[todayistomorrow]

This thread is for people interested in starting the keto diet and reporting their results. I've been digging into keto research for the past couple months and am hopeful that this could result in a boost to my quality of my life. Right now, most of the research for keto diet has been for epileptic seizures but it's also believed to be beneficial for people with alzheimers and TBI's.

Dom D'Agostino, who has a PhD in molecular pharmacology and physiology, is a leader in this field. Below is his website and his recent podcast on Joe Rogan(long and technical) but describes why being in ketosis is beneficial to people with brain injuries.


KetoNutrition

Joe Rogan Experience #994 - Dom D'Agostino - YouTube

It would be amazing to get a large group of people with TBI on this diet and document the effects. It does take a few months for the body to adapt to using fat as its main fuel source and the first month is going to be a very hard transition.




Disclaimer:consult with your doctor before starting any diet.

[smutsik]

I've been interested in keto ever since reading that higher levels of beta-hydroxybutyrate increased levels of BDNF in the brain but I've been having so much trouble with symptoms getting worse when I'm hungry that I don't think that the transition phase would be worth it for me. I've only been PCS:ed for 4-5 months though, so if this sticks around for longer I will try it out for sure.

How long have you been having symptoms?

[todayistomorrow]

Originally Posted by smutsik

I've been interested in keto ever since reading that higher levels of beta-hydroxybutyrate increased levels of BDNF in the brain but I've been having so much trouble with symptoms getting worse when I'm hungry that I don't think that the transition phase would be worth it for me. I've only been PCS:ed for 4-5 months though, so if this sticks around for longer I will try it out for sure.

How long have you been having symptoms?

6 years since my car accident. I tried keto for 2 days last month and my symptoms got really bad. I think the transition to keto is hard enough and is why I doubt many people with TBI have tried this route. There are things you can do to help prevent the "keto flu" such as take electrolyte supplements. Meal prep will also help the transition so you have plan for whole week.

What I'm really hopeful about is doing this with HBOT therapy. Dom mentions the benefits of doing both can be quite powerful.

Even for those that don't do full keto(and there are modified versions of keto) taking exogenous ketones and mct powder can still receive a lot of benefits. This a pretty new area and I know in general to be wary of the supplemental industry but I trust dom and he's one of the leaders in this field.

[smutsik]

Yeah I'd be trying it out if I was 6 years in, for sure. Tim Ferris has a lot of videos on ketosis too, and I found this guide when researching the subjects last week:
How To Get Into Ketosis: The Quintessential Guide

I've heard KetoCaNa recommended aswell, it seems you can eat more carbs and still remain in ketosis if you supplement. I don't know if you're doing any workouts, but supposedly one could eat more carbs before the workout. I think you could get real benefits from doing this, BDNF should be key in our struggle to get rid of our symptoms:
Ketone beta-hydroxybutyrate up-regulates BDNF expression through NF-κB as an adaptive response against ROS, which may improve
neuronal bioenergetics and enhance neuroprotection (P3.9)

If you're not read up on BDNF it is a protein that promotes synaptogenesis, or, the formation of new connections between neurons. This is hugely important when it comes to rebuilding brain structures that are damaged, as BDNF is one of the key mechanisms behind brain plasticity overall

[metmike07]

I found keto by trial and error after realizing eating rice, beans, pasta, pizza, oatmeal all in one day made my PCS symptoms worse. I cut them all out, went ketogenic, and my recovery immediately started happening faster. I've been eating this way for 1.5 years now, and stay low-carb based upon all the other metabolic benefits.

Keto wasn't a cure-all for my PCS, I still get symptoms if I bump my head or shake it the wrong way. However I still do feel better not eating all the garbage refined carbs. I recently went on a break with guests in town and much of the head fog is back after eating like crap for a week. KCKO

[Hains]

There's definitely a huge benefit to early concussion response and PCS recovery from simply removing metmike07's foods (refined carbs and processed sugars) as they ultimately lead to neuro-inflammation in most people.

For early concussion response, I don't think there's a benefit to a keto-diet. Optimal fat metabolism takes time to develop if you normally rely on glucose for energy. Since metabolism becomes impaired right after head impact you'd want to give the brain an easy glucose source from low-inflammation foods (ie. real unprocessed and low-glycemic foods).

But for PCS recovery, I think a keto-diet can be beneficial for improving PCS related metabolism dysfunction and reducing neuro-inflammation. The science and research that I rely on hasn't definitively shown this, however the current science being published seems to be leading down this path.

There's some positive research in other fields like Alzheimer's research that I think we 'post-concussed' heads can draw from.

I've personally cycled through a few types of keto-diets, including fasting and mct-oil induced states, I found it to be beneficial for reducing brain fog and enhancing cognitive function which directly resulted in a big improvement in my office work performance.

I would promote the keto-diet cycling as a beneficial tool for people who are "stuck" with PCS and looking for something to get their recovery out of a rut.

Some good reading:

1) This study provides a solid description of the cascade of events following a concussion:
The Neurometabolic Cascade of Concussion

2) This study provides some information on keto-diets and TBI:
Ketogenic Diet - Nutrition and Traumatic Brain Injury - NCBI Bookshelf

3) This 2017 study from the Alzheimer's research field showing benefits from keto-diets:
Ketogenic diets and Alzheimer’s disease - ScienceDirect

Cheers

Hains