Low Carb Diets and Diabetes

The low carb craze is here, and it looks like it will be staying. What does this mean for diabetics? Low and reduced carbohydrate diets may be able to help diabetes control their blood glucose levels without the use of medications or insulin. In addition to blood sugar control, low carbohydrate diets have been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, increase energy, and promote weight loss.

 Note: Any person who is taking medication or is under the watch of a health care professional should talk to your health care provider before starting any new diet regime. Note 2: Deficient carbohydrate diets are dangerous to Type I Diabetics.

How Low Carb Diets Work
 Low carbohydrate diets reduce the most comfortable used form of fuel for the body, carbohydrates, to the degree that the body uses its fat reserves for fuel. Keeping the protein, fat and nutrient intake constant and high, the body keeps from cannibalizing vital tissues to obtain proper nutrition. Breaking down fat for fuel is called ketosis. Dr Atkins gives a full description of ketosis in his series of books. This biological process is vastly different from starvation ketosis and ketoacidosis. In starvation ketosis, the body is receiving little to no food at all and begins to break down fat, muscle, bone, and organs to keep itself alive as long as possible. In ketoacidosis, a condition nearly exclusive to Type I Diabetics, the body begins to break down itself to obtain any usable energy, even if there is sufficient glucose in the system or food intake. This was the leading cause of death in Type I diabetics before the discovery and practical use of insulin.

How Low Carb Is Done
 Most low carbohydrate diets are similar: restrict the amounts of carbohydrates you intake, and you eat nearly anything else unlimitedly. But wisely, the level of restriction varies. In Dr Atkins' book, he suggests 20 carbohydrates per day, during phase one as directed by a physician trained in low carbohydrate eating, then ramping up the carbs during phase II until weight loss nor weight gain is happening (phase III) and remains there for the lifetime of the client. Other plans state a 30 to 40% of total intake of food be carbohydrates as the single-phase to be done indefinitely. There are also numerous variations between these two extremes. Two factors that remain constant are that processed foods, sugar, and processed oils are unhealthy, and fruits and vegetables are to be the essential part of the diet. All also go on to say that if a person goes back to the unhealthy habits that caused the health problems or weight gain, the health problems or weight will return. Most plans assume people will remain on the plans indefinitely and rarely mention yo-yo dieting on low carbohydrate diets since it is not healthy in any case.

What's the best way to do Low Carb
 The best way is under the care of a physician trained explicitly in low carbohydrate dieting. For those who want to do it themselves, my suggestion is to read up on the research in low carbohydrate dieting and the various types of diets. Anyone can begin by cutting out processed foods, added sugars, and trans-fatty acids. This, alone will give tremendous health benefits. A meeting with a nutritionist or physician will provide better insights into other foods to add to your diet.

How Low Carb Diets Help Diabetics
 Since diabetics need to control their blood sugar, controlling the sugar intake is the easiest and safe route to take. Since Low Carb diets automatically reduce the carbohydrates and hold it steady over the long term, diabetics have an easier time controlling the fluctuations in blood sugar. Once the blood sugar/insulin balance becomes stable, the body usually begins to heal itself, further reducing the need for artificial insulin.