Dear Gramps,
I am currently a Type2 diabetic. I have had tremendous success in controlling the symptoms by losing weight through exercise. In my diabetic education, I was led to believe that ketones were very negative ? Could you please expound upon what creates ketones and why it isn’t necessarily a bad thing ?
Nina

Dear Nina,
First let’s post the dieting results to date—
Date        Weight, lbs.
8/2/07    161.5
8/3/07    159.5
8/4/07    —
8/5/07    157
8/6/07    156
8/7/07    156
8/8/07    155
8/9/07    155
8/10/07  154
Ketones are created when fat tissue is metabolized by the body. Fat tissue would not normally be metabolized as long as carbohydrates are in the system, as they are the body’s primary source of energy. Fat is stored in the system to be used as an energy source when the body runs out of carbohydrates. It is the body’s survival mechanism when the supply of food is scarce. So if one wants to burn fat for energy it is necessary to limit the intake of carbohydrates. When fat is metabolized by the body the end product which provides the nutrition are ketones, rather than glucose, which is the end product of the metabolism of carbohydrates. So ketones in this context are not deleterious, but essential to survival. However, when diabetics go on the Cambridge diet, they should do under the care of their doctor. One of the reasons is that diabetics who are on insulin require much less insulin to control their blood sugar levels since the glucose is being replaced by ketones, and one could go into insulin shock unless the dosage were appropriately decreased.
Another benefit of ketosis is its effect on cancer cells in the body. Here is a comment from a health care professional that I recently received that speaks to this aspect of ketosis in the body.

“Cancer cells don’t tolerate ketones and when they are in the blood stream instead of glucose, the cancer cells die. It is “ketoacidosis” which is bad for diabetics, but this has been confused with ketosis which are the ketones created by fat hydrolysis. Ketones being so readily available usually give the person a burst of energy as you have so accurately stated on so many occasions.”

Gramps