An associate professor at the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, Dominic D’Agostino, PhD, has a focus on ketone research, supplementation, and emerging ketone technologies. Dominic D’Agostino’s ketone ester studies explore mechanisms by which KetoNutrition can fight cancer, preserve muscle, and contribute to overall metabolic wellness.
Dr. D’Agostino was featured in a recent Men’s Health article, “Inside the Rise of Keto: How an Extreme Diet Went Mainstream,” that brings focus to a diet that strictly limits carbs, fruits, and vegetables. The common misconception is that the ketogenic diet is a high protein diet, but it is often capped at or below 100 grams daily (1 gram protein/kg) with up to 90 percent of calories coming from fat in the form of foods such as eggs, fish, steak, bacon, butter, nuts and coconut oil. The modified ketogenic diet has been gaining more popularity, even clinically, and it is characterized by more liberal amounts of protein that can be as high as 30% of calories.
This dearth of carbohydrates, low to moderate protein, combined with abundant fat, results in the body entering a state of ketosis, in which fat and ketones, rather than glucose, is primarily burned for energy. Beneficial effects on health biomarkers are seen in blood pressure, blood glucose, triglyceride levels, HDL cholesterol and fasting insulin. Crucially, the diet reduces hunger, as fat and carbs ingested together trigger dopamine release, which provides the brain circuits with extra motivation to consume food. Additionally, the elevation of blood ketones helps to regulate the neurometabolic and neuropharmacological state of the brain towards homeostasis, which not only prevents cravings, but helps to improve moods and preserve a more balance psychological state.
