Low carb and brain power

[nova202]

I recently heard a rumor that a low carb diet can affect your memory. Any truth to this?

[lczeledoc]

Yes, it will improve your brain power---concentration and memory. The mentioned study is crap. Once you are adapted to a locarb diet, you'll brain will function much better. The brain loves ketones for fuel. Have you seen the studies of the use of ketogenic diets to cure epilepsy,

[maxlharris]

Helping epilepsy is not the same thing as improving brain power. Suggesting so is like saying that fixing the turn signal on your car will improve the horsepower of the engine. It's all brain, but epilepsy is something different from what most people consider brain power.

OTOH: there's a good bit of work on LC as an aid in preventing the onset and slowing the progression of Alzheimers. And Ketones are the preferred fuel for most of the brain. There are parts that require glucose, but on a low carb diet, that glucose comes from gluconeogenesis. There is nothing that says your brain glucose has to be dietary glucose.