More than 8 million individuals in the United States have gout, a disease that can cause intense recurrent episodes of debilitating pain, inflammation, and fever. The cause of gout is the accumulation of urate crystals in joints, which continuously reactivate the immune system, leading to activation of the most common type of immune cell in the blood, neutrophils. These periods of immune reactivation are known as flares, and are driven by a protein complex called the NLRP3 inflammasome.

Recent work from the laboratory of Vishwa Deep Dixit, professor of comparative medicine and immunobiology, has shown that the ketone body ?-hydroxybutyrate can specifically inhibit the NLRP3 inflammasome. Ketones are byproducts of fat break-down in the liver that can serve as alternative metabolic fuels for the brain and heart during periods of low carbohydrate intake, such as fasting, or ketogenic diet. To test if elevating ketones protected against inflammation during gout, a postdoctoral fellow in Dixit’s lab, Emily Goldberg, and an associate research scientist and clinical veterinarian in comparative medicine, Jennifer Asher, and their colleagues collaborated to develop a novel model of gout flares in rats.

They found that feeding rats a high-fat, low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet increased ?-hydroxybutyrate levels and protected rats from the joint swelling, tissue damage, and systemic inflammation normally seen during gout.

“In isolated neutrophils, ?-hydroxybutyrate completely blocked NLRP3 inflammasome activation, even when provided at low concentrations that are physiologically achievable through dietary modification,” said Goldberg. She speculated that specifically targeting the NLRP3 inflammasome to reduce inflammation during a flare could improve gout patients’ outcomes, but said more studies need to be performed to test this possibility.

I eat 200 grams of dietary fat per day. And, in 2 months, I lost 20 pounds and reduced my body fat percentage from 32% to 20%.

I’m in the best (hottest) shape of my life. The kind-of-hot that makes you want to pinch yourself to validate if what you’re experiencing is actually real life.

I have achieved flawless health and hotness through a jacked-up version of paleo – high in whole foods, free of allergens and budding with ridiculously easy meal prep. No pack-along snacks, calorie counting or make-ahead craziness required. This is easy nutrition for real life.

My body has found its happy place. Perfect weight, no cellulite included. Normalized hormone levels, perfect blood pressure, balanced cholesterol and blood sugar, glowing skin, outrageous energy, and zero cravings.

If what you’re doing isn’t working…

               Dare to do something different!

Read the full study published in Cell Reports.