Ketogenic diet and Type 2 Diabetes

On ketogenic diet, our body converts fat instead of sugar into energy. The way this lifestyle changes the way our body store and utilize energy, making it a great help in easing diabetes symptoms.

What is Type 2 Diabetes?

Type 2 Diabetes formerly known as "Sugar diabetes" is extremely common. It is a chronic disease in which people have problem regulating their blood sugar. Diabetics have high blood sugar because their bodies

• do not produce enough insulin
• are not responsive to insulin
• combination of both.

Insulin and Low Carb High Fat Diet

Insulin is a storage hormone secreted by the Pancreas, responsible for the moving of nutrients out of our blood stream to their respective tissues. It helps to regulate our blood sugar level.
When we eat carbs, our body has to produce insulin to keep up with the high level of glucose in our body. This sometimes leads to insulin resistance and subsequently Type 2 diabetes.

However, when we adopt a ketogenic lifestyle, we reduce our intake of carbs, less insulin is needed to be secreted into our bloodstream and our blood sugar is well regulated. This means for individuals with Type 2 diabetes it is the most suitable lifestyle.

Types of Sugar

Sugar can be found in 3 forms

• Natural - Found in fruit, Honey, Vegetables, Milk based products
• Added - Found in processed foods and drinks like Biscuits, Cereals, Sweetened drinks etc
• Products of the digestion of complex carbs - These are starchy foods and can be broken into

1. Grains - such as Rice, Corn, Wheat, Oats, Barley, Rye, Millet etc. This means tha processed foods like pasta, spaghetti, noodles, cookies are all starchy foods
2. Starchy Vegetables - such as Potatoes, Sweet potatoes, Yams, Cassava, Onions, Carrots, Cocoyam etc
3. Dried Beans - such as Brown beans, Black-eye beans, Red beans, Lentils etc.

Sugar is a form of carb that quickly affects blood sugar level. All carbohydrate raises blood glucose level and sugar has a very quick effect, therefore too much sugar in your daily meal more so, in a keto lifestyle is a big NO.
The more sugar in the diet, the higher your risk of type 2 diabetes.

Ketogenic lifestyle encourages people to reduce their starch and sugars and replace them with foods higher in healthy fat and proteins. This leads to weight loss which improve all the major risk factors for diseases including blood sugar, insulin levels, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL pattern and blood pressure etc.