Energy balance
Ketone bodies (KBs) serve as an efficient energy source that bypasses glycolysis, promoting mitochondrial oxidative metabolism and reducing oxidative stress.
Your brain can run efficiently on ketone bodies produced by the ketogenic diet. These molecules enter the Krebs cycle directly, bypassing the slower glycolytic pathway, which enhances mitochondrial energy production and reduces oxidative stress. This metabolic shift is central to the diet's benefits for neurological and metabolic health.
The KBs constitute a more efficient energy source than glucose, metabolize faster than glucose, and can bypass the glycolytic pathway by directly entering the Krebs cycle... thereby promoting mitochondrial oxidative metabolism, with resultant beneficial downstream metabolic changes.
Why this rating
Well-established biochemical pathway described in detail with supporting molecular mechanisms.
Source
Ketogenic diet for human diseases: the underlying mechanisms and potential for clinical implementations
Huiyuan Zhu et al. · Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy · 2022
DOI 10.1038/s41392-021-00831-w
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