DOES THE KETO DIET AFFECT YOUR EYES?

In recent years, the ketogenic (or keto) diet has become popular, with an increase in celebrity endorsements, specialty cookbooks, and anecdotes alleging dramatic weight loss. His original aim, though, was not to help lose the excess pounds but to alleviate epileptic seizures in infants. This diet seems to be the trendy new thing and while we're not here to decide how it can support you achieve your weight loss goals, we will warn you how it could affect your skin. As usual, make sure to consult with the doctor before making any major adjustments to the diet.

A Quick History

Keto is a high-fat, low-carb, normal-protein diet aimed at keeping the body in a stable state called ketosis, thus the term ketogenic. Your body typically gets its food from glucose, which comes from seeds, starches and refined sugar. However, somebody feeding on a ketogenic diet produces rich keto and helps the body to burn fat instead of glucose. Records from 400 BC indicate doctors in ancient Greece using a keto-like diet to cure certain illnesses, including epilepsy. Years later, in 1921, Dr. Russell Morse Wilder invented the term "ketogenic diet" and started to use it as a way of treating epilepsy, especially in situations where the medicine was not of benefit. However, a recent development is the use of the keto diet for accelerated weight loss.

That Equilibrium Matters

Maintaining balance is important, as are most diets. So much of something-even healthy for you-can be dangerous. The right mix of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates on the keto diet is what makes you keep ketosis running. And eating so much protein will get it thrown out. Even making sure you get all the nutrients you need from the food you eat is crucial. For eg, due to a malfunction of their optic nerves two people being treated on keto diets for epilepsy began having vision problems. They later learned it was due to a lack in vitamin B1, and their symptoms were resolved after several weeks in B1 therapy.

Influence On Eye Protection

There's not any long-term study on the effects of the keto diet on anything but epilepsy. There are also some important studies directly related to eye protection. This research, for example, and another one in The Journal of Neuroscience, both demonstrate that it has a significant influence on glaucoma. The latter study found that placing glaucoma mice on a two-month keto diet shielded their retinal cells from degeneration. There are also reports of people claiming that since following a keto diet they have had improved vision but there is actually no evidence to support these claims.

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