Keto: Good For Diabetes & Prediabetes? By Ryan Attar, ND I
’ve been a type 1 diabetic for 13 years. After I was diagnosed, every endocrinol- ogist and diabetes educator I met with told me to eat a diet high in grains, fruit, and starch. I was told this is the healthi- est diet for diabetics. So I did this. What happened? I watched my blood sugars go on a roller coaster ride, spiking high then dropping low. After meals I would go up to 150-200mg/dL or higher. My A1c was around 7.0%. I counted carbs like they asked me to do, properly dosed my medi- cations, but never ended up with normal blood sugars like a non-diabetic. When I asked my doctors about this, they told me what I experiencing was normal, and I was doing great.
The Keto Diet for Diabetes
I began researching diabetes and nutrition and quickly learned that healthy, insulin sensitive, non-diabetic people have
average blood sugars in the 80s, and A1cs around 5.0% or lower. Shouldn’t my goal be the same? I experimented with several diets, but I found that only one normalized my blood sugars, a low carbohydrate, ke- togenic diet. Instead of spikes up into triple digits, I had blood sugar graphs that were basically a flat line in the 80s and 90s. I again went to my doctors and asked about this. I was thinking they would be happy to see such amazing results. Instead I was told, “Eating this way won’t do you any good, and the elevated blood sugars you had before aren’t going to harm you”.
Carbohydrates and sugar raise blood
glucose, why should diabetics eat a diet with mostly these foods? This didn't make sense to me so I started my master’s de- gree in nutrition followed by my doctorate in naturopathic medicine. As I continued to educate myself I found that my physi- cians couldn't have been more wrong!
The high blood sugars I had in the past were damaging every cell and organ in my body. Eating a diet with high amounts of carbohydrate makes normalizing blood sugars a near impossibility.
Studies show beta cells (the cells that make insulin) begin to burn out and die when blood sugars get to about 140mg/ dL – 155mg/dL. Those with fasting blood sugars even as low as 110mg/dL (like many prediabetics and some undiagnosed) already have signs of beta cells destruc- tion. This is what eventually will make a T2 diabetic insulin dependent.
Eyes and retinas are a common com- plication in diabetes. Research has shown that retina disease begins occurring even at pre-diabetes levels (5.7%-6.4% A1c). This leads to impaired vision and even blind- ness. Diabetics are at an increased risk for cancer. It may be surprising to hear that risk of cancer increases even at “high normal” levels. Meaning if you have blood sugars within the standard range, but at the high end, you are at a higher risk for all cancer.
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This same pattern of mildly elevated blood sugars and organ/cell damage con- tinues through other systems in the body, like the kidneys, heart, nerves, and others. Those on the keto diet with normal blood sugars also improve their cholesterol and lipids, especially HDL and triglycerides, which are the biggest predictors of heart disease. The keto diet done right allows for blood sugars to stay in a very stable range around 80-90mg/dL. No other diet seems to be as effective.
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