Feel Good


Ketogenic Diet May Help the Pre-Diabetic

Here's more about the low-carb, high-fat eating plan.

BY January 2, 2018

If you are among the estimated 84 million Americans with pre-diabetes or the 30 million diagnosed with full-fledged disease, it may be time to look into the ketogenic diet.

This is a low-carb, high-fat (healthy fat, not Christmas-cookie fat) eating plan that shows good promise in helping to lower hemoglobin levels, a measure of blood sugar, in adults with pre-diabetes and Type 2 diabetes.  

Doctors have long known that lowering carbohydrate intake is essential for managing, halting or even reversing Type 2 diabetes; new research by a team of scientists from several U.S. universities and medical centers set out to determine an optimal level of carbs that someone with the disease should consume.

They tested two diets—a very low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet (LCK) and a moderate-carbohydrate, calorie-restricted, low-fat diet (MCCR). Those on the keto diet consumed 20 to 50 grams of carbohydrates (excluding fiber) a day. For those on the MCCR plan, carbohydrates could account for 45 to 50 percent of their calories. The latter group was also asked to eat 500 fewer kilocalories (kcal) per day than their calculated maintenance needs in order to lose weight.

In addition to lowering their blood sugar levels, the LCK group also lost more weight, lowered their body mass index and reduced their use of diabetes-related medicine more so than the MCCR group.

The results were published online in the journal Nutrition & Diabetes.

Here’s one primer on the ketogenic diet, but remember to consult your doctor before making lifestyle changes that could affect your health. 

 

 

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