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Southwestern Minnesota | John- I did watch this YouTube video with Dr Unwin last night. It is an excellent presentation and it would agree with the link/reference I posted about the risk of kidney disease and higher protein diets not being seen as an issue for normal patients but may be for those with underlying kidney issues. Dr Unwin is talking more so about low carb, and with the lower amount of carbs in the diet, that the protein content would then be higher as protein was substituted for carb. His findings showed that higher protein diets did not show problems with people with normal kidney function but did say that people with some kidney impairment should be "monitored". People with diabetes are at higher risk for cardiac and renal problems so should be monitored for these conditions anyway.
In looking at his low carb diet sheet, I'd have no problems with that. He notes in bold-type that "Typically, a low carb diet contains less than 130 grams of carbs per day. How low you go depends on many factors. Discuss this with your health practitioner." With regards to protein it says, "non-processed meat like chicken, red meat, eggs, fish" should be included and "processed meat such as bacon, ham, sausages or salami are not as healthy and should be eaten in moderation". I would have no issue with any of that advice. Like I said previously, I try to stay around 100 grams of carb/day or less and I do not have diabetes. The problem I've seen in my career becomes convincing people/patients to do this, hence the need for more meds to at least try to control the situation.
The last question on the FAQ's diet sheet was "Are there other approaches to improving diabetic control?" And the response was, "Yes, any diet that helps you lose weight will probably help, for some very heavy individuals' bariatric surgery can work too." His results showed that the patients he was working with on the low carb diet had their weight improve and their A1C improve. Their renal function also improved, which was great. Did that happen because of a low carb diet or due to wt loss and improved diabetes control? The low carb diet didn't impair the renal function, which was great. He has other patients in his clinic who are on the track with meds. As a dietitian I think his research also shows that diet/ lifestyle changes matter and matter a lot. I think most diabetes management programs in the US think this too. Convincing patients of this, is the rest of the story.
His conclusion on the last slide was "In patients with T2D, unrestricted dietary protein intake was not associated with an increased hazard of renal function deterioration. Therefore, substituting carbohydrates with dietary protein is not contraindicated as a part of T2D management, although it may have a positive effect on body weight while minimizing loss of muscle mass". I agree with this too. He doesn't say high protein diet or keto diet. In fact, he didn't mention keto diet during his presentation. Keto diet does work for wt loss. Other wt loss diets do too. Again, in my experience, getting people to stick with a wt loss diet, is the issue.
Like you are doing, to avoid insulin and to control blood sugars, the very low carb/keto diet can manage that for some people. And that is what you have been successful in doing. You lost weight and are keeping it off and are controlling your blood sugars, so that is great. This presentation by Dr Unwin wasn't about the keto diet but about a low carb diet (which he notes is 130 grams or less) and "unrestricted healthy proteins". I'm on board with all of that. It was an excellent presentation. | |
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Value of ketones
