On the keto diet? Ditch the cheat day. Just one dose of carbohydrates can damage blood vessels

[Parkie-]

Reading some impressive posts on here lately about the keto diet, I was thinking about giving it a try. I came across this article and wonder what the more knowledgable HU members think.

Thank you

sciencedaily.com/releases/2...

Date: March 27, 2019

Source: University of British Columbia Okanagan campus

Summary: The often embraced 'cheat day' is a common theme in many diets and the popular ketogenic diet is no exception. But new research says that just one 75-gram dose of glucose -- the equivalent a large bottle of soda or a plate of fries -- while on a high fat, low carbohydrate diet can lead to damaged blood vessels.

...

Here are some highlights:

"We were interested in finding out what happens to the body's physiology once a dose of glucose is reintroduced. Since 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."

"We were originally looking for things like an inflammatory response or reduced tolerance to blood glucose. What we found instead were biomarkers in the blood suggesting that vessel walls were being damaged by the sudden spike in glucose."

"Even 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. It was somewhat alarming."

[park_bear]

The science daily comment: "75-gram dose of glucose -- the equivalent a large bottle of soda or a plate of fries " was not said by the researchers and is wrong. A plate of fries is not equivalent to 75g of glucose. The glucose is quickly absorbed, spiking your blood sugar levels, which leads to glycation and artery damage as the researchers reported. See also my writing here:

A Tale Of Two Studies Leads To A Deeper Understanding Of Cardiovascular Disease

tinyurl.com/y6agl45j

OTOH potatoes are a complex carb which is broken down into sugar slowly and does not make such a mess of blood sugar levels.

The actual research is located here: mdpi.com/2072-6643/11/3/489

and entitled "Short-Term Low-Carbohydrate High-Fat Diet in Healthy Young Males Renders the Endothelium Susceptible to Hyperglycemia-Induced Damage, An Exploratory Analysis". This title is wrong because they did not show that this diet was the cause of hyperglycemia-induced damage. This damage was due to ingesting 75 g of glucose all at once. This procedure is known as the Oral Glucose Tolerance Test. The real result of the study is that this test is damaging to the arteries and no one should submit to it. If a doctor wants you to take this test have them measure your HbA1c instead.

Previous research by the same authors here:

metabolismjournal.com/artic...

showed that as a result of the Low-Carbohydrate High-Fat Diet, blood sugar peaks at about 10% higher as a result of the Oral Glucose Tolerance Test. An enzyme known as AMPK also had reduced activity. However the authors never showed that these differences have an impact on the markers of arterial injury that they measured in the current study. The bottom line is in any case, for good cardiovascular health, avoid ingestion of large amounts of simple sugars.