Ketogenic Diet for Diabetes: Benefits Risks Tips and More

The ketogenic diet, also known as keto for short, has gained popularity partly because of the celebrities and supermodels who have repeatedly endorsed the lengthy diet plan. Is it advisable to follow the ketogenic diet if you have diabetes?

For those with type 1 diabetes, the diet is unquestionably dangerous, but according to various studies, the solution to managing type 2 diabetes may not be as straightforward. While some study suggests that the ketogenic diet may be beneficial, other studies emphasize the significance of whole grains in the diets of diabetics, a healthy but restricted food category in the keto diet.

While the ketogenic diet may have several potential advantages for managing diabetes, sticking to it calls for a significant amount of dedication. Consider these questions to help you and your medical team decide if it's the best decision for you before you leap.

How Does a Keto Diet Work?

The keto diet is also known as a low-carb, high-fat diet for a good reason. The keto diet entails consuming less than 50 grams of carbohydrates on average per day, while also upping fat intake and lowering protein intake.

To put that into perspective, consider how much more carbohydrates a person on a typical, unrestricted diet could conceivably consume in a single serving of food. Your body eventually enters a state of ketosis, which is when it is burning fat rather than carbohydrates, as a result of the keto dietary adjustments that lower insulin levels.

Advantages of the Keto diet for type 2 Diabetes Patients

Here are some ways of managing type 2 diabetes from the keto diet. As protein and fat break down more slowly than carbohydrates, eating more protein and fat may make people feel full longer and may help them lose weight. It might also assist in sustaining your energy levels.

The diet might also have other advantages. A ketogenic diet, which is low in carbohydrates, may assist in putting diabetes in remission. Although maintaining remission often necessitates long-term diet commitment, this remission is not very probable and its permanence is unknown.

In addition to lowering triglycerides, the diet may also aid in weight loss, which is advantageous for those with diabetes who are more susceptible to heart disease.

Furthermore, a ketogenic diet maybe three times more successful for weight loss than a low-fat one. This is significant since decreasing just 5 to 10 percent of your body weight can have positive effects on your health, including better control of your blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol. With changes to your food and exercise routine, you can keep the weight off over the long run and reap even more benefits.

Yet, when followed for a long time and matched for calorie consumption, keto diets are not more effective than other diets at helping people lose weight.

Furthermore, a ketogenic diet may help lower cholesterol and fasting blood sugar levels.

What Health Risks are Associated with the Keto diet for type 2 Diabetes Patients?

Following a ketogenic diet may increase the risk of hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, in people with type 2 diabetes who take oral medications to reduce their blood sugar.

Some undesirable side effects of a ketogenic diet include foul breath, lightheadedness, nausea, headaches, lethargy, and confusion. They may also include excessive thirst and hunger, rapid heartbeat, fever, and chills. Possible increases in LDL cholesterol when eating a low-carbohydrate diet, as well as a probable rise in the risk of cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and cardiovascular disease. Also, pregnant women who followed a ketogenic diet had an increased risk of having a child with a neural tube abnormality.

Overall, results on the possible advantages and dangers of the ketogenic diet for diabetes are conflicting. Before scientists fully comprehend the long-term effects of the diet regimen for this group, more research is required.

What is the Impact of the Keto diet on Diabetes Medication?

Those with type 2 diabetes who follow a ketogenic diet may be able to cut back on the amount of anti-diabetic medication they need since the diet may help them shed excess weight and also regulate blood sugar.

Compared to other diet therapies, those with type 2 diabetes who followed a ketogenic diet needed less anti-diabetic medication—but only for a year.

Maintaining a keto diet for a long time is troublesome for many people. People would need to take more diabetes medicine when they increase their intake of carbohydrates.

Those who combine the ketogenic diet with insulin therapy may be at greater risk of hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar. Before beginning a ketogenic diet, speak with a healthcare practitioner about the appropriate medication changes.

Which Keto diet Foods are Ideal for Diabetic People?

The Keto diet foods that are helpful for Diabetic people include −

• Fish

• Avocado

• Poultry and meat

• Nuts and seeds

• Olive oil

• Eggs

• Non-starch vegetables

What are the Keto diet Foods that one must Avoid?

The Keto diet foods that one must avoid include the following −

• Grains, especially whole grains are good for your health like brown rice, whole-wheat pasta, and bread.

• Alcohol

• Fruits, particularly high-carbohydrate fruits like tropical fruits

• All types of sugar (granulated sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, baked goods, candy)

• Processed foods, such as corn or potato chips and crackers

How to Stick to the low Carbohydrate Count of the Keto diet Plan?

Simply said, eating only 20 to 60 g of carbohydrates per day, as allowed by the ketogenic diet, is challenging. People must alter not just the food they consume but also every aspect of their lives to adhering to this tight regulation.

Even for those who have already begun to adopt a healthy diet, these changes can be challenging to put into practice. Monitoring your diet can be helpful. You can accomplish this by keeping a printed meal journal or by using different apps on your smartphone.

But, you cannot take days off from the diet. If you want to see the benefits of the diet, you must follow it religiously; otherwise, you're just eating a high-fat diet.

Conclusion

Even if your medical team believes the keto diet is safe for you, it may not be the best option for everyone with diabetes. According to some research, patients with the condition may benefit from various eating routines, such as the Mediterranean diet, which is full of whole grains, lean meats, fish, nuts, fruits, and vegetables. Better blood sugar regulation is possible with it.