My dad's numbers came back recently and he was officially diagnosed with type II diabetes. I wish I could say I was more shocked, but his lifestyle and food choices previous to the diagnosis were... less than ideal, to say the least.
I had previously talked to him about the merits of cutting sugar and processed foods, but I absolutely re-iterated it and even suggested maybe going on something like keto to keep his weight and numbers in check, giving him a Gary Taubes-inspired lecture about fat gain and insulin sensitivity and all that good stuff. I'm not a health care professional, however, so I didn't really push the issue.
Well the other day I'm having lunch with him, and he tells me about his initial consult with the nurse. You know the one where you learn to use your lancet, take readings, get dietary advice, etc. He started asking her about the ketogenic/low-carb diets that I had been telling her about. It was at this point that she stood up, shut the door and said, "Now, as a health care professional, I can't necessarily officially recommend that. However, in my experience, it absolutely works."
So while he's not entirely following the ketogenic diet, he's cut most sources of simple carbohydrates, the sugary drinks, and most other processed carb-laden junk. And it's working well for him. He's losing weight, his numbers are great, and he tells me he's feeling a lot better lately.
I understand this is entirely anecdotal (were my dad tech savvy enough to have a reddit account he'd be writing this himself...), but I thought a feel-good success story was in order. :) Furthermore, I was happy to hear that his health care professionals didn't immediately shoot the idea down. If there's any advice or insight specifically related to keto and diabetes, I'd love to hear it and pass it along.
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