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EventsCould a keto diet increase the risk of diabetes (if you’re a mouse)?
Is it dangerous to follow a keto diet? A new study resulted in scary headlines recently, and got plenty of attention online – perhaps a keto diet could increase the risk of diabetes?
Sky News: ‘Keto diets’ could increase diabetes risk
While new science is always welcome, what is most needed sometimes is a reality check.
In the study, researchers fed mice (!) a keto diet for three days (!), and then ran a glucose tolerance test. They noticed that while the mice on a keto diet had a lower fasting blood glucose, it got higher after the glucose tolerance test and there were signs of a reduced effect of insulin compared to mice on regular mouse chow. That’s basically it.
The result? Newspaper headlines from click-seeking journalist warning about diabetes if people (humans, presumably) eat a keto diet.
Where to start. First of all, and crucially, humans are not mice. Secondly, the short-term (three days) adaptations to a keto diet may very well reduce the tolerance to a sudden glucose load, but whether that is a bad thing (even in mice) or simply normal is an open question.
Most importantly, a number of long-term studies (over months and years) and decades of experience in actual humans show that a keto diet reverses type 2 diabetes.
I guess the question is what you want to believe in. Debatable lab findings from one three-day mouse study, or long-term studies and practical experience in humans showing reversal of type 2 diabetes. I suggest the latter.
Success stories on keto (diabetes success stories)
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I think the science is strong in support of Keto, but there is no science in this diet doctor response
I noticed month after month I began to have more and more pain. Primarily in my legs but all over really. I couldn't figure out why. My mother did keto as well but not as long as I did and she is fine.
I began having so much trouble walking and literally began dragging my leg. I went from a cane, to a walker with a seat, to a power scooter in 6 months. I was absolutely terrified and doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. No lie, I can barely walk most days now.
I'm now in the process of detoxing my body. I'm trying to get my body back to normal. I'm taking pro and prebiotics and slowly feeling a little better.
Keto is the only link to my health declining. I can't explain it but something went terribly wrong in my body while I was on keto. I've heard nothing but good things about it and at first, I felt wonderful.
I can barely stand now. I'm 42 years old. Keto is definitely not safe for everyone. For some reason, it sent my body into shock.
People with fibromyalgia report feeling better while on a keto diet.
Your post mentions eating "large amount of meat, cheese and eggs" and I suspect that it is just another piece of sneaky vegan propaganda designed to scare people away from keto diets.
By the way, many have found that eating certain plants was in fact the trigger to their fibromyalgia flare up.
P.S I’m 57 and told my doctor what I’m doing and he advocates it wholeheartedly. If at anytime in the future anything changes I will simply introduce more of a low carb maintenance diet plan into my life.
You may wish to test blood sugar before and after meals to see if there are specific foods/meals that are causing your blood sugar to rise and/or stay high.
So if I have one fruit my sugar goes up to 140.
I was not a diabetic before and my A1C was reduced from 5.5 to 5.2 on Keto.
I still worry of the damage such spikes in sugar may cause.