In Latin, the ancients said "Res ipsa loquitur," which means that the results speak for themselves. Low carb food plans are, in my experience, the ONLY way to achieving normal levels of blood glucose. I have tried for 40 years (DM1) many ways...nothing has even come close to Bernstein's way to normal blood glucose levels. Dr. Stan De Loach, Mexico

Low carb diets will assist in losing weight initially but remaining on a low carb diet will have adverse effect on the kidneys.

If you believe a low carb diet causes kidney problems than you must have your head so far up your butt you have to cut holes in your stomach to see where you're going.

The truth will eventually win out.
Claims of kidney damage in people with normal GFRs are unfounded.
Thank you Dr. Pérez-Guisado.

I think this claim about kidney dmaage comes from the fact that the test used to monitor kidney function measures the amount of protien "spilled" into the urine by the kidneys. I suspect that the assumption is that the more protien you eat, the more "stress" you put on the kidneys, causing them to "spill" more protien. However, I have never seen or heard of any study supporting that conclusion.

I would like to know what Dr. Bernstein considers to be "low carb". 130 g/day is the mininum recommendation, and this is fairly low carb, compared to most people's typical intakes. Without some carbs in the diet, diabetics would miss out on the phytochemicals and fiber found in fruits, veggies, and whole grain foods. And without those, other diseases and problems are more likely to creep in, such as high blood pressure and diverticulosis. Focusing on healthy carbs and keeping carb intakes moderate to low is still the gold standard for diabetic eating.

There is a long standing myth that high protein diets cause kidney damage - there are no studies to back this up.

The very real kidney damage caused by elevated blood sugars is no myth. The majority of people on dialysis are poorly controlled diabetics.

High blood sugars are toxic.
There is no disagreement about that.

Low carb diets reduce blood sugars.
There is no disagreement about that.

The notion that low carb diets are somehow unsafe is not supported by any studies - it is a myth.

This myth is killing millions of diabetics.
Let's stop the needless death and suffering.

Remaining on a low carb diet for over 15 years now has brought me nothing but good health! Dr. Bernstein is truly amazing.

>>Without some carbs in the diet, diabetics would miss out on the phytochemicals and fiber

This is correct.

>>found in fruits, veggies, and whole grain foods.

There are plenty of nutrients in non-starchy vegetables, and those have very low carbs.

Fruits and whole grains have no measurable advantage, and a very measurable disadvantage.

Where is the evidence that non-starchy vegetables are insufficient? There are no studies to that effect.

There is no evidence that a balanced low carb diet based on non-starchy vegetables causes any damage.

There is plenty of evidence that high blood sugar causes damage to kidneys, eyes, heart, vascular system, etc., and it does not matter if the sugar came from "healthy fruit" or "healthy whole grains."

Quite simply, fruit and whole grains cause high blood sugar in diabetics, and high blood sugar wrecks your health in many many ways.

There is no magic that makes "healthy whole grains" or "healthy fruits" any less of a sugar problem than any other carbohydrate.

Those foods are not healthy to diabetics, they are poisonous.