Researchers writing in Frontiers in Science propose using simple tests to track metabolic health in noncommunicable diseases, which cause three in four deaths worldwide.
Prof Thomas Seyfried, Dr Derek Lee, and Dr Isabella Cooper, explore how the GKI—a measure of the ratio of glucose to ketones in the blood—could provide a practical way to assess metabolic state, nutritional ketosis, and adherence to metabolic interventions.
Their article outlines how many chronic diseases—including cancer, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and neurodegenerative disorders—can be influenced by modifiable lifestyle factors and might be linked to mitochondrial dysfunction. It highlights how the GKI could help track whether diet, fasting, or exercise interventions are shifting the body toward nutritional ketosis—a metabolic state marked by lower glucose and higher ketone availability that may be associated with lower NCD risk or improved disease management.
Join the authors at our Frontiers in Science Deep Dive webinar on 16 September 2026, 16:00–17:30 CEST, as they examine the role of mitochondrial health in chronic disease and to discuss the future of GKI research.
The glucose ketone index: a proposed quantitative biomarker to support cancer and chronic disease prevention and management | 16 September 2026 | Register
Frontiers in Science Deep Dive sessions bring researchers, policy experts, and innovators together from around the world to discuss a specific area of transformational science published in Frontiers’ flagship, multidisciplinary journal, Frontiers in Science, and explore next steps for the field.
DOI
10.3389/fsci.2026.1763395
Media Contacts
Caroline Brogan
Frontiers
Joanna Williams
Frontiers
DOI
10.3389/fsci.2026.1763395
DOI
10.3389/fsci.2026.1763395
Tags
/Life sciences/Biochemistry/Metabolism/Metabolic health
/Life sciences/Biochemistry/Metabolism/Metabolic regulation
/Health and medicine/Diseases and disorders
/Health and medicine/Human health
/Health and medicine/Pharmaceuticals
/Health and medicine/Clinical medicine
/Health and medicine
/Health and medicine/Diseases and disorders/Cancer
/Health and medicine/Health care/Health counseling/Dietetics/Diets
/Health and medicine/Health care/Health counseling/Dietetics
Tags: fasting and exercise impact on metabolismfuture research on GKI and metabolic healthGKI in cancer and cardiovascular healthglucose ketone index GKIlifestyle interventions for disease managementmetabolic health tracking in chronic diseasemitochondrial dysfunction in noncommunicable diseasesmonitoring metabolic state in obesity and neurodegenerative disordersnoncommunicable disease prevention strategiesnutritional ketosis biomarkerrole of mitochondria in chronic illnesssimple blood tests for metabolic assessment
