Does The Ketogenic Diet Work For Type 2 Diabetes?

Does the Ketogenic Diet Work for Type 2 Diabetes?

You’ve probably seen dozens of headlines about the ketogenic diet by now, which has made its way into popular culture largely by celebrities and supermodels giving the long-standing fad diet a repeated stamp of approval. Is this the diet to follow if you have diabetes? Studies suggest the answer isn’t so simple. Some science shows its meal plan may be helpful, while other research, like one study published in September 2016 in Nutrients, highlights the importance of whole grains in the diets of people with diabetes — a restricted food category in the ketogenic diet.
While the keto diet can offer many potential benefits for diabetes management, following it requires pretty serious commitment. So take a beat before you take the plunge — and consider these questions that can help you and your medical team determine if it’s right for you:
How Does the Ketogenic Diet Work Exactly?
There’s a good reason the ketogenic diet is also referred to as a low-carb, high-fat diet. Indeed, following the ketogenic diet means reducing carbohydrate intake to typically less than 50 grams (g) of carbohydrates per day, while increasing fat and protein intake, according to a review published in August 2013 in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
To put that into perspective, an individual on an average, non-restricted diet can easily eat more carbohydrates than that in one typical meal — for instance, a turkey, cheese, and veggie sandwich on whole-grain bread with a small, 1 ounce (oz) bag of classic potato chips would come in at around 51 g of carbs. These dietary changes dri Continue reading

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There's Actually a Way to Reverse Diabetes—Here's How You Can Do It

Can you actually cure type 2 diabetes? Talk to just about any credible source, and it’s typically called a chronic condition—but that may not always be the case, according to a new analysis published in The BMJ.
After reviewing remission criteria, blood sugar guidelines, and recent clinical trials, the authors of the paper found that maintaining a weight loss of 33 pounds can actually reverse diabetes for specific patients.
Past research has led to promising findings. For instance, one Newcastle University study found that limiting diabetic patients to 700 calories a day for two months led to an average 31-pound weight loss. As a result, nearly half of the people studied experienced a significant drop in their blood sugar levels, taking many patients to pre-diabetic levels instead.
When the researchers followed up with those people after 6 months of maintaining their weight loss, they were still diabetes-free.
If you’re diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, your doctor will generally prescribe medication and offer general advice about improving your diet and exercise—but the key to this study, and others like it, is weight loss. (If you want to shed pounds right now, check out Metashred Extreme from Men's Health, a series of high-intensity workouts designed to help you burn fat. Or, check out the video below.)
13 Exercises That Are Better Than Burpees For Fat Loss:
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That’s because too much fat buildup in your pancreas tampers with the organ’s ability to pr Continue reading

Eat to Beat Diabetes: Diabetic Breakfasts That Boost Your Energy

Kick-start your day with diabetes-friendly breakfast recipes that are packed with nutrition and satisfaction. Enjoy healthy breakfast sandwiches, superfood smoothies, omelets, yogurt parfaits, and more.
Kick-start your day with diabetes-friendly breakfast recipes that are packed with nutrition and satisfaction. Enjoy healthy breakfast sandwiches, superfood smoothies, omelets, yogurt parfaits, and more.
Kick-start your day with diabetes-friendly breakfast recipes that are packed with nutrition and satisfaction. Enjoy healthy breakfast sandwiches, superfood smoothies, omelets, yogurt parfaits, and more.
Kick-start your day with diabetes-friendly breakfast recipes that are packed with nutrition and satisfaction. Enjoy healthy breakfast sandwiches, superfood smoothies, omelets, yogurt parfaits, and more. Continue reading

Lose 10-15 kg weight and reverse diabetes, says study by UK scientists

NEW DELHI: Type 2 diabetes can be reversed if you can lose weight radically, according to a study by UK scientists who managed to reverse the chronic condition in nearly half the participants who followed their weight management programme. All participants had been diagnosed with the condition within the past six years.
The results published in the international journal, The Lancet, show remission of diabetes was closely related to the degree of weight loss+ . As many as 86% of participants who achieved at least 15kg of weight loss had beaten back the disease while 73% of those with weight loss of 10kg or more had the same result.
Why it's a big deal: Type 2 diabetes accounts for 90-95% of all cases
Doctors withdrew the anti-diabetic and antihypertensive drugs of those opting for weight loss for diabetes remission. They were put on a total diet replacement phase for three months thereafter, extendable up to five months if wished by participant. During this period, the patients were given a low energy formula diet (825 - 853 kcal/day).
This was followed by structured food reintroduction of two to eight weeks and an ongoing structured programme with monthly visits for long-term weight loss maintenance. There was no increase in physical activity during total diet replacement.
TOI spoke to top endocrinologists in Delhi who held the findings as pathbreaking and of far reaching consequence. "With knowledge of remarkable results from this study, we could remove 'Diabetic for life' label from many patients," said Dr Anoop Misra, chairman, Fortis C-doc hospital for diabetes.
There a Continue reading

Weight loss can reverse type 2 diabetes: Study

Losing weight — without exercise — and maintaining a healthy diet can cause Type 2 diabetes to go into remission and allow patients to stop taking medications, according to a study that challenges the long-held medical belief that the acquired disease is a lifelong illness.
Published Wednesday in the medical journal Lancet, the study shows that patients who committed to a strict diet and then managed their new weight were able to stay off medication to manage their diabetes.
“Especially in the United States, there’s a widespread belief that diabetes can only be managed by drugs,” Roy Taylor, one of the study’s co-authors, told the Washington Times. “We’ve got quite an uphill battle of getting a buy-in from [doctors] that this is possible, but I think the results of the Lancet trial should overcome that.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 30 million people in the U.S. have diabetes, with up to 95 percent of them suffering from the Type 2 form of the disease. Diabetes occurs when the body can’t produce enough insulin to manage glucose levels. Nearly 80,000 people died from diabetes-related complications in the U.S. this year.
A Type 2 diabetes diagnosis usually occurs in adults over the age of 45 who are overweight and inactive, but numbers are rising among young people and even children, a result of the ongoing obesity epidemic in the U.S.
Recommended treatment options include healthy eating and exercise, medication and in some cases insulin replacement.
For the study, participants were between 20 and 65 years old, overwei Continue reading