Studies: Ketogenic Mice Live Longer, Healthier Lives

High-fat, low-carbohydrate diets are shown to increase lifespan and preserve memory in two independent mouse experiments.

Written byBob Grant
| 2 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
2:00
Share

POGREBNOJ-ALEXANDROFFEating a diet high in fat and low in carbohydrates keeps mice living longer, healthier lives, according to two separate studies published in Cell Metabolism today (September 5).

One of the studies, conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, and the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in California, cycled mice on and off a ketogenic diet, which forces the body to produce fatty acids called ketone bodies to fuel metabolism through the severe limiting of carbohydrates. Those mice, which were given non-ketogenic diets one week and ketogenic diets the next, avoided obesity and memory decline and displayed reductions in midlife mortality, compared to mice on a control diet.

The other study, performed by scientists at the Buck Institute in collaboration with researchers at the University of California, Davis, kept mice on a ketogenic diet for 14 months and showed similar results, with the addition of improvements in motor function, ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Related Topics

Meet the Author

  • From 2017 to 2022, Bob Grant was Editor in Chief of The Scientist, where he started in 2007 as a Staff Writer. Before joining the team, he worked as a reporter at Audubon and earned a master’s degree in science journalism from New York University. In his previous life, he pursued a career in science, getting a bachelor’s degree in wildlife biology from Montana State University and a master’s degree in marine biology from the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Bob edited Reading Frames and other sections of the magazine.

    View Full Profile
Share
Illustration of a developing fetus surrounded by a clear fluid with a subtle yellow tinge, representing amniotic fluid.
January 2026

What Is the Amniotic Fluid Composed of?

The liquid world of fetal development provides a rich source of nutrition and protection tailored to meet the needs of the growing fetus.

View this Issue
Human-Relevant In Vitro Models Enable Predictive Drug Discovery

Advancing Drug Discovery with Complex Human In Vitro Models

Stemcell Technologies
Redefining Immunology Through Advanced Technologies

Redefining Immunology Through Advanced Technologies

Ensuring Regulatory Compliance in AAV Manufacturing with Analytical Ultracentrifugation

Ensuring Regulatory Compliance in AAV Manufacturing with Analytical Ultracentrifugation

Beckman Coulter Logo
Skip the Wait for Protein Stability Data with Aunty

Skip the Wait for Protein Stability Data with Aunty

Unchained Labs

Products

Sino Biological Logo

Sino Biological's Launch of SwiftFluo® TR-FRET Kits Pioneers a New Era in High-Throughout Kinase Inhibitor Screening

SPT Labtech Logo

SPT Labtech enables automated Twist Bioscience NGS library preparation workflows on SPT's firefly platform

nuclera logo

Nuclera eProtein Discovery System installed at leading Universities in Taiwan

Brandtech Logo

BRANDTECH Scientific Introduces the Transferpette® pro Micropipette: A New Twist on Comfort and Control