Ashhar Alam/New Delhi

A new scientific study has suggested that a high-fat ketogenic diet could enhance the benefits of exercise in cases where blood sugar levels are elevated, offering fresh insight into how nutrition and physical activity interact to improve metabolic health.

According to a report by Science Daily, the research was led by Sarah Lessard, an exercise medicine scientist at Virginia Tech. The study found that a ketogenic diet helped stabilise blood sugar levels in mice and significantly improved the way their muscles responded to physical activity. The findings have been published in the journal Nature Communications.

Physical exercise is widely known to improve the body’s ability to use oxygen efficiently — a key marker linked with overall fitness, longevity and cardiovascular health. Regular workouts also support weight management, strengthen the heart and build muscle mass. However, people with elevated blood sugar levels often fail to experience some of these benefits, particularly improvements in oxygen uptake during exercise.

High blood sugar, medically known as hyperglycaemia, is associated with a higher risk of conditions such as heart and kidney disease. It can also interfere with the body’s metabolic response to physical activity, limiting the positive effects of exercise.

In the study, mice with elevated blood sugar were placed on a ketogenic diet, which is rich in fats and extremely low in carbohydrates. Within a week, researchers observed that the animals’ blood sugar levels had returned to normal.

“After one week on the ketogenic diet, their blood sugar was completely normal, as though they didn’t have diabetes at all,” Lessard noted.

Over time, the diet also led to structural changes in the animals’ muscles. Scientists found that the muscles developed stronger oxidative characteristics, enabling them to respond more effectively to aerobic exercise.

Mice that combined the diet with regular activity on running wheels also showed an increase in slow-twitch muscle fibres, which are linked with improved endurance and sustained physical performance. According to the researchers, this indicated that the body was using oxygen more efficiently, suggesting a higher aerobic capacity.

A ketogenic diet works by pushing the body into a metabolic state known as ketosis, in which fat becomes the primary source of energy instead of glucose. This approach differs from the low-fat diets traditionally recommended in many health guidelines.

Although the diet continues to spark debate, it has previously been associated with therapeutic benefits for conditions such as epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease. Historically, similar dietary approaches were also used to manage diabetes before the discovery and widespread use of insulin in the 1920s.

Lessard emphasised that the findings point to a close relationship between dietary choices and physical activity rather than treating them as separate factors.

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“What we’re really finding is that diet and exercise aren’t simply working in isolation,” she said, adding that the greatest health benefits may occur when a balanced diet and regular exercise are combined.

The research team now plans to extend the study to human participants to determine whether similar metabolic improvements can be observed beyond laboratory models.