What science says about Keto Diet / No Carbs Diet For Diabetes

The keto diet for diabetes is a highly debatable topic. 

On one hand, many medical and healthcare experts support this diet as they believe it can help in treating and reversing diabetes by controlling glucose levels in the blood.

Many researches and medical evidences are available to reinforce these claims. There are also many success stories published all over the internet that support this.

However, on the other hand, there’s a strong resistance from many medical doctors against following this diet. The main arguments used against the ketogenic diet are: 1- diet long term effects are still not clearly known yet; 2- the ketogenic diet is not healthy and can be risky for diabetes patients; and 3- not much research is available to support this.  

As such, many doctors still prefer to prescribe drugs. Nevertheless, it is interesting to see that when the drugs fail to treat diabetes, many do suggest following the ketogenic diet as a last line of defense.

Opinion in favor of following the keto diet to treat diabetes:

Supporters of the keto diet as a cure for diabetes believe that eliminating carbs from the diet while focusing on fat and limiting proteins intake, is highly beneficial.

Accordingly, the ketogenic diet can help in controlling glucose levels in the blood, regulating insulin, and promoting weight loss. Hence, the keto diet helps in treating and even curing diabetes.

There are also many success stories and medical evidences available all over the internet to support these claims.
Some published studies support the fact that a low-carbohydrate diets has beneficial effects on type 2 diabetes. 

For instance, a study titled “Low-carbohydrate diet in type 2 diabetes: stable improvement of bodyweight and glycemic control during 44 months follow-up” showed that following a low-carb diet had beneficial effects such as reduced body weight and glycemic control as compared to a regular carbohydrate diet.

These changes were maintained for over 3 years while following this type of diet.

Opinion against following the keto diet to treat diabetes:

On the other hand, there are many medical and health experts that oppose following a ketogenic diet for diabetes. They believe that the diet is not beneficial and might cause some serious health threats for diabetes patients. As such, they claim that eliminating carbs might push the body into a state of ketoacidosis that might be life threatening for diabetes patients.

Furthermore, they warn patients about the possible risks of developing hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) that can cause injuries, coma, and can be even fatal.

In addition, eliminating an entire food group is not something healthy to follow and should not be recommended, especially since the long-term effects of this diet are still unknown. Plus, they do not agree with the fact that all carbohydrates are labeled as bad, because some are very healthy such as vegetables.

Opponents of the keto diet for diabetes also argue that not many studies are available to reinforce the claims that a keto diet is beneficial for diabetes. They state that more studies and evidence are needed to prove this. In addition, they do have concerns about the long-term effects of this diet.

A study titled “Comparative Study of the Effects of a 1-year Dietary Intervention of a Low-Carbohydrate Diet Versus a Low-Fat Diet on Weight and Glycemic Control n Type 2 Diabetes” showed similar effects on blood glucose levels and weight loss after 1 year. Hence, this suggests that a low carbs diet has no real effects on diabetes and weight loss. 

Supporters of the keto diet for diabetes raise concerns about the credibility of these studies made against the keto diet for diabetes. In response, Dr. Eric Berg provides evidence showing that medical companies are financing these studies, and they are the ones behind these claims to protect their business interests and keep selling diabetes drugs.