The Safety of Very-long-term Intake of a Ketogenic Diet Containing Medium-chain Triacylglycerols

Abstract

The treatment of the animals was conducted according to the methods of Fukazawa et al. 7 . The animal room was maintained at 23 1 with 50 5 humidity and illumination from 09:00 to 21:00. Nine-week-old male Wistar rats Japan SLC, Inc. Shizuoka, Japan were individually housed in cages and were treated in accordance with the national guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals Notification of the Prime Minister s Office of Japan . The NOTE Abstract: We previously reported that consuming a ketogenic diet containing medium-chain triacylglycerols (MCTs) might be a valuable dietary strategy for endurance athletes. However, the long-term safety of the diet has not been established, and there is a concern that a higher intake of MCTs increases the liver triacylglycerol content. In this study, we found that consuming an MCT-containing ketogenic diet for 24 weeks decreased, rather than increased, the liver triacylglycerol concentration and did not aggravate safetyrelated blood biomarkers in male Wistar rats. Our results may therefore suggest that the long-term intake of a ketogenic diet containing MCTs may have no deleterious effects on physiological functions.

Influence of ketogenic diet on athletes’ performance and other aspects of body function – review of literature

“…These concerns about hepatic triacylglycerol accumulation with MCT intake were not supported by the newest findings [31]. Contrary to expectations, 24-week intake of MKD, with a higher MCT content, decreased liver triacylglycerol concentration and liver weight in rats, while long-chain triacylglycerol (LKD) increased liver triacylglycerol concentration compared to the control group.…”