Is there a difference between a low carbohydrate, high fat way of eating and a Ketogenic diet? At first glance the answer might be no, but it is important to recognize that there are different variations of each eating plan, and one size does not fit all. Let’s explore the differences and see which is better for diabetics.
For starters, the focus of a LCHF diet that I follow is to send diabetes packing! I may not believe that the disease can be reversed, but I do believe a good LCHF diet will provide better health and a longer life for me. For those following the diet provided by Dr. Bernstein in the book, “The Diabetes Solution”, we try to keep our sugar under 50 grams a day, and if possible, 30 grams a day. Also key to the diet is the compliant foods require a low amount, if not negligible amount, of insulin to be processed. An LCHF diet will help many people to lose weight, and while that is great, the main goal is to get the sugar out of our system! We gauge our success by how our A1C test looks, and not just what the scale says.
The focus of Keto diets, on the other hand, can be much different. The main goal is to get your body into ketosis, so it will begin to burn fat for energy, and not glucose. So the folks following a Ketogenic diet will be following similar guidelines to their diabetic bretheren, but since their focus is on ketones, not blood glucose, they may be able to eat foods we cannot. One big reason for that is that some folks say you need to count your “net carbs” as opposed to whole carbs. Apparently you subtract out the fiber in a food from the total carb count, and the result is your net carbs. Maybe you can stay in ketosis doing this, but while fiber is good to have in your diet, it will not affect the blood glucose in your system. Diabetics should count total carbs, not net carbs.
Because the focus of the diets are different, the best way of eating for someone who is diabetic will be a strict Low Carb, High Fat program. When I say strict, it means that for a diabetic, there is no ‘dirty LCHF’, like there is a ‘dirty Keto’. There are low carb foods that are compliant, and there are some that are not, and knowing the difference can help keep your A1C lowered over the long haul.
My basic rule of thumb is simple: for protein, make sure sugar isn’t added after the curing process, otherwise go for it; for carbohydrates, just say no, unless it is a non-processed vegetable (processing can add preservatives and even sugar!); for fat, if it is natural, it is good to go, but if it is processed, stay away!
If you’re reading this and your are still unclear on if a food is compliant, send me a comment below and I will check it out for you.
Happy Eating!!