Adopting a healthy and balanced diet

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In April 2019, a scientific publication in the Lancet (1) reported that one fifth of deaths worldwide are attributed to poor nutrition. Junk food is responsible for an explosion in the incidence of the diseases of civilization; cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, obesity, ...

We eat too often and in an unbalanced way. We need to promote a healthy, and environmentally friendly diet. Stress management, chrono-nutrition, metabolic acidosis, protection against endogenous and exogenous toxins, the importance of a healthy microbiota, detoxification are some of the topics discussed during nutrition coaching. Educating, coaching and listening are key elements in nutritional support.

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The Mediterranean-Crete diet

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There is a consensus in the scientific literature that the Mediterranean/Crete diet is associated with a low incidence of cardiovascular disease and diseases of civilization (2,3). It is a dietary model that is not very restrictive and fairly easy to implement. Fat intake is increased compared to the standard food pyramids of recent years with a rich intake of vegetables, fish, seeds, nuts, olive oil, whole grains, legumes, and dairy products (Feta, yoghurts...). Red wine is also regularly consumed. This healthy and balanced diet is ideally accompanied by regular physical activity outside.

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The Ketogenic diet

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Insulin is a hormone that performs many functions including energy storage. We are genetically programmed to alternate between periods of food abundance when we make reserves and periods of shortage when we switch to the use of these reserves by the metabolism of fatty acids. Currently, we eat or consume calories throughout the day and our diet is very rich in carbohydrates (sugar, cereals, rice, soft drinks...). The result is that our body is constantly in storage mode with insulin stimulation. This leads to the development of insulin resistance and the exhaustion of our pancreas and adrenal glands with the development of a series of symptoms of discomfort and pathologies. The principle of the ketogenic diet consists of lowering insulin by eating less often and limiting the intake of carbohydrates. This allows the body to switch to fatty acid metabolism. In order to adopt a healthy ketogenic diet, vegetables and raw vegetables containing carbohydrates are eaten in abundance. Seeds, nuts, berries, spices and herbs are also eaten daily to ensure the supply of minerals, vitamins, polyphenols, fibre...

If done properly, the keto diet is naturally rich in pre and probiotics, ensures an adequate omega 6/3 ratio and combined with intermittent fasting allows for significant detoxification and increased growth hormone synthesis. This mitochondrial route of ATP production produces significantly fewer free radicals compared to glucose oxidation and preserves our mitochondria. Fatty acid metabolism produces ketone bodies used by the majority of our cells, including brain cells. The ketogenic diet was developed in 1924 to treat children with epilepsy. Currently, studies are underway for the use of the ketogenic diet and fasting in the treatment of type 2 diabetes (4, 5), cancer (6-11) and other conditions (12, 13). People who follow this diet are generally very satisfied because they do not feel hungry or frustrated. The adoption of a long-term eating strategy while remaining metabolically flexible is possible. 

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Micronutrition

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"Eating a balanced diet is sufficient to maintain good health" is no longer relevant. Modern agriculture has led to soil impoverishment on the one hand, and on the other hand we are subjected to increasing cocktails of exogenous and endogenous toxins requiring an increased supply of micro-nutrients. Referring patients to the consumption of certain foods can help to compensate for certain deficits, but micronutrient supplementation is sometimes necessary and may be determined by clinical or biological analysis.

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 Scientific references

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1. Health effects of dietary risks in 195 countries, 1990-2017: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017.
Lancet. 2019 May 11;393(10184):1958-1972. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(19)30041-8. Epub 2019 Apr 4.

2. Protective Effects of the Mediterranean Diet on Type 2 Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome.
J Nutr. 2016 Mar 9. pii: jn218487. [Epub ahead of print]. Salas-Salvadó J1, Guasch-Ferré M2, Lee CH3, Estruch R4, Clish CB5, Ros E6.

3. The Mediterranean diet, its components, and cardiovascular disease.
Am J Med. 2015 Mar;128(3):229-38. doi: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2014.10.014. Epub 2014 Oct 15.
Widmer RJ1, Flammer AJ1, Lerman LO2, Lerman A3.

4. Ketogenic Weight Loss: The Lowering of Insulin Levels Is the Sleeping Giant in Patient Care.
J Med Pract Manage. 2016 Sep;32(1):63-66.Staverosky T.

5.Twelve-month outcomes of a randomized trial of a moderate-carbohydrate versus very low-carbohydrate diet in overweight adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus or prediabetes.
Nutr Diabetes. 2017 Dec 21;7(12):304. doi: 10.1038/s41387-017-0006-9.
Saslow LR1, Daubenmier JJ2, Moskowitz JT3, Kim S4, Murphy EJ4, Phinney SD5, Ploutz-Snyder R6, Goldman V4, Cox RM7, Mason AE4, Moran P4, Hecht FM4.

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6. Ketogenic Diet and Other Dietary Intervention Strategies in the Treatment of Cancer.
Curr Med Chem. 2017;24(12):1170-1185. doi: 10.2174/0929867324666170116122915.
Vergati M1, Krasniqi E1, Monte GD2, Riondino S1, Vallone D1, Guadagni F3, Ferroni P4, Roselli M1.

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7. The emerging role of ketogenic diets in cancer treatment.
Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2019 Mar;22(2):129-134. doi: 10.1097/MCO.0000000000000540.
Klement RJ1.

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8. When less may be more: calorie restriction and response to cancer therapy.
BMC Med. 2017 May 24;15(1):106. doi: 10.1186/s12916-017-0873-x.
O'Flanagan CH1, Smith LA1, McDonell SB1, Hursting SD2,3,4,5.

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9. Ketogenic diets: from cancer to mitochondrial diseases and beyond.
Eur J Clin Invest. 2016 Mar;46(3):285-98. doi: 10.1111/eci.12591.
Branco AF1, Ferreira A1, Simões RF1, Magalhães-Novais S1, Zehowski C2, Cope E3, Silva AM1, Pereira D1, Sardão VA1, Cunha-Oliveira T1.

10. Mitochondria: The ketogenic diet--A metabolism-based therapy.
Int J Biochem Cell Biol. 2015 Jun;63:55-9. doi: 10.1016/j.biocel.2015.01.022. Epub 2015 Feb 7.
Vidali S1, Aminzadeh S1, Lambert B2, Rutherford T2, Sperl W3, Kofler B4, Feichtinger RG1.

11. Metabolic therapy: a new paradigm for managing malignant brain cancer.
Cancer Lett. 2015 Jan 28;356(2 Pt A):289-300. doi: 10.1016/j.canlet.2014.07.015. Epub 2014 Jul 25.
Seyfried TN1, Flores R2, Poff AM3, D'Agostino DP3, Mukherjee P2.

12. Beyond weight loss: a review of the therapeutic uses of very-low-carbohydrate (ketogenic) diets.
Eur J Clin Nutr. 2013 Aug;67(8):789-96. doi: 10.1038/ejcn.2013.116. Epub 2013 Jun 26.
Paoli A1, Rubini A, Volek JS, Grimaldi KA.

13. Ketogenic Diets for Adult Neurological Disorders.
Neurotherapeutics. 2018 Oct;15(4):1018-1031. doi: 10.1007/s13311-018-0666-8.
McDonald TJW1, Cervenka MC2.