In a groundbreaking study from Ohio State University, scientists have discovered that increasing ketones in the blood through a ketogenic diet or ketone supplements may positively impact menstrual health, potentially regulating irregular menstrual cycles and even reactivating periods that have ceased.
The research, recently published in PLOS ONE, compared weight loss outcomes on low-fat and ketogenic diets, with and without ketone supplements. Among the 13 pre-menopausal participants who achieved nutritional ketosis, 11 reported changes in menstrual frequency and intensity during the study period. Notably, women on low-fat diets did not report any menstrual changes. All participants, with an average age of 34, were healthy but overweight and lost the same relative percentage of weight.
Madison Kackley, the study’s lead author and a research scientist in human sciences at Ohio State University, noted that six women who had not menstruated for over a year experienced the return of their periods while on the diet. “Our hypothesis,” Kackley said, “is that ketones may help regulate women’s health in regard to endocrine, cognitive, and metabolic influences.”
The ketogenic diet, which converts fat into ketones used by cells as an alternative to glucose, has been studied for its health effects by Jeff Volek, senior author of the paper and a professor of human sciences at Ohio State. Supplements can also elevate blood ketones without altering eating habits, both aiming to put the body in a state of nutritional ketosis.
Nineteen women participated in the six-week weight-loss diet trial, with some following a ketogenic diet, others combining it with ketone salt supplements, and a control group on a low-fat diet. Researchers provided all food for the study and observed significant weight loss, reduced body fat, healthier cholesterol levels, and improved insulin sensitivity across all groups.
Menstrual history was one of many lifestyle factors assessed biweekly. The self-reports of participants regarding their cycles were unexpected. “One participant, aged 33, had her period for the first time after being in nutritional ketosis for five days,” Kackley revealed.
Kackley’s research program aims to delve deeper into the effects of ketone supplementation. Although the addition of keto salts did not improve weight or health markers, high ketone levels were present in all women on the keto diet. This suggests an individualized effect of ketones in the blood.
Conclusion
Kackley is now establishing a new lab at Ohio State dedicated to exploring the connections between nutrition, exercise, and women’s health. Her team is monitoring a pilot group of women for a range of changes that occur between and during periods, including muscle strength, fat composition, water retention, energy expenditure, hormone levels, and body temperature.
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