How ketones may help

High-fat, lowcarbohydrate ketogenic diets – typically minimising grains, pasta, sugar, starchy vegetables and fruits, and increasing levels of foods such as cream, butter, nuts or coconut oil (the last rich in medium-chain triglycerides, which are more ketogenic) – force the body to burn fats rather than carbs.

Ketones produced by the liver fuel the brain, rather than glucose. Ketosis has been documented to aid childhood epilepsy, though the mechanism is not clear, and some studies have been done on treating other neurological disorders, such as dementia.

A 2017 US National Institutes of Health study found “distinct abnormalities in glycolysis, the main process by which the brain breaks down glucose, with evidence linking the severity of the abnormalities to the severity of Alzheimer’s pathology”, though it’s not clinically proven that ketosis is a remedy for the malady.

Talk to your doctor before attempting any change of diet or lifestyle.