Diabetes Starvation Diet?

While there have been many claims as to ways of curing diabetes, the most absurd one may be that of the diabetes starvation diet.

The claim is that starving a diabetic shocks his or her body into eventually healing itself of the disease. While this sounds like a simple treatment that anyone could use, its validity is highly questionable.

This concept originally surfaced back in 1915. Since then it has fallen by the wayside but recently gathered new backing by those eager to find a cure for their condition. Unfortunately, it is not as simple as it appears.

The Dangers of Starvation

One of the most important factors in diabetes management is to maintain steady glucose levels. Skipping snacks is not recommended, and skipping meals is certainly not advisable. So starvation goes completely against all medical knowledge that doctors have available to them as far as maintaining this disease.

The thought of the diet is that starving the individual will bring about weight loss. For diabetics who are either overweight or obese, losing weight is a viable option – as long as it is done in a reasonable manner. Completely eliminating food for periods of time throws the body into panic mode, where it can start to take what it needs away from muscle tissue.

When you withhold food from a diabetic, he or she can go into hypoglycemic episodes, which can be very dangerous. If not corrected, the individual could have to be hospitalized. While limiting certain types of foods is advisable, it has to be done carefully so that the diabetic still receives vital nutrients to ward off diabetes-related complications.