Is keto effective for controlling type 2 diabetes

greekaugust wrote: »

Check out the Netflix documentary the magic pill. It shows a woman who was type 2 who after changing her diet to keto saw changes in her insulin use and blood sugars.

No. Don't.

Listen to your doctor. Suggesting that someone disregard medical advice is irresponsible.

RailroadChris wrote: »

I’m pre-diabetic and have progressively had my medication (metformin) cut down by a combination of healthier eating and exercise...mostly walking. My doctor calls me his poster child for beating diabetes by lifestyle changes. Recently, I had a follow-up with my doctor and my numbers had gone up slightly...5.9 A1C. I can attribute this to going on vacation with my wife. She’s a bad influence...lol. She thinks Oreos are a food group, so sometimes eating healthy in my house is challenging because there’s sugary food items everywhere you look. It’s like trying to get clean in a crack house, but ultimately it’s my effort, not my surroundings that will help me succeed.
So I decided to try keto. I’ve been on it since this past Tuesday. Since I go for regular checkups because of the type 2 diabetes, I’ll see him in less than 90 days. I’m curious to see what keto does to all my numbers from my blood work.
So far, keto has done what it promises to do...help me lose weight. It’s been drastic already. I don’t feel deprived in any way, I feel energetic, and not as tired as I was feeling before. I am not a doctor. I am not suggesting anyone does what I’m doing. I’m just a member of the MFP community that will share his experience with keto and type 2 diabetes.

The water weight loss (from glycogen stores) the first couple weeks can be impressive. But that's not the same thing as fat loss. Weight loss will normalize, provided you aren't eating a larger calorie deficit than before. Because ALL weight loss is about calorie deficit, not carbs.

There's a low carb group here: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/394-low-carber-daily-forum-the-lcd-group

RelCanonical wrote: »

You need to let your doctor help you with you diet so you get the right carbohydrates to balance your insulin intake. Exercise and losing weight will help you manage your diabetes, and it can be done while moderating your carb intake according to your doctor's instructions.

In my experience - and this is 100% my experience - asking an MD for nutritional advise is like asking the fox to guard the hen house (in other words, a really HORRIBLE idea). MDs - and this is a super general statement and super specific to my experience - know little to nothing about nutrition.

Granted, I am tough on MDs. I do not trust them until the have earned it. In my job (I work in IT - but I am decidedly *NOT* an "IT Guy".....just a guy who does IT) I have lots and lots of interaction with Doctors and Lawyers....what a group! That is all I will say. I have lots of war stories about run-ins with this group.

Now, if your doctor specializes in this and has lots and lots of both theoretical and hands-on experience, then maybe that is a different story. Maybe!

I do not just blindly follow someone's advise. I am not impressed by titles and degrees. I try to use critical thinking when common sense does not work. Anyway, just my input - for whatever it might be worth!

victoriaward1592 wrote: »

The documentary “The Magic Pill” shows people who are type 2 diabetic, kids with autism ect and being on Keto drastically changed their lives. Me personally, wouldn’t trust what your MD says because 90% of the time they’re into it for the money and only giving you enough advice and pills to come back and get more. You doo what you feel you should whatever that may be. I personally feel the Keto diet would be affective for you.

No

AnvilHead wrote: »

That kind of woo is just one of several reasons the Australian Medical Association wanted The Magic Pill pulled from circulation - because they consider it "irresponsible" and feel that the (mis)information in it is potentially dangerous to people's health:

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/jun/03/pete-evans-documentary-should-be-cut-from-netflix-doctors-group-says

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/diet/they-shouldnt-screen-it-the-risk-is-too-great-paleo-petes-doco-under-fire-again/news-story/43f95457cb8099a906bcfcfcbe260eb3

And one of the doctors involved in the mockumentary has backed down from his stance about the "miracles" of keto: https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/doctor-s-mea-culpa-over-pete-evans-documentary-the-magic-pill-20180604-p4zjb2.html


Pete Evans is not a doctor. He's not a scientist or a researcher. He's a celebrity chef who got his 15 minutes of fame by compiling a hack job of a one-sided propaganda piece that gives people potentially dangerous and/or life-threatening advice. If I was the OP, The Magic Pill would not be anywhere on my list of sources for reliable information.

Yes

For the vast majority of people with T2D, a ketogenic is an excellent way to control blood glucose and insulin. If you eat fewer carbs, you have lower BG, and lower insulin is needed and less is made. Most seem to find that BG levels are coming down within a few days, with fasting BG (which is less diet dependent) taking the longest to reduce.

If you are taking insulin, you would need to be careful that you are not taking too much if carbs are lowered. It seems most need to cut the amount of insulin they take pretty quickly or they start getting hypoglycemic lows.

YMMV

I recommend work by Dr Richard Bernstein, especially Dr Bernstein's Diabetes Solution. Its a LCHF plan to reduce insulin and BG, by the doctor who invented self BG testing. He also has a LOT of helpful youtube videos with great information; he's not an entertainer so they are a bit dull to watch.
http://www.diabetes-book.com/

Fung's books, Obesity Code and Diabetes Code, also use a LCHF plan but incorporate fasting to further improve insulin resistance. Fung's IDM website is useful, and he also has a few youtube videos.

Dr Sarah Halberg has some great LCHF info for T2D. She's also part of a long term study on treating T2D which shows it is one of only 3 ways to reverse T2D, and the only one that requires no weight loss.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da1vvigy5tQ&vl=es

https://blog.virtahealth.com/dr-sarah-hallberg-ted-talk-reversing-diabetes/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMtBvQKaSbM

victoriaward1592 wrote: »

The documentary “The Magic Pill” shows people who are type 2 diabetic, kids with autism ect and being on Keto drastically changed their lives. Me personally, wouldn’t trust what your MD says because 90% of the time they’re into it for the money and only giving you enough advice and pills to come back and get more. You doo what you feel you should whatever that may be. I personally feel the Keto diet would be affective for you.

Look, I have no medical information or experience to share, but The Magic Pill is a film by a celebrity chef who decided to expand his lifestyle brand into quack health guru. To trust a celebrity chef's publicity stunt over an MD because "money" makes no sense. I'd bet dollars to donuts that Pete Evans makes far more money than the average primary care doctor or diabetic counselor. Sure doctors work for money. Just like holistic practitioners, documentary filmmakers, and blog writers do.

I'm not saying keto isn't effective for diabetes, I don't have a horse in that race, just please don't trust your health to a documentary.

OP, if you are routinely testing your blood glucose throughout the day, you should be able to get a good idea of whether a diet will work for you or not pretty quickly. And while I agree that many doctors do not have a strong or current grasp of nutrition science, I would still let your doctor know if you make a big change to your diet right away so they can keep it in mind while monitoring your progress, and just in case they know of some other reason keto might not be a good choice for you personally.

I would talk to your doctor. I'm T2 and have a diabetes nurse, dietitian and testing every 6 months. I would never go on any keto diet without medical advice or supervision. The medically supervised ketogenic diet is different from the standard ketos touted by diet peeps, and non diabetics can probably do those with minimum supervision. Diabetics have to watch fat intake as well as carbs. We can't just eat any types of fats that standard keto diets might say are okay, because our organs can be more adversely affected than non diabetics. In short: if you're thinking of going ketogenic, make sure you have your doctor and diabetes team monitoring you.

jgnatca wrote: »

I know that diabetics are at higher risk for heart attacks, so my cholesterol levels, blood pressure, etc. are watched very carefully. Tolerances are tighter than they are for non-diabetics.

High fat diets are associated with coronary trouble.

https://www.businessinsider.com/iceman-5300-years-ago-ate-a-high-fat-meat-lovers-diet-2018-7

That's not correct.

There was a study conducted by a gentleman named Ancel Keys called the 7 Country Study which theorized that dietary fat was a leading cause of Coronary Heart Disease. This theory was never proven, and has in fact, been debunked several times over. There is a lot of information out there on the interwebs about this exact topic.

Just because that mummy had signs of CHD does not mean that it was related to his diet, and that's quite an assumption to make. I'd likely not be taking any pseudo-science as fat, especially when the source is a not science based.