Recent research has called into question the effectiveness of the keto diet in helping eliminate diabetes over the long-term. While the low-carb, high-fat diet has been shown to help lower weight and help with diabetic issues, there are worries that the lack of fruits and vegetables in the diet and the effects it may have on the heart.
Much of the concern surrounds the partnership between the Department of Veterans Affairs and Silicon Valley startup Virta Health Corp. Virta has created a system to help coach and monitor people with Type 2 diabetes. Some feel this partnership legitimizes a diet that still needs a great deal of long term testing.
Potential benefits of the keto diet include lowered weight and blood sugar. However, there are risks as well that include dehydration, missing nutrients from lack of fruits and vegetables and the high cost of systems like Virta’s.
There are those who point to the Mediterranean diet, a plan-based diet, as providing similar results as the keto diet with fewer risks to health.
Some believe that the keto diet provides short-term help but serious health risks and no long-term cure for diabetes. Others point to low-carb diets as putting people at greater risk of cancer, coronary heart disease and stroke.
Learn more at https://khn.org/news/veterans-keto-diet-va-test-to-treat-type-2-diabetes-skeptics-raise-red-flags/