A ketogenic diet is one of the most popular diets that people used to follow to lose weight. But is it safe for everyone to consume this type of diet?
What if you are diabetic. The question is: Is the Keto diet good for diabetics? Yes, of course. A ketogenic diet is useful for some individuals who suffer from Type 2diabetes.
Scientists are still researching how this type of diet affects the diabetic patients. Here’s what you should know.
The ketogenic diet – What you should know?
Keto is a low-carb and high-fat diet that helps you lose weight. When you consume keto diet, your body converts the fat into energy rather than insulin. This fat-burning diet was introduced in 1920 for the treatment of epilepsy,
If consumed properly, a keto diet also helps you maintain the level of insulin in your body, eventually helping your body to manage diabetic alerts on its own. You must check if the keto diet is affecting your body and insulin level.
How does a Ketogenic diet work?
When you are on a keto diet, your blood glucose is maintained at a level that allows the body to burn fat, converting it into ketones. The fat-burning process is called Ketosis.
If you adhere to the keto diet, you usually need a lesser amount of insulin.
Keto Effects on diabetes
People with type 2 diabetes try managing carbohydrates moderately because, often the carbohydrates that turn into blood glucose, trigger an increase in the level of insulin in the body.
Before you go for a keto diet while you are a diabetic as well, consult your doctor for the number of carbs you can take in a day that would not harm your body, otherwise, leaving you with blood sugar spikes.
If you’re experiencing high blood sugar, while following the keto diet, try transitioning from low carb to high fat.
History of Keto diet and diabetes
Back in 2008, researchers conducted a 24-week study, to identify the changes in the people having obesity and type 2 diabetes after following a low-carbohydrate diet.
After the research, they found that the people who followed the ketogenic-diet showed a positive impact of diet on their health, leading to minimal medication, and higher glycemic control as compared to the ones who followed other low-glycemic diets.
According to another study conducted in 2013, the keto diet had had a positive impact on the people and helped them control their blood sugar and lose weight.
Similar results were seen after a 2017 study, where the ketogenic diet enthusiasts had outperformed their counterparts when they followed a plan for 32 weeks – and got positive results regarding weight loss, and lower A1 levels for people with diabetes.
Types of Ketogenic diets
If you are diabetic, and still want to lose weight, consult your physician. He will provide you all the guidelines on how you can consume keto diet to lose weight, and control your blood sugar. There are different types of ketogenic diet available, including:
- SKD – Standard Ketogenic diet: This is a very-low-carb, high-fat, and moderate protein diet. It consists of 10% carbs, 70% fat, and 20% protein
- High protein Ketogenic diet: This diet is similar to the regular ketogenic diet, with more protein. If we see the composition, it has 35% protein, 5% carbs, and 60% of fat
- CKD – Cyclical Ketogenic Diet: The diet consists of high carbs that you can take alternatively like you have to have 5 days of diet followed by 2 high-carb days.
- TKD – Targeted Ketogenic Diet: In this diet, you’re allowed to add carbohydrates during your workout time.