Eating all meat can be an exciting diet, especially if you love bacon. Many people have sworn by its effectiveness in lowering their glucose levels. But can the carnivore diet reverse diabetes? What diet is best for reversing this chronic medical condition?
Keep reading to know more.
Can the Carnivore Diet Reverse Diabetes?
From a biochemistry point of view, eating only meat may help. Thus, many would assume that the carnivore diet could reverse diabetes.
When you receive a diagnosis of diabetes, you may think that it’s the end of the world. You may monitor what you eat. But in some cases, the foods can still cause spikes in your blood sugar levels.
Those who tried this diet swore that their A1C has been in the normal range after eating only meat and consuming zero carbs. They avoid carbs but focus on meat, eggs, fats, and hard cheese.
Read: How does the carnivore diet work?
Why Does It Make Sense?
It makes sense, though. If you consume a huge amount of carbs, the cells in your body will be loaded with glucose. The cells will soon respond less effectively to insulin. As a result, it can cause blood glucose to rise.
To normalize blood glucose, the pancreas keeps pumping out insulin. Unfortunately, it has minor effects on cells filled with glucose. Thus, they stop responding to insulin leading to insulin resistance.
If the blood glucose levels aren’t stabilized, the pancreas will continue to produce extra insulin. However, it will wear out after a long period. If that happens, it can’t produce enough insulin to maintain a normal blood sugar level.
Diabetes will arise if the pancreas will stop producing insulin.
Thus, if you introduce a meat-only diet, it may help address the cause of type 2 diabetes, which is the chronic increase of glucose from the diet leading to insulin resistance.
Carbs are converted into sugar when consumed and insulin is released so cells can use glucose for fuel.
When you lower your carb intake through the carnivore diet, it can help in lowering blood glucose levels. The pancreas is no longer forced to produce insulin.
This study showed that when participants lower their carbs, they have achieved better rates of diabetes remission.
Because the carnivore diet is a low-carb diet plan, it’s said to be the best diet to help manage your type 2 diabetes.
Animal-based foods contain a small number of carbs. The body needs glucose but it can produce it from protein or fat through the process known as gluconeogenesis.
The macronutrients in the carnivore diet are protein and fat. Protein may still raise blood sugar and insulin. However, their effects are not the same as carbs. Fats’ effects on insulin are negligible, according to this study.
So, can the carnivore diet reverse diabetes?
There’s no conclusive evidence.
But the Paleomaedicina in Budapest has been using an animal-based diet to treat type 2 diabetes, rectal cancer, and lunch cancer, among other chronic diseases.
Furthermore, this survey by Harvard Medical School reported that those who self-reported that they are eating only meat for 6 months said that they experienced improvements in their diabetes.
Those who were on medications for this condition discontinued or decreased insulin medication.
Then again, the carnivore diet isn’t well-studied. It may or may not be beneficial to you. Thus, it’s ideal that you talk to your physician first before starting a carnivore diet.
Read: Can the carnivore diet cause kidney stones?
Which Diet is Best for Reversing Diabetes?
The main question must be is diabetes reversible. Although type 2 diabetes is common in adults, it has become more common in children.
Reversing type 2 diabetes may be possible when you lose weight. The excess fat in the body can affect insulin production.
Bariatric surgery may also be beneficial to reverse diabetes. But this is drastic. Changing your diet and exercising regularly may be all you need.
Is It Possible to Completely Reverse Diabetes?
There’s no study yet about whether or not type 2 diabetes can be reversed or cured. However, diabetics can return to their non-diabetes range by monitoring and regulating their glucose levels.
As mentioned, weight loss plays a huge role in achieving remission.
The beta cells that have been damaged contribute to your susceptibility to this disease. The disease will continue to destroy beta cells. If you gain weight, your symptoms will also emerge.
In that case, the key to stabilizing your blood glucose levels is to lose weight. But losing weight can be an ordeal for some people. That’s why it’s vital to find a meal plan that suits your lifestyle.
Is a Meat Diet Good for Diabetics?
A meat diet may be good for diabetics, as long as they choose to limit their consumption of unhealthy fats. In that case, you might want to focus on eating very lean meat. It means that the meat contains 1 gram of fat.
Lean meat with 3 g of fat may also be ideal. You can eat beef cuts, flank steak, tenderloin, chipped beef, lean pork, veal, poultry, and wild game, among others.
You might want to avoid Canadian bacon because it’s high in sodium.
The amount of meat you can eat if you’re diabetic will depend on your age, body size, and activity levels. If you eat 2,000 calories a day, you should only consume 50 grams of protein.
Read: Can a carnivore diet reverse heart disease?
Does Carnivore Diet Cause Insulin Resistance?
In theory, the carnivore diet can help lower your blood glucose levels. In a way, it will not cause insulin resistance.
This diet is considered the ultimate diet because it gets rid of sugar and processed foods that can trigger insulin resistance. In that case, this diet may work for people with insulin resistance and not cause it.
Because of how it works, it may keep your blood sugar levels down.
Furthermore, it may help in steadying your sugar levels so you will feel less hungry. With less appetite, you won’t exceed your caloric intake and it can lead to reduced insulin resistance.
Summary
Can the carnivore diet reverse diabetes? There’s not enough research about it. Thus, it’s best that you talk to your doctor if you wish to try this diet and find out if it can indeed reverse your condition. You should not try any diet without first consulting with your physician.
Want to try the carnivore diet and wondering if you can have a cheat day? You may read this post about having a cheat day on this diet
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