Ketogenic Diet Offers Health Benefit for Diabetic Patients
You may have heard by now that ketogenic diets are all the rage for people who seek to lose fat and build muscle. What you may not know, is that it can be outstanding for your health as well. Especially for the 100 million plus U.S. adults living with type 2 diabetes or prediabetes.
photo/ Praha/ČR
What is a Ketogenic Diet?
Some would call it more of a lifestyle than a diet. To maintain the good results and control your blood sugar by virtually eliminating the harmful sugar spikes that are so common among diabetic patients you must follow the plan, to some degree for life.
A ketogenic diet is a very low carb (20 or fewer grams of cabs per day), high good fat, and moderate protein diet. The goal of the diet is to enter a state of ketosis, where the body burns fat for fuel rather than carbohydrates.
According to a recent report appearing on Endocrine Web, a ketogenic diet is not only effective for helping people to lose weight and manage blood glucose. It can also be instrumental in helping people eliminate their need for glucose-lowering medications, among type 2 diabetes patients.
The goal of people following a ketogenic diet is to enter into a state known as nutritional ketosis, often referred to as ketosis. This frightens some diabetics who have been warned of the risks associated with ketoacidosis, a life-threatening condition in which both ketone levels and blood sugar are extremely high. Ketoacidosis is likely to occur among people who have poorly controlled diabetes or who are non-compliant with their diets and/or medications.
The Arguments Against Ketogenic Diets for Controlling Diabetes
There are many in the medical field who would argue that the results discovered in the Keto Diet vs. Plate Method study are not the result of a ketogenic diet. Instead they are the result of necessary lifestyle changes required by the keto diet. In other words, they weren’t arguing with the favorable outcomes of the keto diet, only that the outcomes could be achieved with such another, similar diet plan.
Those who have successfully tried and failed multiple other diet plans without success only to later find it with a ketogenic diet, though, might argue that the high fat content of this diet allows them to continue to feel satisfied (not deprived) with their meal choices allowing them to remain committed when they have quit other diets in the past.
Author: Jacob Maslow
