Share on PinterestNew research suggests that eating a strict vegan or ketogenic diet can have a rapid positive effect on your immune system. FreshSplash/Getty ImagesScientists observed rapid and divergent changes in immune system response in individuals who ate a strict vegan or ketogenic diet.The findings are from a small trial conducted by the National Institutes of Health.Researchers believe the study could eventually lead to a better understanding of how diet could be used therapeutically to treat disease, but it is too early to tell.
Scientists are making strides in investigating the biological underpinnings behind that old adage, “You are what you eat.”
In a small study conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), researchers observed rapid changes to the immune system in individuals who adopted vegan and ketogenic diets.
The results of the study were published in the journal Nature Medicine.
In the trial, participants ate either a controlled vegan or ketogenic diet for two weeks and then had to switch to the other diet for two weeks, a type of trial known as a “crossover.”
During this month-long period, researchers kept close tabs on participants’ biomarkers, metabolic changes, and microbiota, as well as the bacteria in the gut, and metabolic changes to monitor potential effects on the immune system.
What researchers found was that these diets affected the immune system response in uniquely different ways.
The ketogenic diet was associated with responses from the adaptive immune system, which targets specific pathogens, while a vegan diet elicited a response from the innate immune system, the body’s “first line” defense against germs.
“It was surprising to us to see how differently both diets impact the immune system. We expected the diets to impact the immune system but didn’t expect such a strong and divergent signal,” Dr. Verena Link, PhD, a Bioinformatic Specialist at the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and co-author of the research, told Healthline.
“This research article delivers an important message to both the scientific community and the public audience that a selective diet can impact…