- For serious drinkers, quitting
alcohol can have risky side effects like nausea, fever, and tremors. - A small new study suggests that a high-fat, low carb
keto diet might help ease withdrawal symptoms. - Researchers theorize that keto may help the brain chemically recover after alcohol dependence.
A high-fat, low-carb ketogenic diet may help recovering alcoholics ease the side effects of cutting back on booze, according to a small study published April 9 in Science Advances.
Researchers led by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism observed 33 otherwise-healthy men and women with alcohol use disorder as they abstained from drinking for three weeks. Just over half of the group was assigned to follow a keto diet, with 80% of their daily calories from fat and 5% from carbs. The remainder of the participants followed a standard American diet.
Both groups were given medication as needed to help with alcohol withdrawal symptoms, which can include anxiety, shakiness, nausea, sweating, fever, and insomnia.
Within two days of starting the study, participants on the keto diet required less medication to manage their symptoms than the control group. They also had fewer cravings for alcohol.
Keto could reduce inflammation and help re-stabilize an alcoholic's brain chemistry
The researchers theorized that the keto diet worked to reduce symptoms by helping the brain transition more easily to an alcohol-free state.
Previous research has shown that when people drink heavily, their brains rely less on glucose, or sugar, for energy. When they stop drinking, the brain has to readjust to glucose as an energy source, which can lead to severe symptoms.
On a keto diet, cutting carbs induces a state of ketosis, in which the body burns fat for fuel instead of glucose from carbohydrates. This prompts the liver to produce ketone bodies, a special fuel source created from fatty acids.
Those ketone bodies are similar to what the brain uses for fuel during alcohol dependence. Ketones present in the brain during sobriety may explain why alcoholics experience less severe withdrawal symptoms on keto, according to the researchers.
More research is needed to see how this could be more broadly used to help people recover from drinking problems and whether the benefits are long-term.
If so, keto could be a promising addition to current treatments for alcohol use disorder. While keto has been decried by some dietitians as an unhealthy fad, growing research suggests it could play a role in healthier lifestyles.
Previous evidence suggests that the keto diet is generally considered to be safe and effective for most people as a medical treatment for conditions such as obesity and diabetes.