto meal replacement diet experienced an average decrease in fasting blood pressure of 0mmHgs, while the ketosis group experienced a decrease of 0-0.4mm Hg.
The study found that these improvements were more than made up for by a significant increase in diastolic blood levels.
“These results suggest that the high-carbohydrate ketogenic-high-fat meal replacement diets may be effective for lowering blood pressure as long as the diet is low in fat, high in fibre, and low in carbohydrates,” the authors concluded.
This is the first study to report these beneficial effects of ketosis on blood pressures.
“KLD diets are known to lower blood pressure while maintaining metabolic stability,” said lead author Dr Sarah Tabor, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Medicine.
“The keto ketogenic diets we found have been shown to have similar effects as high-fiber, high-vitamin and mineral diets.
This suggests that ketosis may be a potential way to reduce cardiovascular risk.”
This study was funded by the National Institutes of Health (grant R01 NS082874).
It was published online on January 21, 2017.