A ketogenic diet, i.e. a high fat diet, is a very powerful autophagy inducer because it puts the body into a state of ketosis.
When cells burn ketones as fuel, much less reactive oxygen species are produced than when cells burn glucose. Essentially, ketones are a much "cleaner" source of energy than glucose, meaning less mitochondrial damage is as a result than when the fuel is glucose.
When you switch your body to burn fat (including ketones), you reduce the amount of sugar available to cancer cells. You also reduce the reactive oxygen species that cells are exposed to, thus lowering the likelihood of cancer developing.
Ketones are structurally similar to branched chain amino acids (the body prefers the former), allowing your body to conserve protein and allow you to eat less protein while retaining or even building muscle mass.
Research suggests that an important benefit of ketones is that it protects brain cells that are exposed to hydrogen peroxide - often found in the brains of people with neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
Ketones upregulate (intensify) the mitochondrial biogenesis of the brain - this means that they help the body increase its ability to produce more energy by increasing the number of mitochondria.
One of the most interesting features of ketones is that they use signaling abilities, including the ability to induce gene expression, i.e. activate some genes and deactivate others. This is extremely important because it can change the way cells respond to factors of internal or external origin that affect our health. The activation of certain genes may increase resistance to stress, unexpectedly accelerate metabolism, support self-regeneration mechanisms, stimulate the production of antioxidants, and even extend life.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that in some people fasting or switching to a low-carb diet produces a mild feeling of euphoria, suggesting that ketones play an important role in experiencing well-being.
Fortunately, in the 21st century, many scientific studies have been published confirming the metabolic benefits of nutritional ketosis. They have started to clear up the misunderstanding, along with the accounts of people experiencing these benefits, so that more therapists and even conventional medicine practitioners - until now completely unfamiliar with nutrition - are opening up to the benefits of this dietary intervention.