Continuous Glucose Monitors Enhance Education of Medical Students

 Teaching at the University of South Florida at the Morsani College of Medicine and performing research in ketogenic diet and ketone supplementation, Dominic D'Agostino possesses extensive knowledge on exogenous ketone supplementation and ketone technologies that help muscle performance and resilience. Dominic D'Agostino follows the latest findings in his field, including an American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine report on a pilot metabolic immersion program that employed continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) in medical students as part of a "metabolic immersion" program to enhance awareness and best practices within metabolic medicine and diabetes management.

The study involved 13 healthy students at Harvard Medical and Dental training on CGMs while being screened for underlying health issues. The students used the CGMs for 30 to 40 days while their dietary intake was tracked, in addition to a number of other variables that would help to assess the utility of CGMs for medical training.

Questionnaires revealed that participants felt the CGMs provided important insights into how the body reacts to food intake and aided with their medical education. In particular, CGMs made them more aware of how they could assist patients with diabetes battling elevated glucose levels. The CGM also encouraged them to alter their eating habits. Such devices, which encourage lifestyle modification and nutrition, may also inform the choices of those who opt for a low-glucose/ low carbohydrate ketogenic diet. For more information, please visit Levels Health and KetoNutrition.org.

New Research Links Ketogenic Diet to Gut Microbiome, Neurologic Health

 

An accomplished scientist and associate professor at the University of South Florida, Dr. Dominic D’Agostino researches ways of improving human neurology and physiology through the ketogenic diet. Dominic D’Agostino has broad knowledge of ketone esters, ketone supplementation, and ketone technologies. He shares his knowledge on KetoNutrition.org. One of his recent articles is on the gut-brain axis (GBA).

The gut-brain axis (GBA) refers to the physiological highway connecting the brain’s central nervous system (CNS) with the enteric nervous system (ENS) in the intestines. The ENS is responsible for body functions that do not require thinking about like digesting food, breathing, and circulating blood. The vagus nerve is the physiological highway between these two systems.

Information flow along the vagus nerve is two-way. The brain communicates its needs to the gut through the vagus nerve while the gut microbiome in the ENS produces key neurotransmitters that travel to the brain and eventually regulate neurologic, metabolic, and immune functions. A healthy gut microbiome, therefore, is essential to overall wellness.

The health of the gut microbiome is influenced by a number of things, key among them diet. Emerging research points to the benefits of a ketogenic diet to the gut microbiome and neurological health. Research on children with epilepsy has shown that a ketogenic diet improves regulation of immune factors central to controlling seizures. Additional research has linked the ketogenic diet to enhanced mental health. Specifically, when ketones become the brain’s primary source of energy, as is the case in a ketogenic diet, levels of the calming neurotransmitter GABA increase while those of the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate fall. The diet further elevates adenosine levels, which also contributes to neurologic health.

Keto and Cancer - Understanding KMT

Dominic D’Agostino, PhD, is a research scientist investigating the science and application of the ketogenic diet and exogenous ketones, sometimes referred to more generally as "nutritional ketosis". The use of exogenous ketones in the form of ketone esters and ketone salt supplementation is also a significant part of his research efforts.. An associate professor at the University of South Florida, Morsani College of Medicine in Tampa, Dr. Dominic D’Agostino produces a KetoNutrition newsletter, where he covers topics such as application of the keto diet and ketogenic metabolic therapy (KMT).

Metabolic-based therapies, including KMT, shifts metabolic physiology and brain energy metabolism to manage verious disease processes and to strengthen resistance to illnesses. The application of KMT uses a well formulated keto diet as a base therapy, specialized supplements, and in some cases drugs. Published research and trials on clinicaltrials.gov show that many researchers are exploring how the ketogenic diet and KMT (additional things that enhance ketosis) can fight cancers that thrive on glucose and glutamine, including breast cancer.

Studies indicate that a healthy and well-balanced diet can reduce cancer risk, and this is primarily due to improving various metabolic biomarkers like blood glucose, insulin, triglycerides and reducing overall body weight.. In fact, proponents claim that alternative diets stimulate metabolism and boost the immune system to fight cancer. Specifically, diet therapy can enhance cancer-specific immune regulation through physiological changes.

Notably, there is growing evidence on how KMT affects cancer cells through pleiotropic effects. It works by reducing insulin secretion and glucose transport into tumor cells. At the same time, it increases fat burning effects and ketone body production, a metabolic fuel that nourishes healthy cells but has direct anti-cancer effects.. Together with glutamine targeting (EGCG and Theanine), emerging evidence demonstrates that KMT can target tumor cells and reduce inflammation without injuring surrounding healthy tissue. In addition, the ketone supplementation with ketone esters or exogenous ketone salts (KetoStart) can further enhance KMT by improving (lowering) the Glucose/Ketone Index (GKI). For more information on metabolic targeting of cancer with nutrition, including the science and application of ketone supplements, go to the Blog of KetoNutrition.org

Winning the Fight Against Neurogenerative

Since June of 2006, Dominic D’Agostino, PhD, has served as an associate professor at Tampa’s University of South Florida. In addition to his ketone research, Dr. Dominic D’Agostino supports the organization Winning the Fight. The nonprofit performs research and provides support for patients with neurodegenerative diseases and their loved ones.

Neurodegenerative diseases degrade the health and functioning of a patient’s central nervous system over time. Conditions of this type do not currently have cures, but treatments exist that can slow, or even stop, their progression.

Winning the Fight’s Deanna Protocol (DP) is a regimen of supplements that compensates for the lack of certain chemicals in ALS {Lou Gehrig’s Disease) patients’ nerve cells. When a nerve cell dies, it releases glutamate, a neurotransmitter that kills the cells around it, accelerating ALS’ progression. The DP Plan is an inexpensive way to extend nerve cells’ lifespans without the side effects of well-known ALS drugs. Patients can utilize the DP Plan by itself, or alongside other treatments.

To begin the DP Plan, patients register on Winning the Fight’s website. They then take a survey that evaluates the progression of their condition. Once approved, they not only gain access to the physical supplements, but also to an online community for patients and their loved ones with shared experiences.

For more information on Dr. D’Agostino and his research efforts, visit KetoNutrition.org and https://www.instagram.com/dominic.dagostino.kt.

Exogenous Ketone Supplements May

Active on the faculty of the University of South Florida, Dominic D’Agostino focuses on research into ketone ester, muscle function, and related technologies. On the site KetoNutrition, Dominic D’Agostino explores various health aspects of ketone supplementation and the ketogenic diet (KD). One blog article on the site is titled “Aging, Age-Related Neurodegenerative Diseases, and Exogenous Ketone Supplements.”

Scientific observations dating back to the late 1930s indicate that a restricted-calorie diet leads to increased lifespan in animal models. Metabolic-associated pathways are closely linked with longevity, and ketogenic diets are a part of this matrix. An example involves rodent studies that indicate KD as helping to decrease midlife mortality in adult mice and increase their healthspan and longevity.

Many people find strict KD adherence, which limits dietary inputs such as carbs, challenging to maintain. An alternative therapeutic option for eliciting nutritional ketosis involves the use of exogenous ketone supplements (EKS). These generates increased ketosis, which modulates a variety of signaling pathways. These in turn can potentially improve symptoms related to multiple age-related clinical conditions. This is achieved both directly (through pathways mediated by β-Hydroxybutyric acid, or ketone salts) and indirectly (through reduced levels of insulin and glucose). The bottom line is that exogenous ketone supplements appear to play a significant role in addressing health issues associated with aging.

For more information, please visit KetoNutrition.org.

Ketogenic Diet as a Potential Way

Having led extensive research in area such as muscle function and ketone supplementation and technologies, Dominic D’Agostino is a University of South Florida associate professor. Also knowledgeable about ketone ester, Dominic D’Agostino presents findings at the website KetoNutrition. One article brings focus to the potential benefits offered by a ketogenic diet in fighting cancer.

Cancer cells rely on glucose as a primary fuel source and employ anaerobic glycolysis, an inefficient energy process, to survive and spread. In cases where the glucose supply that tumor cells rely on is restricted or limited, their growth is halted.

The ketogenic diet mimics fasting in that a low proportion of calories is derived from carbs, with most calories coming from fat. The body adjusts metabolism from glucose, which is normally the primary fuel source, to fat cells (or adipocytes), which generate ketone bodies. The metabolic state of ketosis is one of high ketone levels and low blood glucose levels, and this also serves to limit the available sugars that many types of tumorous cells rely on.

One use demonstrated in preclinical studies is a ketogenic diet serving as a sensitizing agent for radiation and chemotherapy, which increases the effectiveness of the cancer treatments in eliminating malignant cells while sparing normal cells.

For more information, please visit KetoNutrition.org

Ketogenic Diets Come to the Fore for Health and Appetite Control

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.