The Metabolic Link Can a Ketogenic Diet Improve Sleep Apnea? | Dr. Jonathan Jun | The Metabolic Link Ep. 78.
What if the food you eat could change the way you breathe at night? In this episode, recorded live at The Metabolic Health Summit, Dr. Jonathan Jun reveals how metabolism and sleep-disordered breathing are deeply connected, and why shifting from carbs to fat might improve more than just your waistline.
Dr. Jonathan Jun, a leading researcher on obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS) and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), walks us through the groundbreaking KETOHS trial, where a ketogenic diet was tested for its effects on carbon dioxide retention, sleep apnea severity, and metabolic health. The findings suggest ketosis may do more than promote weight loss - it could directly enhance respiratory efficiency and sleep quality in patients with OHS and OSA.
From a long-forgotten 1976 fasting study to modern clinical data, this lecture reframes the connection between diet, breathing, and metabolism, revealing how nutritional ketosis might transform respiratory and metabolic medicine.
Questions Answered in This Episode:
- Why does fuel choice (carbs vs. fat) matter for breathing in people with sleep-disordered breathing?
- What exactly happens in obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS), and why is it more dangerous than OSA alone?
- Why did a 1976 starvation ketosis study inspire modern trials on ketogenic diets for OSA/OHS?
- How was the KETOHS trial designed to isolate the effects of ketosis itself (not just weight loss)?
- Can a ketogenic diet improve sleep apnea severity even without CPAP therapy?
- Is the improvement in CO₂ clearance explained only by weight loss, or something else?
- What metabolic changes accompany ketogenic therapy in this context?
This episode will change the way you see the link between diet and breathing, and may open new doors for treating some of the toughest sleep and metabolic disorders.
Special thanks to the sponsors of this episode:
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