Diabetes experts are expressing concerns over the VA using the Keto Diet on veterans with Type 2 Diabetes? Why? This diet was designed to help those with epileptic seizures and Type 2 diabetes. Going keto helps to increase a person’s sensitivity to insulin thereby using their own body’s ability to utilize fat for energy rather than store glucose as fat. For people with epilepsy going keto allows their brains to depend on ketones rather than blood glucose and that has the effect of reducing or eliminating debilitating seizures.
What should be more controversial is the use of a Silicon Valley company to institute and track veterans that are using the Keto Diet. Why does the VA need them? They would be better off using glucose and ketone monitors and just consult with patients. There is no need to send taxpayer dollars to a private company for what a VA doctor can do.
The assertion is at the heart of an ongoing debate about the keto diet’s effect on diabetes. Some diabetes experts are skeptical of Virta’s promise and are expressing concerns that the company’s partnership with the federal government is giving the diet too much credence.
The agreement has helped raise the national profile of Virta, a fledgling health company that has developed a proprietary system of remote coaching and monitoring for people with Type 2 diabetes to help them follow the keto diet, which is high in fat and low in carbohydrates.
KHN.org
Leave a Reply