It seems like every decade, there is a new diet trend that all but abolishes an entire food group or macronutrient. Luckily, with each decade comes more and more research to support these trends. The latest trend that is hitting the scene is the Ketogenic Diet. While this diet is not for everyone, it is certainly worth mentioning here because it has been found to be particularly beneficial for people with diabetes.
If you haven’t heard of the Ketogenic (Keto, for short) Diet before, no worries: I’ll break it down for you here.
What is the Keto Diet?
In short, the Keto Diet is a diet high in fat and protein and relatively low in carbohydrates. The body is naturally designed to use carbohydrates as fuel by way of glucose, but when carbohydrates are restricted, the body turns to fat as fuel instead.
Normally, when the body converts carbohydrates to glucose, the latter is used to fuel our basic bodily activities. As a result, our fat stores remain mostly untouched, only used in-case-of-emergency.
When there is no longer a steady flow of carbohydrates, and therefore a serious reduction in blood glucose, the body turns to the fat to perform its basic functions.
How Can the Keto Diet Help Diabetes?
The Keto Diet isn’t actually a diet designed specifically for diabetes. In fact, this diet can support many conditions! Chronic diseases such as diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and heart disease are all significantly improved on a Keto Diet. Metabolic disorders, migraine headaches, and even hormonal imbalance can all be alleviated with a Keto Diet.
Many athletes are also switching from the traditional carbo-heavy diet to a Keto Diet as research is showing that fat-as-fuel proves to be much more efficient and long-lasting than carbs-as-fuel.
As far as diabetes, though, it seems like the benefits may be obvious. When carbohydrates are converted to glucose, there is a spike in blood sugar that follows. For those with type 2 diabetes, this may prove difficult to control as the body has become resistant to insulin. For those with type 1 diabetes, the blood glucose will spin out of control until insulin is given to the body.
When carbohydrates are significantly reduced, there is no spike in glucose levels. Instead, the body turns to fat stores for energy. Energy from fat is long-lasting, gentle, and even regenerative in many cases. In fact, the brain shows cognitive improvements when running on fat as fuel!
This diet seems to be a promising one that is worth checking out further. Of course, be sure to discuss with your healthcare professional for more details and to see if it is right for you.
[expand title=”References“]
Dr. Axe. URL Link. Accessed March 16, 2017.
Mercola. URL Link. Accessed March 16, 2017.
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