Is an all meat diet safe for diabetes? Can it help?
With so many recent findings about the health benefits from a plant based diet could an all meat diet for diabetics be beneficial? It’s possible that all meat for diabetics can lower glucose levels and here we will talk about the carnivore diet and type 2 diabetes as well as the best meat for diabetics. The posing question is whether an all meat diet for diabetics is safe, or can help a diabetic regulate blood sugar levels.
The Carnivore Diet and Type 2 Diabetes
The basis of the carnivore diet is meat, all the time. It consists of almost zero carbs by eating all animal foods with high fat cuts of meat. This means you can eat red meat, poultry, organ meats, processed meats, fish and eggs. For the meat lovers out there, this all meat diet may be the perfect fit for you. This diet can also include dairy products such as cheese. After a personal studied completed by Sonya Mann at Inc.com, she reported losing double the weight that she had following a normal diet as well as not feeling extra hunger. Sonya claims that eating zero carbs helped her maintain a state of not feeling as hungry, helping her shed a few extra pounds. She also reported the following symptoms during her try at the Carnivore diet:
- High caffeine sensitivity mixed with caffeine lows
- Alcohol tolerance went down
- Energy and concentration levels were around the same
- Regular black coffee seemed more tolerable
- Tea flavors were more intense and seemed sweeter
- More sweat mixed with a body odor
She also reported that her try at the all meat diet was a lot less expensive than she imagined. Although Sonya wasn’t completing the all meat diet for a diabetic study she did report that she believes in this diet, especially to help kick start weight loss and maintaining lower insulin levels.
Those who have diabetes may notice that this type of diet can help stabilize blood sugar levels because if you’re only eating meat, why should your glucose levels change… The negative side to the carnivore diet and type 2 diabetes is that when you are only eating meat, you’re missing out on various types of necessary nutrients that you receive from eating things other than meats. What that means is that an all meat diet for diabetics isn’t necessarily recommended. This doesn’t mean that you can’t try it but if you have diabetes and are taking insulin medication, only eating meat may cause hypoglycemia and only eating fast acting carbs can regulate that.
The diet that is recommended for diabetics is the DASH diet which means dietary approaches to stop hypertension which is high in fruits and vegetables, whole grains, followed by lean protein choices, low fat dairy and beans.
Best Meat for Diabetics
Whatever diet you decide to try, here’s a list of the best meat for diabetics that’s lean and low in calories:
- Chicken, turkey or Cornish hen without skin
- Fresh or frozen cod, flounder, haddock, halibut, trout, lox, tuna
- Clams, crab, lobster, scallops, shrimp
- Duck, pheasant without skin
- Venison, buffalo, ostrich
- Fat free cheese, low fat cottage cheese
- Egg whites or egg substitutes
- USDA Select or Choice Beef with fat trimmed off
- Lean Pork
- Roast Lamb
The best meat for diabetes should be 3 ounces which is the same as the size of a deck of cards and avoid fried meats.
Final Note
The carnivore diet and type 2 diabetes may not go hand in hand but it is known that it can help sustain blood sugar levels as well as drop a few extra pounds. Make sure before making extreme diet changes that you speak to a medical professional about your options to ensure that what you are doing is right for your body and won’t have adverse effects in the long term or short term.
