As of 2018, more than 10% of Americans were diabetic. That's one in ten people afflicted with a serious health condition that correlates directly to diet. It's hard to be surprised by this statistic. The standard American diet is notoriously unhealthy, with fast food restaurants on every corner and an overwhelming prevalence of added sugar in nearly everything we eat.
Not only has keto been shown to help dieters significantly reduce body weight, it's also been shown to help mitigate many health issues pertaining to blood sugar.
Diabetes and Health Complications
Diabetes cannot technically be cured. Once a person becomes diabetic, they are considered diabetic for the rest of their lives. The goal is to get diabetes into remission and keep it there. It is possible to virtually eradicate the ways in which diabetes continues to impact the body, but without proper management, all of the negative impact will return.
Most doctors recommend losing weight and switching to a health focused diet for life. Keeping weight off and eating healthily can, in essence, reverse diabetes. It's for this reason that many diabetics seeking relief from their symptoms and insulin dependency seek sustainable diets that will help them live as healthy of a lifestyle as possible.
Blood Sugar Stability
Diabetics need a diet that will promote blood sugar stability. So how does the keto diet work to do that? Typically, people pull their energy from carbohydrates. High carbohydrate diets are precisely the reason why so many people living with diabetes are overweight or obese.
The body converts these carbohydrates to sugar, causing substantial spikes in blood sugar throughout the day. These spikes are extremely dangerous for patients living with diabetes. Diabetics need to keep their blood sugar levels stable throughout the day, and many of them find spikes as a result of a normal diet to be highly unpredictable and very unpleasant.
Ketogenic diets are focused on extremely low carb intake. People living with diabetes should significantly limit their intake of carbs and carefully watch their body weights. That's why so many diabetics turn to keto as their diet of choice. It's almost as though the philosophy was tailor made for them - blood sugar stability and fat burning are its cornerstones.
Long Term Results of Keto and Diabetes
Many diabetics who work with their doctors to begin a long term keto plan find that, when carefully adhered to, a ketogenic diet puts them into diabetic remission. They become less dependent on insulin and are able to reduce the amount of medications they take to manage their diabetes. A handful of patients with less significant diabetes may find that they are able to almost completely forego insulin and many of the other medications they've become dependent on. This is a great outcome, but it's important to note that it won't work the same for everyone.
Some dieters may find drawbacks. The body is quick to find a routine, and diabetics who typically consume a lot of carbs may find that they experience symptoms of hypoglycemia at the beginning of a ketogenic diet. By slowly reducing carb intake and transitioning into a keto diet, many diabetics find that they're able to mitigate the symptoms of hypoglycemia. Once the body becomes adapted, maintaining healthy blood glucose levels is sustainable in the long term.
Conclusion
Everyone is different, so before making any lifestyle changes, speak with your doctor about the benefits of a ketogenic diet for the management of your diabetes. Many doctors are wholeheartedly impressed with their outcomes of their diabetic patients who adopt a ketogenic diet as a part of their lifestyle. Seek medical advice before you begin.
