Ryan Mernin Ryan is a freelance writer and editor based in Philadelphia. He has edited books of Chinese philosophy, interviewed bands as a music journalist, and labored over satirical treatises in the candlelit hours of the early morning. He has also tended bar.

Dr. Rosmy Barrios, MD Dr. Rosmy Barrios, MD is an aesthetic medicine specialist whose work focuses on patients who are treated for obesity, metabolic syndrome, and other weight-related issues through nutritional analysis, keto diet programs, and supporting medications.

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There is a bounty of emerging research and case studies that show the benefits of low-carb (and specifically keto) dieting when it comes to dealing with Type 2 diabetes (T2D). For years now, doctors around the world have been looking into low-carb dieting as a supplement or alternative to insulin therapy.

While individual doctors and clinics may be exploring these latent possibilities, national dietary guidelines and other forms of official guidance for diabetes and other obesity-related diseases have lagged far behind. Take, for example, the long process of getting the U.S. Nutrition Facts Label to be marginally more informative when it comes to the amount of added sugar in grocery store items.

Low-carb health solutions as a new standard

Lawmakers in Australia, however, are on the verge of a major breakthrough in dealing with high rates of diabetes. The members of the Parliament’s Education and Health Standard Committee drafted a recent report stressing the importance of helping Type 2 diabetics work towards complete remission, not just management. The method? National dietary guidelines for people recently diagnosed with T2D should include the benefits of a low-carb diet, and stress its fundamental importance for beating the disease.

In preparing their report, lawmakers interviewed Dr. David Unwin, a British National Health Service Innovator of the Year. As a researcher and general practitioner, Dr. Unwin has pioneered studies on the dangers of excess carbs and the role of diet in treating diabetes.1

“This is the message from…Dr. David Unwin,” the report reads, “not one of deprivation but one of replacement, rebalancing and flourishing through food choices that ensure blood sugar levels remain stable, putting consumers in control.” The benefits of ketogenic dieting, referred to as “very low-carbohydrate” dieting, are included in the report.2

A growing trend for national health advice

While it is not yet clear whether the Australian Parliament will act, the committee report is in and of itself a breakthrough in the world of official health advice (which can be shockingly bad when it comes to diet). Hopefully, this research will serve as a template for other lawmakers.

And where better to begin than the U.S.? The national dietary guidelines are due for an update in 2020, and health officials have said that the research on low-carb dieting will be taken into consideration.3 If we’re lucky, the Australian report is a symbol of change on the horizon, as the common and official reputations of the keto diet continue to surge.

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