Nutritional Idiotosis II: All the Benefits of Type 1 Diabetes w/o All that Pesky β-cell Dysfunction

-
After reading some of the comments on Nutritional Idiotosis, I was reminded of an impression I got of low carbers from almost the beginning.  They want to be Type 1 diabetics -- or as close to them as possible.  Which begs the question ... WHY??  Oh, they'll protest, and yet you hear of the desire to achieve the lowest insulin levels possible through dietary manipulation.  What is that the next-best-thing to?  Type 1 diabetes, that's what.  And we all know the other myriad health benefits of that disease right?  What?  You've never heard of them you say?  That's because the Type 1 diabetic state is all bad, no good ... unless you think all there is to life is being obesity resistant.  Other than that, Type 1's spend their whole lives supplementing insulin to prevent all manner of bad happening.  

This nutritional ketosis fad just takes this another step towards mimicking the metabolic state of a diabetic.  Yes, it is true that while you have a functioning pancreas, ketosis will not become ketoacidosis.  But why even "go there"?  Again, the known therapeutic benefits aside -- with concomitant risks accepted on trade-off -- why would anyone w/o therapeutic reasons want to adapt their metabolism to be as close to Type 1 diabetes as possible ... just for the heck of it??   Couple the insanity of such a goal with the inanity of ever achieving it eating real whole foods, and you'll understand why I dubbed it IDIOTOSIS.  

Comments

Galina L. said…
Probably, your question is not for me because you are talking about people who have no therapeutic reasons to do a VLC diet. I guess, it could be several reasons for a person to skip carbs rather than trying to stay in the middle. For example, if diet works by keeping weight stable after a weight-loss, it could be looking like not a good idea to change something what is working already. Usually problems are a signal for a change. Many of us failed diets in past and are glad to find something easier to stick with. So far the best diet is the one which is a long-term. The ability to stick to a diet could be worth some slightly elevated FBS. I think no one wakes up and decides "I want to have an elevated FBS", but many would be happy not to feel miserable while restricting food choices. Things in life come in packages, usually people choose not one thing over another, but one package over another. Often what we choose is a compromise. Why people stick to some version of VLC diet if it is not working for them, I have no idea, may be they prefer the food or think they could be worse-of over-wise.
July 16, 2012 at 11:07 AM
Dan said…
Is there any evidence suggesting that reducing daily average insulin secretion will cause beta-cell problems?. If not, being "as close as possible" to a Type I diabetic is nothing at all like being one.
July 22, 2012 at 11:48 PM

Post a Comment

Comment Moderation is ON ... I will NOT be routinely reviewing or publishing comments at this time..