Diabetes: don't even think about trying to fix it

[TheAwfulToad]

As many of you low-carb freaks know, it's not all about weight loss: there's a steadily-increasing mountain of research on diabetes and heart disease that points the finger of blame at excessive carbohydrate intake. There are, of course, plenty of detractors who insist that this can't possibly be true. And that's fine. Robust debate is how science proceeds. But I thought y'all might be interested in this paper, which describes treating Type 1 diabetics with a very-low-carb diet:

pediatrics.aappublications....

It's nothing new; as the paper points out, this was the standard treatment for T1 before the development of industrial-scale processes for insulin extraction from pig offal. The choice for diabetics back then was pretty stark: eat a ketogenic diet, or die. Keto was extremely effective, and this new paper shows just how effective: 97% of the study participants ended the study with blood glucose and heart-disease risk markers more-or-less in the normal range, using less exogenous insulin.

However, my absolute favourite part was this:

"Participants reported high levels of overall health and satisfaction with diabetes management but not with their professional diabetes care (‍Table 3), and 27% did not discuss their adherence to a VLCD with their diabetes care providers. Of those who did discuss their diet, only 49% agreed or strongly agreed that their diabetes care providers were supportive. Narrative explanations by participants for not discussing their diet included disagreement on treatment goals and approach, perceived provider disinterest or unfamiliarity with a VLCD, a desire to avoid conflicts with the provider, and (for parents) fear of being accused of child abuse. "

That's right folks, attempting to give your diabetic child a better life using evidence-based medicine under the supervision of a research physician is now the same thing as child abuse. Welcome to Airstrip One.

[MTCee]

I'd like to say it's unbelievable, but sadly it isn't. I was once chatting with a friend whose partner has type 1 diabetes and she was telling me that he had to avoid all carbs to stay healthy but that he got no support for his diet from the medical profession.

[moreless]

Sadly, I see dietary guidelines and medicine in general, going the same way as education. Wind the clock back a few decades and the most important aspect of primary education, was the 3 R's, which gave our kids a firm footing and could then be added to.

The same applied to food. Eat the basics, 3 x daily and have the occasional treat of a slice of cake, on Sunday and extra goodies for Birthday and Christmas. Starkly different to being accused of child abuse, for the same approach and being actively encouraged to kill your kids with 'kindness'!

[TheAwfulToad Ambassador in reply to moreless]

I couldn't agree more. We seem to have completely lost sight of the fact that, as long as kids have the basics, they're off and running; they can fill in the rest by themselves. The curriculum is now filled with so much stuff that's of no use to the average (or below-average!) child that the basics end up lost by the wayside. Apparently about 15% of school-leavers are functionally illiterate. One in seven! What was the point in even sending them to school?

The truly sad part is that they're equally ignorant of important life-skills which were once taught as "home economics" - ie., knowing how to feed yourself and budget for your household. Apparently it is now politically-incorrect to teach such things, because home-ec classes tend to get over-subscribed by girls, and that will never do. So just shut the classes down, and the problem goes away.

I was just reading a book about the British "afternoon tea" ritual, which mentions in passing that kids were at one time admonished to take no more than one slice of cake, and only after eating some proper food first. How things have changed!

In view of my reactionary opinions on such matters, I've decided I should practice leaning on my farm gate, remarking to passersby that things ain't what they used to be when I were a lad.

[moreless in reply to TheAwfulToad]

Home economics these days, seems to be all about how to bake cakes, using convenience foods!! No wonder so many adults have not the slightest clue how to prepare and cook a carrot, even!!

Perhaps you could remind passing kids that milk comes from a cow and not from a plastic container, too!

[Activity2004 in reply to moreless]

Each person has to have some carbs. so the brain and the rest of the body will function the correct way. Type 1 diabetics have to also count carbs. so they can do the correct amount of insulin for each meal. Too little or too much carbs. can cause lower/higher blood sugars.

[TheAwfulToad Ambassador in reply to Activity2004]

Depends what you mean by "some". It's almost impossible to eat zero carbs. The people in the study were eating 36g+/-15g, which is not particularly low and doesn't actually meet the definition of "VLCHF", which would be 20g or less.

[13Valerie]

Great post and hope for diabetics.