Dietary Ketosis as a Pain Management Pathway
Dominic D’Agostino has an extensive research background as University of South Florida associate professor and focuses on areas such as ketone ester technologies, ketone salts, ketonutrition and associated supplementation, as well as preventing muscle wasting (cachexia). One topic that Dom D’Agostino has extensive knowledge of centers on the utility of ketosis in managing pain conditions and associated metabolic and inflammatory drivers of chronic pain.
With more than one-fifth of Americans reporting chronic pain and 7.4 percent having it to such a degree that life activities are limited, a biopsychosocial model is prevalent in the nation’s health care system. This typically has a pharmacotherapy component, with the use of NSAID drugs often progressing to various opioids.
As an alternative pain management pathway, dietary ketosis involves a restricted low-carb diet that serves to alter metabolic signaling and physiology, and reduce inflammation associated with pain. One aspect of this is decreased cytokine expression levels in the peripheries and the brain. Cytokines are small proteins produced by immune cells and associated with cell signaling. In addition, inflammasome pathways involving Nod-like receptor protein-3 (NLRP3) are modulated. A ketogenic diet appears to improve mental health from a neurobiology standpoint.
With exercise and supplementation another important part of the equation, the dietary ketosis approach to improving inflammatory and metabolic biomarkers may offer a replacement for pharmacotherapy and its potentially serious side effects. In addition, there is good evidence that the use of the keto diet or ketone supplementation (like KetoStart), would further augment the therapeutic effects of certain drugs and allow for lower dosages to be used. Research basic science and clinical research in this area is validating the link to show that enhancing metabolic health can go a long way in managing chronic pain.
For more information, please visit of Blog at KetoNutrition.org.
