I have to ask: Does a low carb, ketogenic diet *cure/fix* type 2 Diabetes?

[itswood]

I'm trying to get educated on exactly what Type 2 Diabetes is, and how people "get it" and what they can do about it after being diagnosed.

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but this is how I perceive this:

A person with Type 2 Diabetes has trouble controlling their blood sugar. They can then do one of two things:
1) Use different types of medications and insulin to manage their blood sugar.

2) They can change their diet and completely iradicate any issues related to insulin production and blood sugar levels.

If the above is true, why why why are more people not simply changing their diet? I know humans tend to be lazy and resistant to change, but I have to believe that this is more an issue with ignorance rather than simply laziness...

I'm not much of a conspiracy theorist, but I wonder if the lack of material and education is not due in part to how big of a business diabetes has become?

Can someone please help me...this is really throwing me through a loop. :help:

[jmh6251]

I'm not an expert by any means, but if I believe what I've read Diabetes is much more manageable when following a lc/ketogenic diet. As for why people won't change their eating habits is because quite a few people don't believe that it will make much difference. They believe the hype that the media presents, and Diabetic Medication is big business. So that is my slant on the subject

[deirdra]

The government, ADA and nutritionists also push carbs, which keeps them employed. The assumption that giving up white junk is too hard for people is usually the reasoning, and they warn that giving up a whole food group (healthywholegrains) is dangerous, even though there is no such thing as an essential carbohydrate.

In my opinion a ketogenic diet should be the first thing to try, since eating sugar and carbs obviously raises blood sugar. Even if people cannot follow it perfectly, they may improve some aspects of their health.

[jessdamess]

Carbs are seductive to some people. They taste good and psychologically they provide a reward in the form of comfort eating. It can be compared to an addiction to a degree. Going low-carb is a sacrifice, no matter how you look at it. How hard a sacrifice, and the level to which an individual is willing to make that sacrifice, varies. I had no pressing medical reason to do NK (nutritional ketosis, for those who didn't know) except I'd had success on low-carb diets but needed the craving control to sustain weight loss. Some willingly make that sacrifice. Others have to be forced (by health), as most people just can't force themselves. Even then, they still may not be able to sustain it.

My mother is diabetic. Her health had degenerated to the point that after an extended hospital stay, she was forced to go low-carb at under 120g/daily. What MADE her stay on it? In the beginning she was bed-bound. Dad made her meals and said he'd had enough. Her A1C has dropped from 8 to 5.4 in less than 6 months. Her sugars are more stable. I'm thinking that soon she may not need insulin at all. She found something within herself to continue to comply once she became mobile again. She saw the results and felt them and kept up with it. I personally think that to get ride of the insulin, she needs to cut her carbs further, but even at <120g she is definitely at an improved stage of health.

I had gestational diabetes with my 4th child. A low-carb diet, along with a small amount of a med, kept me from insulin. My blood sugars regulated easily on those. Had I decreased my carb intake to a lower number, I have no doubt that I would have come off the meds entirely. However, neither me nor my doctor knew about ketogenic diets.

Many doctors just pay no attention to diet and still treat with meds only. Even those who are educated about it, as general doctors are not very educated nutrition-wise at all, still have it too high, IMO. But can they force the patient to do the diet? Some people would rather to eat what they want and just use meds. What they don't know, or are in denial about, is how their health will not just mark time under those condition, it will still decline, though maybe more slowly.

People are killing themselves with food due to unhealthy dependence on certain foods and denial. When it comes down too it, the person must be educated properly, and then, they must find it within themselves to enact the changes needed. And that is easier said than done for many, many people.

[JEY100]

FDA will listen to diabetics today in Virtual Town Hall.
Put first post on Media thread.

From Richard David Feinman: Today, tune in for a first-of-its-kind online discussion between people touched by diabetes and FDA leadership about OUR needs.
FDA & Diabetes Community Virtual Town Hall
Date: Today (November 3)
Time: 1PM to 4PM EST (10AM to 1PM PT)
Enter as a GUEST: https://collaboration.fda.gov/diabetestownhall2014/
IMPORTANT:
Even if you can only come for a few minutes, stop by to show your interest.
This is your rare chance to encourage the FDA to listen to people living with diabetes. Sign in as GUEST at: https://collaboration.fda.gov/diabetestownhall2014/.
Best,
Manny, Brian, and the many advocates making today's meeting possible!
Visit Diabetes community by Diabetes Hands Foundation: TuDiabetes at: http://www.tudiabetes.org/?xg_source=msg_mes_network

[JEY100]

Conspiracy?...or follow the money?

Start here: This short CBN story features my doctor and a friend (also named Janet, not me...and update.. she has now lost well over 100 pounds). http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/healthsc...-cure-diabetes/

And this page has two videos, the one with Dr. Wortman short and clear: http://www.dietdoctor.com/diabetes

So my own doctor, and two others I respect, say it will.

[Nancy LC]

I think it is ignorance and willful ignorance. A lot of people just want to take a magic pill and don't want the inconvenience and discomfort of making a large lifestyle change, like my ex-boyfriend.

There's a drug industry, drug-industry-trained doctors, drug- money-elected government all willing to agree to pretend other options don't exist to help make it easier for folks to go on ladling carbs into their gullets and make themselves even sicker.

[Matlock]

When my SIL was diagnosed with type II, her doctor immediately put her on a 'heart friendly' diet, in other words low fat, because of the association between diabetes and heart disease, I assume. To me it seems like a classic case of managing the symptoms at the expense of managing the disease.

She has actually done pretty well at managing the disease simply by sticking to whole foods. Her BG is still higher than it needs to be, IMO, but she's not going to be eating any egg yolks against doctor's orders. She was a little surprised when I turned down her grapes, telling her that grapes have too much sugar. Apparently no one told her to avoid sugar.

[khrussva]

I am a Type 2 diabetic and I am controlling it through diet. How I eat has stopped the damage that high BG was doing to my body and has returned me to a much healthier place. Am I cured? My answer is both yes and no. If I were tested now for diabetes - my A1C and Fasting BG would read normal. But I'm pretty sure that if I returned to eating a carb and junk food rich diet, I would be testing as diabetic again in no time. So I'd say that eating LC has cured me, but it is more like a cancer in remission than an actual cure. Eating healthy keeps me healthy. If I eat unhealthy again I will get sick again.

After I get to goal weight and after years of exercise (eg being as fit as I can be for my age) -- I wouldn't be surprised if testing showed me as actually having been truly "cured" of diabetes. I'd be tempted to take a glucose tolerance, or other similar tests to find out if this is actually the case or not. Even if this were true and I was deemed "cured", I know that returning to a SAD diet would have the same results for me. I'd end up a diabetic again and probably much faster the second time around. So returning to a carb rich diet would be foolish. I'll stick with what cured me and stick to a diet that keeps my blood sugar low and stable.

I think there are lots of reasons why Type II diabetics don't control their BG through diet. Here are the ones I can think of off the top of my head...

They don't even know that it is possible. They didn't get the memo. It is not being put forth as a viable option.

The LC diet is considered by many to be unhealthy (wrongly IMO). Even if it were true, Type II Diabetes is unhealthy and managing it with meds is a losing battle.

The LC diet is considered unsustainable. Is it easy? No - not at first. There is a lot of bad habits to unlearn and the world is not geared to make it easy. Off limits food is everywhere. It definitely is an all or nothing proposition. It must be a lifestyle change. Doing it part time or inconsistently is hard to sustain for most people. For those predisposed to crave sugar, sticking to the diet plan 100% of the time is virtually mandatory.

If I can do it, it can be done. I was a carb craving junk food eater as bad as they come. I hope more people will try it. I'd like to see a new trend before the world is bankrupted by this epidemic.

[Lessara]

I am type 2 and my doctor says if I want to do low carb instead of increasing my insilin then I will be on it for the rest of my life. why? I am carb sensitive. Will that sensitivity go away. It hasn't in 10 years.