Keto diet may restore exercise benefits in people with high blood sugar

New research shows a ketogenic diet reduced high blood sugar in mice and enhanced their aerobic capacity

Virginia Tech

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Sarah Lessard, associate professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, studies how diet and exercise interact to influence blood sugar and muscle adaptation.

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Credit: Virginia Tech

To be healthy, conventional wisdom tells us to exercise and limit fatty foods. Exercise helps us lose weight and build muscle. It makes our hearts stronger and boosts how we take in and use oxygen for energy — one of the strongest predictors of health and longevity.

But people with high blood sugar often don’t achieve those benefits from exercise, especially the ability to use oxygen efficiently. They’re at higher risk for heart and kidney disease, but high blood sugar can prevent their muscles from taking up oxygen more effectively in response to exercise. 

For them, a new study suggests the answer could be eating not less fat, but more. 

The study by exercise medicine scientist Sarah Lessard, published Feb. 25 in Nature Communications, found that a high-fat, ketogenic diet reduced high blood sugar, or hyperglycemia, in mice, and their bodies were more responsive to exercise. 

“After one week on the ketogenic diet, their blood sugar was completely normal, as though they didn't have diabetes at all,” said Lessard, associate professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC Center for Exercise Medicine Research. “Over time, the diet caused remodeling of the mice’s muscles, making them more oxidative and making them react better to aerobic exercise.”

The ketogenic diet is named for its ability to induce ketosis, a metabolic state that shifts the body to burning fat for fuel instead of sugar. The diet is controversial because it calls for eating high-fat, very low-carbohydrate foods, which is counter to the low-fat diet historically urged by health advocates.

However, the keto diet has been linked to benefits for people with some diseases, including epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease. In the 1920s, before the discovery of insulin, it was a way to manage diabetes because of its ability to lower blood sugar. 

In earlier research, Lessard found that people with high blood sugar had lower exercise capacity. She wondered if the diet might improve the response to exercise, leading to higher exercise capacity.

Mice were fed a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet and exercised on running wheels. The mice developed more slow-twitch muscle fibers, which give better endurance.

“Their bodies were more efficiently using oxygen, which is a sign of higher aerobic capacity,” Lessard said. 

Lessard said exercise positively affects virtually every tissue in our body, even fat tissue, but she and others are seeing that the greatest health improvements won’t come with diet or exercise alone. 

“What we're really finding from this study and from our other studies is that diet and exercise aren't simply working in isolation,” said Lessard, who also holds an appointment in the Department of Human Foods, Nutrition, and Exercise in Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. “There are a lot of combined effects, and so we can get the most benefits from exercise if we eat a healthy diet at the same time.”

Next, Lessard would like to continue her research in human subjects to see if they gain the same benefits from the keto diet seen in mice.

She also notes that the keto diet is challenging to follow. A less restrictive regimen, such as the Mediterranean diet, might be easier for people to follow and still be effective. That diet can also keep blood sugar low, while including carbohydrates from unprocessed fruits, vegetables, and whole grains rather than restricting carbohydrates altogether.

“Our previous studies have shown that any strategy you and your doctor have arrived at to reduce your blood sugar could work,” she said.

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Journal

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-026-69349-5 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

A ketogenic diet enhances aerobic exercise adaptation and promotes muscle mitochondrial remodeling in hyperglycemic male mice

Article Publication Date

25-Feb-2026

 

Manchester researchers challenge misleading language around plastic waste solutions

University of Manchester

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Solutions to the plastic waste crisis are often pitched using words that can skew value judgements, new research argues.

The paper, authored by the Sustainable Materials Innovation Hub at The University of Manchester, explores the consequences of terminology choices on end-of-life solutions for plastic waste.  While recycling has long been touted as a solution for plastic sustainability - it comes in many forms, and can sometimes serve as a smokescreen for genuine discussions around sustainability.

The researchers, Seiztinger, Lahive, and Shaver, find directional terms - such as ‘upcycling’ and ‘downcycling’ - to be poorly defined as value propositions, and that their use can skew perceptions of the benefits, potentially posing barrier to circularity.

‘Downcycling’, for instance, implies the production of a less favourable or ‘less good’ material as the end product of the recycling process, while ‘upcycling’ has positive connotations. However, despite what these terms suggest, a ‘downcycled’ stream may produce a high value product, while an ‘upcycled’ path may have a greater negative environmental impact than alternative routes.

Using these terms assigns disproportionate value to certain end-of-life plastic solution strategies, and can be used by supporters or detractors of different recycling technologies to obscure genuine evaluation of their environmental impact.

The study, published in the journal Cambridge Prisms: Plastics, suggests that plastic waste solutions consistently fail to live up to their marketed messaging, and that clearer communication of the true value of the product from a recycling process is essential to drive investment in proper plastic waste management.

Corresponding author Professor Michael Shaver, Professor of Polymer Science at The University of Manchester, said: “The confused terminology surrounding the fate of waste plastic often lacks a consideration of value and unintended consequences. As these terms are now being used to promote technologies outside of a sustainable system, we felt it important to argue for clarity and caution when presuming quality from this directional terminology.”

The researchers argue that no single solution offers a quick fix, and that it is wrong for the terminology to suggest otherwise. They call for greater clarity over how we value end-products. They suggest a ‘spiral system’ of reuse, in which plastic materials are treated as complex mixtures that, like crude oil, can be chemically deconstructed at the end of their life and transformed to become a huge range of longer-lasting products over their lifetime. 

For example, a yoghurt pot could be reconstituted into car parts, and then after that into a park bench. Ultimately, after many years of service, it could be chemically deconstructed, and turned back into a yoghurt pot. As the polypropylene in such simple packaging is already used in cars, hard shell suitcases, garden furniture, appliances, and plumbing, a cross-sector approach to reuse of plastic waste could generate more value than an approach focused solely on single-use packaging.

By moving away from direction-loaded terminology, researchers suggest that plastic waste solutions can be judged on the measurable environmental and economic value of the end-products, rather than an assumed or subjective value based on language, that is not always supported by full life-cycle assessment or economic analysis.

Dr Claire Seitzinger added: “Building a circular plastics economy means looking at the whole system, not isolated solutions pitched against each other. Policy, industry, innovation and collaboration across sectors are essential for a sustainable future. The next time you eat a yoghurt, where do you want the pot to end up? Should it become another yoghurt pot? A park bench? A car? What is best? And what should you, the packaging producer, or the government do to make that to happen?”

-ends-

 

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Journal

Cambridge Prisms Plastics

DOI

10.1017/plc.2026.10041 

Article Title

Up, Down & Back Again: Value Judgements in Polymer Recycling

Article Publication Date

25-Feb-2026

 

The Institute of New Imaging Technologies at the UJI leads the European FAIR GAME project to protect children in online gaming environments

The FAIR GAME consortium, meeting on the Castelló campus, seeks to bring about cultural and structural change in order to influence gaming platform policies and standards

Universitat Jaume I

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A European consortium, led by the Institute of New Imaging Technologies (INIT) at the Universitat Jaume I in Castelló and comprising the University of Limassol (Cyprus), Save the Children Finland, All Digital (Belgium) and 8d-Games (the Netherlands), aims to promote the protection and exercise of children’s rights in online gaming environments by creating participatory mechanisms that foster digital literacy, strengthen mental wellbeing and embed practices grounded in children’s fundamental rights.

“The main purpose of FAIR GAME”, explains the research team, which met for two days at the public university in Castelló, “is to make children’s rights visible, actionable and enforceable in one of the least regulated digital environments”, because its goal “is not only to mitigate risk, but to reorient the way the gaming ecosystem defines safety and responsibility”. For this reason, they add, it “seeks to bring about cultural and structural change in order to influence gaming platform policies and standards”.

In the view of the research team, “a safe and age-appropriate gaming environment would ensure that children can enjoy the benefits of digital gaming (creativity, social connection, skills development) without exposure to violence, exploitation or discrimination”, since FAIR GAME is designed to “generate lasting change in the way children experience, understand and influence digital gaming environments”.

Specifically, the project proposes a range of protective measures, including stricter content moderation and age rating systems; stronger safeguards against adult predators and abusive peers through identity verification and user-friendly reporting systems; enhanced privacy and personal data protection with clear, accessible information; and online gaming spaces that are inclusive, non-discriminatory and responsive to differences in age, gender, background and ability.

The FAIR GAME consortium brings together five European Union member states (Spain, Finland, Cyprus, Belgium and the Netherlands). This combination reflects different levels of digital infrastructure, child participation practices and exposure to online gaming risks, providing a solid basis for testing tools and approaches in diverse settings. In addition, each partner contributes a unique skill set, combining expertise in video game development, children’s rights, education, digital skills, advocacy and gamification.

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Credit: Universitat Jaume I of Castellón

Video games have become complex, interactive spaces in which children not only have fun but also shape their identity, their relationships with peers and even their formal learning. However, some of their features (monetisation, manipulative design or social pressure) are poorly aligned with children’s rights related to mental health, participation and protection, even though they can also offer social and emotional benefits when engagement is critical and informed.

A European consortium, led by the Institute of New Imaging Technologies (INIT) at the Universitat Jaume I in Castelló and comprising the University of Limassol (Cyprus), Save the Children Finland, All Digital (Belgium) and 8d-Games (the Netherlands), aims to promote the protection and exercise of children’s rights in online gaming environments by creating participatory mechanisms that foster digital literacy, strengthen mental wellbeing and embed practices grounded in children’s fundamental rights.

“The main purpose of FAIR GAME”, explains the research team, which met for two days at the public university in Castelló, “is to make children’s rights visible, actionable and enforceable in one of the least regulated digital environments”, because its goal “is not only to mitigate risk, but to reorient the way the gaming ecosystem defines safety and responsibility”. For this reason, they add, it “seeks to bring about cultural and structural change in order to influence gaming platform policies and standards”.

The methodology to achieve this objective is structured in five stages. The first focuses on child-led design to create digital literacy modules, raise awareness about gaming practices and develop guidance materials for families and educators. The second stage seeks to engage the wider influence ecosystem, such as developers, streamers and influencers, who would share responsibility through jointly developed codes of conduct, training and behavioural tools.

The third and fourth stages include cross-cutting parameters applied throughout the project, such as promoting inclusion and accessibility within project teams of minors participating in consultations and implementing an ethical protection framework for them. The fifth stage envisages final outcomes that are modular and adaptable, with translation guidelines and open-source formats that can be integrated into national education systems and made accessible beyond the participating countries.

To achieve its objectives, FAIR GAME targets four key groups. The first consists of children aged 10 to 18, especially those in vulnerable situations, who participate in online gaming through collaboration with schools, youth centres, NGOs and child protection networks. The second group includes parents, caregivers and educators, who play a key role in reinforcing safe digital practices through practical tools and training to support children’s literacy, wellbeing and resilience.

The third group comprises older children trained as ambassadors to lead peer sessions, co-create content and advise on project design. The fourth includes stakeholders from the gaming community who will co-design voluntary codes and take part in awareness-raising and training campaigns promoting safer and more inclusive gaming cultures.

In the view of the research team, “a safe and age-appropriate gaming environment would ensure that children can enjoy the benefits of digital gaming (creativity, social connection, skills development) without exposure to violence, exploitation or discrimination”, since FAIR GAME is designed to “generate lasting change in the way children experience, understand and influence digital gaming environments”.

Specifically, the project proposes a range of protective measures, including stricter content moderation and age rating systems; stronger safeguards against adult predators and abusive peers through identity verification and user-friendly reporting systems; enhanced privacy and personal data protection with clear, accessible information; and online gaming spaces that are inclusive, non-discriminatory and responsive to differences in age, gender, background and ability.

The FAIR GAME consortium brings together five European Union member states (Spain, Finland, Cyprus, Belgium and the Netherlands). This combination reflects different levels of digital infrastructure, child participation practices and exposure to online gaming risks, providing a solid basis for testing tools and approaches in diverse settings. In addition, each partner contributes a unique skill set, combining expertise in video game development, children’s rights, education, digital skills, advocacy and gamification.

The project “FAIR GAME – Fostering Awareness, Inclusion and Resilience in Gaming Environments” is funded by the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) under the CERV-2025-CHILD call. The coordinator is researcher Inmaculada Remolar Quintana, director of the Institute of New Imaging Technologies at the Universitat Jaume I, and the project will run for 24 months.

PSYCHOGEOGRAPHY

Living in a favela influences how people move around the city

Research using mobile phone data indicates that the living condition reduces the variability of daily movements

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo

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Sequence of inferred locations (trajectories) of mobile phone users, where each color represents a different individual. This data was used in a study examining mobility variability among São Paulo favela residents 

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Credit: Matheus Henrique Cunha Barboza

A study based on the analysis of mobile phone data reveals that residents of favelas in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, exhibit less variability in their daily travel patterns than residents of formal areas with similar incomes.

The study was published in the journal Transportation and was authored by Matheus Henrique Barboza from the Engineering School of the University of São Paulo (Poli-USP). Barboza’s work was supervised by Mariana Giannotti and co-authored by Anna Grigolon and Karst Geurs. The research is part of Barboza’s doctoral thesis developed through a dual-degree program between USP and the University of Twente in the Netherlands.

The analysis was based on 77 consecutive days of mobile phone records, totaling approximately 30 million events associated with around 6,000 users living in areas within or around São Paulo’s favelas. The study focused on intrapersonal mobility variability, or how much a person’s routes change from one workday to the next.

“Most transportation studies look at a single day in people’s lives. What we explored is the fact that phone data allows us to observe behavior over several weeks, something traditional research can’t capture,” Barboza explains.

The results show that income and living in a favela are not equivalent variables. Even after controlling for factors such as average income in the census tract, land use, employment density, and access to public transportation, the “favela” variable remained significant. In practical terms, this means that two people with similar incomes living in nearby areas may have different movement patterns simply because one of them lives in a favela.

According to Giannotti, the lower variability observed among favela residents should not be automatically interpreted as a sign of greater stability or choice. “An initial, generic hypothesis would be that favela residents face additional challenges compared to people with the same income who live in urban areas outside of favelas. Among these challenges, infrastructure bottlenecks related to mobility – such as narrow, steep alleys; distance to bus stops; and lack of adequate sidewalks – can impact access and consequently the variability of movement patterns,” she says.

The researchers used call detail records (CDRs), which are records of calls, messages, and internet connections automatically generated by cell phone operators. By identifying the antennas used over time, the researchers were able to reconstruct users’ daily movements and infer their places of residence based on their nighttime patterns.

They cross-referenced this information with data from the Demographic Census of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), land use databases from the City of São Paulo, and estimates of accessibility to jobs via public transportation. To measure mobility variability, the authors created a specific indicator: the total number of distinct locations among the three most frequent destinations each workday over four weeks.

Two results stand out. First, people with higher incomes tend to have less variability in their daily movements, indicating more stable routines. Second, favela residents also exhibited less variability despite being associated with more precarious economic conditions.

“Although informal workers tend to show greater variability because they work in multiple locations, living in a favela can impose additional limitations that reduce this fluctuation,” Barboza notes.

Giannotti points out that the data used in the study are from 2016 and cannot be directly extrapolated to the present. “It isn’t possible to extrapolate over time, especially considering the effects of the pandemic on people’s behavior. On the other hand, we understand that the results remain relevant from an analytical and conceptual point of view because the study investigates the mechanisms and structural relationships between mobility, income, informality, and residential status associated with more persistent characteristics of urban structures,” she says.

In addition to its academic contribution, the work has direct implications for urban planning and public policy formulation. “The research provides methods for exploring telephone data to support the development of Mobility Plans, which are mandatory for municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants according to the National Urban Mobility Policy,” Giannotti points out.

According to her, traditional origin and destination surveys are expensive and impractical for many municipalities. “If municipalities can advance in using this type of telephone and ticketing data for their plans, it’ll be a huge step forward in having public policies that are more data- and evidence-informed,” she says.

According to the researcher, analyses such as those carried out in the study can support policies such as ensuring adequate transportation in peripheral areas, designing fares and subsidies that align with work routines, and prioritizing infrastructure and service investments in areas with restricted daily mobility.

The data is anonymous and does not allow for direct identification of individuals. According to Barboza, access was obtained through a formal agreement with the operator. “We don’t have names, CPFs [Brazilian taxpayer identification numbers], or anything like that. What we were provided with were geographic coordinates, date, time, and an anonymized code that can’t be linked to personal information. But, of course, this is sensitive data, and therefore all use follows strict ethical protocols. The General Data Protection Law [LGPD] allows this type of research when conducted by universities and with anonymized data.”

The work was supported by FAPESP through a Doctoral Scholarship and a Research Internship Abroad Scholarship, both awarded to Barboza. It was also supported by a Research Grant to the Center for Metropolitan Studies (CEM), where Giannotti is one of the principal investigators. The CEM is one of FAPESP’s Research, Innovation, and Dissemination Centers (RIDCs).

About São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)
The São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) is a public institution with the mission of supporting scientific research in all fields of knowledge by awarding scholarships, fellowships and grants to investigators linked with higher education and research institutions in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. FAPESP is aware that the very best research can only be done by working with the best researchers internationally. Therefore, it has established partnerships with funding agencies, higher education, private companies, and research organizations in other countries known for the quality of their research and has been encouraging scientists funded by its grants to further develop their international collaboration. You can learn more about FAPESP at www.fapesp.br/en and visit FAPESP news agency at www.agencia.fapesp.br/en to keep updated with the latest scientific breakthroughs FAPESP helps achieve through its many programs, awards and research centers. You may also subscribe to FAPESP news agency at http://agencia.fapesp.br/subscribe.

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Journal

Transportation

DOI

10.1007/s11116-025-10695-6 

Article Title

Mobility variability of favela residents of São Paulo based on mobile phone data