If you or your dear one is having high blood sugar levels (diabetes), you must know the significance of following a thorough diabetes care plan. This plan should be all about having a healthy diet (i.e., managing carb intake), doing exercises regularly, maintaining your sleep and stress levels and regular monitoring of sugar levels. The keto diet (ketogenic diet) has gained patient’s acceptance as a potential approach to manage the signs of diabetes. However, is keto diet really good as a part of a diabetes care plan?
A keto diet contains fewer carbohydrates and higher fats. Person consumes under 50 grams of carbs in a day in this type of diet. Are you aware that a medium apple comprises nearly 25 grams of carbohydrates.
Below is a breakdown of the total calories in a keto diet :
| Macronutrient | Amount | Percentage |
| Fat | High | 70%-80% |
| Protein | Moderate | 10%-20% |
| Carbohydrate | Very low | 5%-10% |
Because of a limited carb consumption, the body begins to burn the fat into ketones, as a result energy is produced. This process of burning the body fat so that energy is produced is known as nutritional ketosis.
Regular intake of a ketogenic diet helps to burn ketones and fat rather than carbs. And, this can be used for producing energy. Ultimately, this leads to weight loss, lowers the levels of blood sugar and insulin. And, this leads to a better insulin resistance.
Keto diet for diabetes
Keto diet has been used efficiently since the 1920s in patients with epilepsy. This is due to the fact that keto diet helps prevent blood sugar fluctuations that result in seizures. Also, studies have found that this keto diet for diabetes might be beneficial as it aids the body to keep the levels of blood glucose at low and healthy limits.
Carbs, macronutrients are responsible for increasing blood sugar levels the most. The carb consumption gets cut down in a keto diet. Ans, this helps to prevent unwanted events of blood sugar spikes.
How does keto diet manage diabetes?
The keto diet is a high-fat, low-carb diet. Some of the benefits of this diet are:
- Lowers the risk of diabetes in people who don’t have diabetes
- Helps in maintaining healthy HbA1c levels
- Aids in weight management
- Lowers the requirement for insulin & other medicine.
The above-listed keto diet benefits can be noticed in a few patients; however, it is not intended for everyone. Do you know why? Due to the difference in the response to keto diet from individual to individual.
Results seen in some patients after practicing the keto diet for a year:
- Decrease in HbA1c levels
- Reduction in diabetes medicines and,
- Accomplishment of weight loss goals and many other benefits were observed.
Alternatively, in some patients, it resulted in side-effects such as keto-flu. Symptoms were fatigue, constipation, leg cramps, loss of energy, and brain fogging. In brain fogging, a person experienced trouble concentrating, headache, and confusion.
Also, some chronic events were noticed when people followed the keto diet. Those were low blood sugar levels, raised risk of high cholesterol levels, kidney stones, and bone fractures. Also, recent studies found that an extreme decrease of carbohydrates from the diet may enhance the risk of mortality. Now, again why many people don’t like to follow this keto diet is the scarce data with respect to the effect of keto diet on blood cholesterol levels.
When the topic of any diet plan comes, sustainability is a vital factor to be considered. Many individuals discontinue their keto diet as sticking to this type of diet in daily routine can be a major challenge. Also, it is even challenging for vegetarians to reach ketosis with inadequate food choices.
Even if the benefits are abundant in type 2 diabetes, it is almost impossible to balance the dark side of the keto diet in some people. As a result, one must try the keto diet only after his or her healthcare provider recommends it. And, remember to follow it under the proper guidance and support of a healthcare professional.
Conclusion
Keto diet is becoming more popular among people with diabetes these days. Many people use this diet plan to manage their blood glucose levels. However, it must be kept in mind to follow this keto diet for a limited period. Also, keto diet is to be followed under close supervision.
It is always better to get a personalized keto meal planning including your medical history, food choices, and lifestyle. Ketogenic diet helps to reduce the risk of likely side effects. As the response of the body to the keto diet may differ from individual to individual, it’s recommended to start it with close supervision. By working meticulously with the whole healthcare team, people with diabetes can craft some informed decisions in relation to their diet and improve their complete health and wellness.
