Keto Diet
Everywhere you look now, you’ll see something about a keto diet. It’s become very trendy, particularly in the fitness world but don’t be so quick to rush to judgement. There may be good reason behind the keto craze going on at the moment beyond just the benefits of weight loss.
While it may just seem like another diet trend, there is good evidence that throughout our evolution we primarily used ketones as an energy source as opposed to glucose. Only in the last century have we primarily switched to relying almost solely on glucose as our energy source. 4.5 million years of evolution compared to one century. It has become evident to some people that the further you stray from a species specific and evolutionarily consistent diet, the more disease states potentially come into play.
One of the leading precursors to disease is thought to be something called “insulin resistance”. Scientists have discovered in the last couple decades the implications of insulin resistance on obesity and several disease states. Insulin is commonly referred to as the “fat hormone”. It helps control the amount of sugar in your blood. With insulin resistance, the body’s cells don’t respond normally to insulin. Glucose can’t enter the cells as easily and it can build up in your blood. This can eventually lead to type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and it’s been implicated in most autoimmune conditions. We’ve outlined a few health conditions below that can potentially be reversed with a keto diet and becoming insulin sensitive.
CANCER
Exciting new research on cancer treatment with keto has been emerging from some of the most world renowned cancer scientists and professors. They have shown that cancer feeds off glucose and glutamine. Doctors at Johns Hopkins have been putting their cancer patients on a keto diet along with a a drug they produced called DON which inhibits glutamine. The powerful combination of the two without the toxic effects of chemotherapy and radiation has been shown to be highly successful in treating certain types of cancer. Glioblastomas, a malignant form of brain cancer, is one such cancer that appears to feed primarily off of glucose and where a keto diet has shown to send it into remission.
PCOS
PCOS insulin resistance connection. Polycystic ovary syndrome is a condition that appears to mostly be derived from insulin resistance. A PCOS keto study was conducted in the U.S. and showed that even a moderately light keto diet was of immense benefit to PCOS patients, even over a relatively short period of time. We have worked with many clients who have PCOS and have seen a tremendous rate of remission by maintaining a therpeutical level of ketosis and routine exercise.
Type 2 Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes and even potentially type 1 diabetes in some cases can potentially be reversed on a keto diet. Insulin resistance is directly implicated as the root cause of diabetes (insulin resistance diabetes study). Type 1 diabetes may have a relatively short window of reversal through a keto diet. However, ketosis has shown to be highly beneficial despite your length of time living with type 2 diabetes.
How Can We Help
Busy Bee Fitness Experts personal trainers work closely with our clients that have conditions like type 2 diabetes (diabetes personal training Toronto) and autoimmune disease by commencing a proper therapeutic keto diet and exercise program. We adhere to the most evidence based practices and have a great deal of experience and education on keto. We teach clients how to start a keto diet and adhere to it in a healthy and efficient manner. Personal training programs can be conducted through our virtual personal training or in-person in Toronto and select areas. Get in touch with us for more information on our personal training programs.