Keto? High carb? Vegan? How I fixed my blood glucose for good!
What and how to eat to reverse insulin resistance? Keto or high-carb? And does going full plant-based help? My experience.
Keto or high-carb? The endless debate, one of those few topics that polarise the internet like nothing else. Plenty of gurus selling opinions as the ultimate Truth, worshippers, the whole thing.
When it comes to diabetes, the fear of carbohydrates turns many to the ketogenic side of the fence, because “carbs raise your blood glucose”.
It’s easy: you nullify the intake of carbs, adopt an either high fats or high protein protocol, and witness the blood glucose stop spiking. That makes sense, carbs spike blood sugars, you stop eating them, no more spikes.
Then you incidentally eat an apple, a carrot, a potato, your GI skyrockets, and you use this as further proof that carbs are bad.
Keto diet and insulin resistance
That is because fats and proteins, the pillars of the keto approach, are at the root of insulin resistance, which impedes the body to use insulin to process carbohydrates. If you only eat those, no wonder that even the smallest piece of salad (which contains carbs!), will send you to the sky.
I’ve tried them all during my life as a type 1 diabetic: omnivore, vegan, keto, high-carbs, and I’ve some experience to share.
Although I’ve never been “keto” by intention, there’s been a period when I was scared of carbs. My blood glucose was highly unstable and every ounce of sugar, even whole foods like fruits and legumes, caused troubles.
During that period my diet gravitated around tofu, peanut butter, tahini and vegetables (my favorite snack/meal was dipping carrots or salad leaves into large amounts of tahini).
Surely my GI was perfect, since the carbs intake was close to zero, right? Wrong.
Here’s a typical scenario:
dip the veg into some high fat cream of choice,
smile because the GI is apparently stable and in range (say, 130) in the two hours after the meal,
cry because due to some “inexplicable” reason it skyrocketed after three/four hours after the meal (typically to 350, in my case)
If dipping a carrot into some peanut butter sends me to 350, imagine what an evil carbohydrate like an apple can do to me…of course carbs are to be avoided! Right? Wrong!
The “inexplicable” reason behind those high blood glucose levels is the insulin resistance caused by the fats, and the high protein intake, insulin resistance impedes your body to make use of insulin (Dr. Michael Greger is probably more reliable than me).
You live in the illusion that your blood glucose is stable, simply because fats and protein delay the rise in blood glucose.
Plus, you are avoiding carbohydrates, so as soon as you eat even a small amount it will disrupt your glycemic index.
The Fix: whole, plant-based carbohydrates
As soon as I understood this, I shifted my diet towards a lower fat and protein intake and prioritised clean carbohydrates: whole foods, plant-based carbohydrates. Lowering the fat and protein intake improved, my insulin sensitivity and reduced my insulin resistance. It only took a few weeks, and I am not the only one, apparently.
I am now able to enjoy carbohydrates in large amounts, while maintaining my time in a range above 90% and achieve stability of the glycemic index. Not only carbohydrates give me great energy, they also improve my mood, my focus and my productivity.
Note that this is not me, a random guy on the internet, saying this. The scientific evidence is quite strong on the topic. If you want to start dig the rabbit hole, I can suggest this video:
Your take-aways
A ketogenic diet will give you the illusion of stability, because fats and protein delay the rise in blood sugars by increasing your insulin resistance. Since you’re not eating carbs at all, you’re simply avoiding the problem, and as soon as you eat some, your GI skyrockets, reinforcing your belief that carbohydrates are the problem.
A diet rich in whole, plant based carbohydrates does the opposite: it reduces your resistance to insulin (because your fats and protein intake is just enough for your body needs), and guarantees the stability of your blood glucose within and without your eating windows. Since I changed my food choices to tasty stuff like fruit, potatoes and legumes, my time in range is consistently above 90%, my insulin dosage has nearly halved, while my carbs intake has nearly doubled (I handle 500g of carbohydrates with roughly 25 units of rapid insulin in a typical day). Oh, and I run, workout, and work very intensely. No problem with energy.
This is anecdotal evidence, but it is backed by science. If you’re on a “keto” protocol and are struggling with any of the problems above, perhaps you could consider giving a whole plant based carbs a go.
For me, the Mastering Diabetes method fixed the problems in a couple of weeks, and I never went back.
I am more than sure it will do the same for you!
Drop a comment if you agree, disagree or have some experience to share. I’d love to learn more!
And do not hesitate to share this with someone who may have something to say about the topic!
Thanks for reading, I am grateful you spent some of your valuable time on my post!