A recent review in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition of the therapeutic uses of a very low carbohydrate diet revealed the following key points:
- Low carb or Ketogenic diets are categorized by a reduction in carbs to less than 50g/day and a relative increase in protein and fat.
- The diets have been in use since the 1920s as a therapy for epilepsy and can, in some cases, completely remove the need for medication.
- Since the 1960s the diets have been the most common used to treat obesity
- The majority of recent studies demonstrate that the reduction of carbohydrates to levels to induce physiological ketosis can actually lead to significant benefits in blood lipid profiles reducing cardiovascular disease.
- Withdrawal of insulin and major weight loss occurred in a matter of weeks in type two diabetes individuals who were fed a very low carb diet.
- Significant reductions in fat mass, improvement in glycemic control, hemoglobin A1c and lipid markers as well as reduced use or withdrawal of insulin and other medications.
- Diabetes risk is directly correlated, in an apparently causative manner, with sugar intake alone independently of weight or sedentary lifestyle.
- Emerging data suggest a possible therapeutic utilization of ketogenic diets in multiple neurological disorders apart from epilepsy, headache, neurotrauma, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, sleep disorders, brain cancer, autism and multiple sclerosis.