sa国际传媒

Skip to content

UBC Okanagan study suggests ditching cheat days on diet

Researchers argue that those on keto diets should reconsider cheat days
16149332_web1_cheatday2

The often embraced sa国际传媒榗heat daysa国际传媒 is a common theme in many diets and the popular ketogenic diet is no exception.

New research from UBCsa国际传媒檚 Okanagan campus says that just one 75-gram dose of glucosesa国际传媒攖he equivalent a large bottle of soda or a plate of friessa国际传媒攚hile on a high fat, low carbohydrate diet can lead to damaged blood vessels.

sa国际传媒淭he ketogenicsa国际传媒攐r ketosa国际传媒攄iet has become very common for weight loss or to manage diseases like type 2 diabetes,sa国际传媒 said Jonathan Little, associate professor in the School of Health and Exercise Sciences at UBCO and study senior author.

sa国际传媒淚t consists of eating foods rich in fats, moderate in protein, but very low in carbohydrates and it causes the body to go into a state called ketosis.sa国际传媒

READ MORE: Okanagan Fest of Ale promises to be bigger and better

READ MORE: Free health assessment for Okanagan seniors

Little said that the diet can be very effective because once the body is in ketosis and starved for its preferred fuel glucose, the bodysa国际传媒檚 chemistry changes and it begins to aggressively burn its fat stores. This leads to weight loss and can reverse the symptoms of diseases like Type 2 diabetes.

sa国际传媒淲e were interested in finding out what happens to the bodysa国际传媒檚 physiology once a dose of glucose is reintroduced,sa国际传媒 says Cody Durrer, UBC Okanagan doctoral student and study first author.

sa国际传媒淪ince impaired glucose tolerance and spikes in blood sugar levels are known to be associated with an increased risk in cardiovascular disease, it made sense to look at what was happening in the blood vessels after a sugar hit.sa国际传媒

READ MORE: Small loss for Kelowna bee farmer due to cold snap

For the test, the researchers recruited nine healthy young males and had them consume a 75-gram glucose drink before and after a seven-day high fat, low carbohydrate diet. The diet consisted of 70 per cent fat, 10 per cent carbohydrates and 20 per cent protein, similar to that of a modern ketogenic diet.

sa国际传媒淲e were originally looking for things like an inflammatory response or reduced tolerance to blood glucose,sa国际传媒 says Durrer. sa国际传媒淲hat we found instead were biomarkers in the blood suggesting that vessel walls were being damaged by the sudden spike in glucose.sa国际传媒

Little said that the most likely culprit for the damage is the bodysa国际传媒檚 own metabolic response to excess blood sugar, which causes blood vessel cells to shed and possibly die.

READ MORE: Two Canadian artificial intelligence pioneers nab techsa国际传媒檚 sa国际传媒楴obel Prizesa国际传媒

sa国际传媒淓ven though these were otherwise healthy young males, when we looked at their blood vessel health after consuming the glucose drink, the results looked like they might have come from someone with poor cardiovascular health,sa国际传媒 adds Little. sa国际传媒淚t was somewhat alarming.sa国际传媒

The researchers point out that with only nine individuals included in the study, more work is needed to verify their findings, but that the results should give those on a keto diet pause when considering a cheat day.

sa国际传媒淥ur data suggests a ketogenic diet is not something you do for six days a week and take Saturday off.sa国际传媒

To report a typo, email:
newstips@kelownacapnews.com
.



newstips@kelownacapnews.com

Like us on and follow us on .





(or

sa国际传媒

) document.head.appendChild(flippScript); window.flippxp = window.flippxp || {run: []}; window.flippxp.run.push(function() { window.flippxp.registerSlot("#flipp-ux-slot-ssdaw212", "Black Press Media Standard", 1281409, [312035]); }); }