Share on PinterestA study found that the human body has different immune-system responses to keto and vegan diets. d3sign/Getty ImagesA new study from researchers at the National Institutes of Health in the United States has found significant immune-system responses to ketogenic and vegan diets.Participants followed both diets for two weeks each. The keto diet was found to prompt responses associated with pathogen-specific immunity developed through regular exposure and vaccines.The vegan diet elicited responses rooted in innate immunity, the body’s first line of defense against pathogens.
A new study from researchers at the National Institutes of Health has found significant immune-system responses to ketogenic and vegan diets.
By performing “a multiomics approach including multidimensional flow cytometry, transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic and metagenomic datasets,” the researchers were able to assess how 20 participants’ bodies responded to two weeks each of the ketogenic and vegan dietary regimes.
The ketogenic diet prompted responses associated with adaptive immunity — pathogen-specific immunity that is developed through regular exposure and vaccines — while the vegan diet elicited responses rooted in innate immunity, which is the body’s first line of defense against pathogens.
There were also significant changes in the microbiomes of the participants, specifically the abundance of the gut bacteria associated with each diet. The ketogenic diets seemed to lead to a reduction in amino acid metabolism within their microbiomes, perhaps as a result of the larger amount of amino acids in that diet.
Each participant was allowed to eat as much as they wanted during the two weeks they were adhering to each diet.
When people were on the vegan diet, which contained about 10% fat and 75% carbohydrates, they consumed fewer calories than their counterparts on the keto diet, which was made of about 76% fat and 10% carbohydrates.
Given the random application of the order of the diets and the diversity of the participants in age, race, gender, ethnicity, and body mass index (BMI), the study’s authors point to how these diets can be consistently applied to…