Another Gene That Could Cause a Keto Diet to Age You Faster
In the post about "Keto, Carbs, Fasting, Aging, and Bio-Individuality", I described how a person's version of the PPAR-alpha / PPARA gene (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha) can affect their ability to produce ketone bodies, thereby influencing how fasting or restricting carbohydrates (as in a ketogenic diet) could affect their stress response and aging process.
Another factor affecting your response to a ketogenic diet, or other high-fat diet, is the PPARG / PPAR-gamma gene (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma).
People with certain variants of the PPARG gene can respond to a high-fat (esp. long-chain saturated fat), low-carb diet with inflammation, high blood sugar, stress (elevated cortisol and aldosterone), and accelerated aging.
Inflammation, hyperglycemia (high blood sugar), and elevated glucocorticoids (stress hormones like cortisol) are key drivers of aging.
As you may already know, inflammation increases oxidative stress and impairs mitochondrial function, ultimately damaging the body in multiple ways and impairing repair mechanisms.
And as you probably also know, hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) results from insulin resistance, which drives oxidative stress, inflammation, Alzheimer's Disease, heart disease, cancer, etc.
Elevations of glucocorticoids (stress hormones) lead down similar pathways. As an interesting side note, elevated cortisone (the main glucocorticoid hormone) elevates the conversion of testosterone to estrogen via the enzyme aromatase, so anything that causes a stress response tends to increase estrogen, which in excess can also cause stress. So it can become a vicious cycle.
A very high percentage of the DNA methylation sites that are highly correlated with aging are related to glucocorticoids (like cortisol). This suggests that excessive stress (some stress is good) may be one of the main drivers of accelerated aging.
Again, people with certain variants of PPAR-gamma / PPARG are prone to a hyperglycemic, pro-glucorticoid response to consuming a high ratio of long-chain saturated fat to monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat.
Optimal Fat Ratios for These Gene Variants
So people with these variants of the PPARG gene are probably better off maintaining a high ratio of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat to long-chain saturated fat in their diet in order to avoid increasing their rate of aging and their risk of diabetes. This fat ratio is found in the so-called "Mediterranean Diet".
Maintaining a high ratio of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat to long-chain saturated fat could enable a ketogenic diet to work better for people with these PPARG variants. If you want to pursue a low-carb diet, this could look like a Mediterranean-inspired ketogenic diet without all of the carbohydrates and lectins normally found in the Mediterranean Diet, yet rich in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats from whole foods your ancestors have been eating for millennia (not corn, canola, soy, and cottonseed oils).
And if you have these PPARG gene variants, when you eat starchy carbohydrates, you would be better combining them with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated oils. For example, put olive oil on your potatoes instead of butter.
Olive oil, avocadoes, and macadamia nuts are good sources of monounsaturated fat. And polyunsaturated fats should come from high quality sources like fish, shellfish, vegetables, and raw nuts and seeds or cold-pressed oils like flax or walnut oil.
Short-chain saturated fats, like those found in coconut oil, should be OK to consume since they are the only saturated fats that do not seem to trigger this issue for people with these gene variants.
Since I have these variants of the PPARG, this is how I handle it. I eat a lot of animal foods rich in long-chain saturated fats (e.g. full-fat beef and lamb, always grass fed), but I also eat plenty of foods rich in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats like olive oil, fish, nuts, and seeds.
I use a lot of olive oil, mainly on salads, cooked vegetables, and starches. So my ratio of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats to long-chain saturated fats is higher than it would be if I got most of my fat from meat.
Customizing Your Diet
Considerations like these are part of customizing your diet in according with your bio-individuality. This is something we do in the second of nine steps in the Bio-Individual Blueprint system.
If you would like to learn how to double your energy, resolve many types of wellness issues, and even become biologically younger, download the Bio-Individual Blueprint Roadmap, watch the walkthrough video, and then if you would like to have a conversation, book a time to meet with me to ...
- Go over your situation
- Review what you've done so far
- Identify some potential next steps for you to take
- Discuss whether the Bio-Individual Blueprint system might be a fit for you