Differential peripheral immune signatures elicited by vegan versus ketogenic diets in humans
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-023-02761-2
“Our data revealed that overall, a ketogenic diet was associated with a significant upregulation of pathways and enrichment in cells associated with the adaptive immune system. In contrast, a vegan diet had a significant impact on the innate immune system, including upregulation of pathways associated with antiviral immunity”
If Rapa is a boost to innate immune function, is vegan effects increased or wasted? Does the keto increase on the adaptive immune function offset Rapa effects on innate or result in increase in both? Is there an autoimmunity issue here?
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If I had to guess (and it really is a wild stab in the dark) I’d say vegans would get a little less benefit from the boost to innate immune function. The effects could be additive but I reckon some benefit will be lost. Eg if you already have a low cholesterol you will get less cholesterol lowering from a statin than if you have high cholesterol, the body tends to compensate. Same with high vs low protein, if you are eating a higher protein diet you will probably get more benefit from rapa than someone eating a low protein diet. That doesn’t mean that the person eating a low protein diet doesn’t still get some benefit!
The results of the keto diet and adaptive immune function worry me a bit as the adaptive immune system is activated in response to pathogens so hopefully the keto diet isn’t stressing the immune system in some way.