What the heck are Mitochondrial abiogenesis and cardiac fibrosis, and what do they have to do with a Ketogenic diet?

Question

I recently read an article in a medical journal claiming that Ketogenic diets inhibit mitochondrial abiogenesis, and induce cardiac fibrosis. Can someone explain what that means, as if I was a 5 year old?

The article is difficult to digest – I can’t tell if the title is misleading, or what any of it really means.

In: Biology

Answer 1

Mitochondrial biogenesis is a process in wich the mitochondria in your cells grows during endurance training. Your muscles get better at burning glucose for energy.

Cardiac Fibrosis is the heart muscle getting stiffer from more fibres forming that don’t contribute to muscle contraction.

Haven’t read the article you refer to, so I can’t tell how solid the science is, but it seems not unrealistic to have negative consequences from putting your body into “survive on reserves” mode.