NIH Study Finds Distinct Immune Responses Occur Quickly When Diets Change, More Research Needed to Determine Health Effects

Tuesday, January 30, 2024 Switching to Vegan or Ketogenic Diet Rapidly Impacts Immune System Composite image of gut bacteria and DNA with healthy foods. (Credit: Creative layout by NIAID; incorporates visual elements by Adobe Stock.) NIH researchers observed rapid and distinct immune system changes in a small study of people who switched to a vegan or a keto diet. Scientists closely monitored various biological responses of people sequentially eating vegan and keto diets for two weeks, in random order. They found that the vegan diet prompted responses linked to innate immunity—the body's non-specific first line of defense against pathogens—while the keto diet prompted responses associated with adaptive immunity—pathogen-specific immunity built through exposures in daily life and vaccination. Metabolic changes and shifts in the participants' microbiomes—communities of bacteria living in the gut—were also observed. More research is needed to determine if these changes are beneficial or detrimental and what effect they could have on diseases such as cancer or inflammatory conditions. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases  |  National Institutes of Health Update your subscriptions, modify your password or e-mail address, or stop subscriptions at any time on your Subscriber Preferences Page. You will need to use your e-mail address to log in. If you have questions or problems with the subscription service, please contact Subscriber Help. This service is provided to you at no charge by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).                             This email was sent to myhcistech.healthnews360@blogger.com using GovDelivery Communications Cloud on behalf of: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases · 5601 Fishers Lane · Bethesda, MD 20892 · 1-866-284-4107