Dominic D'Agostino

Now we know, especially in kids, you restrict protein too much, you could stunt their growth and have some issues there.

So clinically, a modified version of the ketogenic diet is actually being gravitated more towards even in pediatric epilepsy.

So we're learning that protein is really important and it was underappreciated, I guess, in the early ketogenic diets.

In the context of sports, it's extremely important and we can talk about that.

But still, it remains that the ketogenic diet is the most scientifically researched diet that has an objective biomarker that defines the physiological state of being in the diet.

And that's beta-hydroxybutyrate above 0.5 millimoles per liter.

So that's clinical ketosis.

And in the context of ketosis, there are remarkable changes in our metabolic physiology and the neuropharmacology of our brain.

And also, beta-hydroxybutyrate has very unique effects

epigenetic effects, which is kind of a new buzzword that people are talking about.

And my student just finished a project on that.

And I think it's pleiotropic.

So ketogenic diets have pleiotropic effects.

Tell folks what that means.

Pleiotropic is kind of like a fancy, somewhat nebulous word that basically means there are multiple mechanisms that are activated biochemically, physiologically, neuropharmacologically that have beneficial effects.

And I can go through the explosion of research that has occurred on PubMed and clinicaltrials.gov.

But the important thing is that nutritional ketosis, or let's take a step back.

The ketogenic diet, some people say the ketogenic diet is not magical.

The ketogenic diet does nothing magical.

In the context of body composition alterations or fat loss, there's truth to that.