"Ketone bodies make immune system more powerful"

(Bob M) #1

An interesting article on ketones, coronavirus, and the flu:

Though of course, there’s the “but don’t try this yourself” admonition at the end:

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#2

What. Self-experimentation with diets is pretty common and normal. And very okay when people don’t try something extreme or force something their body hates on themselves…

Everyone chooses (or just do) some kind of diet anyway, why not something probably better than what the average person does…?

(Edith) #3

Maybe that explains why people with type 2 diabetes are hit harder by the virus?

(Bob M) #4

@Shinita I think it’s just the normal “something about the keto diet [ketones in this example] is good, but you should NOT actually TRY a keto diet” that’s in a lot of these articles.

@VirginiaEdie That’s a plausible explanation, though there’s enough “wrong” with someone with T2D that it’s tough to know.

If (when?) I get covid, I may break into my container of exogenous ketones to see if they help. Of course, I won’t know unless I can clone myself, so there’s a control…

#5

I think i got it (Covid) right at the start…what was it? February 2019?

What I thought was Flu knocked me off my feet for a few days, stomach diaphragm and ribs that sore I was afraid to cough (but I had to cough, constantly), no sleep, high temperature.
Yeah, looking back, I’m pretty sure that was the initial strain of Covid.

But, I haven’t had so much of a tingle since…and I know people at my work (so called fit, sporty people) who have had it 3 or 4 times.
Maybe I was lucky, because I was precautious, live on my own, worked from home mainly, regularly disinfected hands etc., had 2 jabs plus a booster…or, coincidentally, being T2, hypertensive, NAFLD etc. at the same time (realising the threat) I lost 1/3 of my body weight back into normal BMI and started eating properly (and taking vit D3) :man_shrugging:

Hard to know or prove. But I was one of the ones got the letter from the doctor saying i was vulnerable…but I’ve probably had the least illness since that first bout out of my whole workforce.

(Edith) #6

I’ve been sick only once in the five years I have been keto/carnivore and that was about a month after I was in a not-too-minor car accident. I believe the stress on my body from the accident lowered my immunity.

Btw, in the US, COVID really started to hit in February/March of 2020.

(Bob M) #7

I haven’t been sick much, either, though I did catch something after they gave me antibiotics for an elbow problem where they could not rule out infection. I think that lowered my immune system enough that I caught what I think was a cold.

#8

Maybe it was 2020.

My memory has been scrambled with lack of routine tbh.

(Shannon) #9

I got COVID for the first time this last April and I had been on keto for about a month at that point. I had very minor symptoms, really just a stuffy nose. My wife (very much NOT on a keto diet) faired much worse for a couple of days with a really sore throat and headache. I’ve been exposed multiple times since then, including last week, but haven’t gotten it again. Some anecdotal evidence that keto helps maybe?

#10

I had to have 5 days of steroids , Prednisolone, just so I could breathe/handle my hurting diaphragm.

It wasn’t nice.

#11

I have a cold once in 15 years… The same as on HCHF… I just have good immune system.
(Not great, just good. I shouldn’t have a cold EVER if you ask me. But I never had the flu or basically anything else. I got varicella - I don’t even know the Hungarian name for it, just this - at 17 but I felt great. I just skipped all the kid diseases as a kid. I got the cold here and there but not very frequently. It seems the immune system part that fights unknown problems is good.)

As far as I know, I never had COVID (I surely never was tested for it, I feel lucky, it doesn’t sound pleasant) and it’s the same for my family… (We all had 3 vaccines, pretty early. So it’s probably not in effect anymore…)

But of course, a good woe is important for health, no matter how good one’s genetics and immune system is. And very low carb is good for me so I keep it. It’s one important factor among the few/several.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #12

I don’t know what the current thinking is anymore, but early in the epidemic there was speculation that a low-carb diet and high Vitamin D levels strengthened the immune system and protected against the virus. On the other hand, those data were accompanied by other studies that appeared to show that carb intake helped fight the virus after it was contracted. So one researcher at the time said his strategy was to eat keto and then switch to eating carbs if/when he became infected. I don’t know what he later decided. As I said, however, all this may very well have been superseded by later research.

(Robin) #13

Bet it was 2020. You were ahead of the curve!

#14

It was literally just as first Covid cases were being identified in UK/Ireland.

I’m not sure, but I definitely had the symptoms.
No long term detriment to taste or smell, but I’ve noticed bouts of dry skin (not serious) which I treat with topical E45 ointment and hydrocortisone cream if required. More annoying than serious…and might not be down to Covid; could be stress or other reasons.

#15

Yeah…it was February 2020. Just googled it!

Jeebs…my head is like a sieve with dates.

(JK) #16

I Tested positive a few times over the last couple of years, but felt off for a day or 2. My vitamin d3 levels were above the normal range, Been on Keto/Low carb way of eating for over 3 years.

#17

I avoided the dreaded C until June this year. Went to a gig, and 3 days later in kicked the fever.
I had literally just started LCHF at this point and kicked up my exercise again.
I had one day that was a total write off, then three days feeling a little cruddy and with a sore throat.
My housemate fared far worse, and it’s notable that his eating habits are all around awful. We’re both double vaccinated, but only he has his booster.
I have no idea if any of this means anything at all, but it was interesting to me at least xD