Building lean mass as a Type 1 diabetic following a Ketogenic diet.

[River83]

I'm interested to hear from any other T1 diabetics who are following (or have followed in the past) the Ketogenic diet. I use a pump and have been eating this way for around 9-10 months with great success. My diabetes is under much better control, I feel better overall and I have seen numerous health benefits as a result. The one problem that I am struggling with is gaining a decent amount of lean muscle mass on such a low carb diet.

Since going very low carb, my bolus requirements for carbs have changed a lot and as my body is now fully fat adapted. I think that cycling between carbs and no carbs is likely to be challenging as I no longer use any sort of standard carb:insulin ratio, it's all based around meals at macro's consistent with the keto diet.

Has anyone tried the Targeted Keto Diet or the Cyclical Keto Diet? I have experimented with TKD using around 20g dextrose monohydrate before or after a gym session however I have only tried this a few times as I am unsure whether;

a) the amount of carbs is significant enough to make a difference to muscle growth;

b) I am going to kick myself out of ketosis if I increase the carb intake too much.

The few times that I have accidentally kicked myself out of ketosis, I have been able to get back in relatively fast - the speed has increased over the last few months.

I think that the CKD may be necessary to get the results I am looking for and if anyone has any first hand experience of this, it would be much appreciated.

Finally, before anyone responds with any DKA comments, there is a world of difference between nutritional ketosis and diabetic ketoacidosis, my doctor is aware of what I'm doing and has no issue with it.

[River83]

Anyone??

[andrea30]

I would love to try this keto diet. my blood sugars are awful I need help so bad.

[River83 in reply to andrea30]

Definitely worth trying it. The first couple of days are a struggle getting over carb cravings but after that it gets a lot better.

When you say you blood sugars are awful, how bad are they, what was your last HbA1c? What’s stopping you giving it a go?

[andrea30 in reply to River83]

I have not tried it because my family tell me that it is a bad thing for diabetics to do. and things I read said not good for diabetics. my sugars are always like between 15-30 these days I used to be so good like 6 and 7 but the past year is awful. I have a diabetic pump. but it seems to not be working for me anymore. I know I need to see a doctors I have not had blood work done in a year. So tomorrow I am getting blood work and then have appointment next week to see diabetic doctor. I hope I can change my ways. I am very over weight trying to also get back into the gym. Going to be a long hard road.

[River83 in reply to andrea30]

It is unlikely that your diabetes team will recommend Keto, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider it. Low carb is becoming more and more accepted and if you do your research there is no reason you can’t do it successfully.

You’ll need to vastly reduce your insulin if you do go Keto, this is probably why people are telling you it’s dangerous. Also, a lot of people do not understand the difference between nutritional ketosis and diabetic ketoacidosis, again, this could be a reason they advise against it.

If weight loss and stable blood glucose is your aim, you should be able to achieve this with Keto. If you’re not confident with adjusting your basel rates and bolus ratio’s, getting help from your doctors would be advisable.

Good luck.