Some diets become trendy — especially when famous people start talking about them. While claims of desired health benefits may catch your attention, it’s important to look at any new diet trend with a critical eye, especially if you have type 1 diabetes.

Food choices are an important part of any type 1 diabetes management plan. There are lots of dietary approaches, and no one “best diet” for diabetes. When assessing a goal, it’s valuable to think about goals you’re trying to achieve, such as losing weight, improving your cardiovascular health, or getting your blood sugar levels under control.

Following are some tips to consider when weighing whether to try out a new diet trend. Above all else, always talk with your health care team, a diabetes educator, or a registered dietitian before starting any new diet.

1. Understand Current Diet Trends

Some popular diets have a lot of research to support them, while others may not. Here are a few of the most popular diets you may have seen on the news, in magazines, or on social media.

Keto

On the ketogenic diet and other very low-carb diets, people eat mostly fats and protein and very few carbohydrates. These diets change how the body makes energy. By strictly limiting carbohydrates, you force your body to start burning ketone bodies — fuel produced by the liver made from stored fat — instead of sugar. The process is called ketosis.

Paleo

The paleo diet is inspired by how humans might have eaten during the Paleolithic period. The focus is on lean meats and fish, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. On the paleo diet, the following foods are off-limits:

• Grains, like quinoa, wheat, oats
• Legumes, like beans and peas
• Dairy
• Potatoes
• Refined sugar
• Processed foods
• Salt

Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting is different from most diets, because it isn’t concerned with what you eat. Instead, intermittent fasting focuses on when you eat and when you don’t.

There are many possible intermittent fasting schedules. For example, some people only eat during certain hours of the day, while some people won’t eat anything for 24 hours once or twice a week and then eat normally the rest of the week.

Mediterranean Diet

The Mediterranean diet got its name because the foods on the diet are those you would find on the menu in Greece, Italy, and other countries located on the Mediterranean coast. Foods included in the Mediterranean diet are:

• Lean proteins, like fish and chicken
• Healthy fats, like those found in fish, avocados, olive oil, and nuts and seeds
• Lots of fruits and vegetables
• Whole grains, like quinoa, barley, and oats
• Red wine (in small amounts)

2. Ask Yourself These Questions

Our bodies need all three macronutrients — carbohydrates, protein, and fat — to function properly. For example, you need protein to build muscle. Fiber, a kind of carbohydrate, has many benefits — including helping manage blood glucose levels, which is especially important for people with diabetes. Fats can help us absorb certain vitamins and slow spikes in blood sugar.

Whatever meal plan you choose, consider the following questions to make sure you’re getting all the nutrients you need.

What Foods Should You Eat on This Diet?

A diet might emphasize some types of foods. The Mediterranean diet, for example, centers around lean proteins, low-fat dairy, fruits and vegetables, and whole grains.

On the other hand, the keto diet or other low-carb, high-fat diets welcome foods that are high in saturated fat, like red meat, bacon, and full-fat dairy. There’s evidence that higher intakes of saturated fat are associated with cardiovascular (heart) disease. People with type 1 diabetes are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease, so it’s important not to eat too much of these kinds of foods. Fatty fish, avocado, vegetable oils, and nuts may be good alternatives.

The ketogenic diet can also place individuals with type 1 diabetes at higher risk of low blood sugar and ketoacidosis — a serious diabetes complication usually caused by too little insulin and too much sugar in the blood. Therefore, it’s important to discuss any plans to start a very-low-carb diet with your doctor first.

What Foods Should You Avoid?

Eliminating certain foods from your diet might be a good thing. For example, the paleo and Mediterranean diets suggest you pass up highly processed foods (like lunch meat and breakfast cereal), which are usually high in sodium and added sugar. Paleo, the Mediterranean diet, and low-carb diets like keto all cut out or limit added sugars, which is an especially important consideration when you have diabetes.

Low-carb diets and paleo diets might cut out added sugar, but they also cut out most grains and legumes and many kinds of fruits and vegetables. You might miss out on key nutrients. While vitamin supplements are an option, it’s easier for your body to absorb nutrients through actual food. These foods are also an excellent source of dietary fiber, which is critical for digestive health and can help manage blood sugar.

Diets that cut out entire food groups can also be hard to stick to. For example, if you’re trying to eat paleo but love bread and your morning bowl of oatmeal, you’re more likely to fall off the diet.

When Will You Eat on the Diet?

Recently there has been a greater focus on what time you eat, instead of what you eat. Information on the safety of intermittent fasting for people with type 1 diabetes is limited. If you want to try intermittent fasting, be sure to work with your doctor to closely monitor your blood sugar levels and adjust your insulin dose, if needed. Otherwise, going many hours without eating can lead to hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). If your blood sugar drops too low while fasting, you need to break the fast or you could end up in serious danger.

How Much Will You Eat on the Diet?

When trying out new eating patterns, you should not feel overly restricted. If you’re feeling hungry all the time, you’ll likely be unable to stick with your new diet for very long. Restrictive diets can cause anxiety that leads to binge eating, especially sweet foods — which can be dangerous if you have diabetes. Binge eating is also common with intermittent fasting and other diets that limit your calories over long periods of time.

How Much Will the Diet Cost?

You might also want to consider the cost of a diet. For example, some diet plans require membership fees or specialty foods (like shakes and nutrition bars). Other diets may recommend expensive foods that are difficult to access. Some tips for reducing food costs include buying produce when it’s in season and choosing less-expensive protein sources, like canned fish or legumes.

3. Consider the Risk for an Eating Disorder

Diabetes care revolves around monitoring food intake and insulin levels. With such a big focus on food, it isn’t surprising that research suggests the prevalence of disordered eating is higher among women with type 1 diabetes than in men.

There’s even an eating disorder specific to diabetes, called diabulimia. Someone with diabulimia skips insulin doses in order to lose weight, which can cause ketoacidosis.

Adopting a new diet can start or worsen disordered eating. It’s important that you follow up with your doctor if you think you might have an eating disorder.

4. Don’t Lose Too Much Weight Too Fast

Your doctor may recommend losing weight to lower your risk of hypertension (high blood pressure) and heart disease, but it is possible to take dieting too far. It’s best to talk to your doctor about a healthy weight range for your body, and shoot for losing no more than 1 to 2 pounds a week.

It’s also important to understand the risks of weight cycling — repeatedly losing and gaining weight throughout your life, which can be caused by starting and stopping diets. Researchers have found that weight cycling may increase a person’s risk for cardiovascular disease, including causing fluctuations in a person’s blood pressure and heart, as well as their glucose and lipid levels.

5. Remember To Include Foods You Enjoy

Following a diabetes-friendly diet does not mean you have to cut out foods that taste good to you or are important to your cultural heritage or your family. Eating food that is tasty and satisfying is key to sticking to an eating pattern that is good for your health.

There are many online sources for recipes suitable for people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. The American Diabetes Association website has many recipes, including some written in Spanish. They may be updates of old favorites or new recipes you didn’t realize were a good match for diabetes. You may also discover that many of your favorites are already suited to your health needs or can be tweaked just slightly to become a better fit.

A diabetes educator or registered dietitian can help you develop a long-term dietary pattern or meal plan that will work for you, your diabetes, and your lifestyle.

Talk With Others Who Understand

At myT1Dteam, the site for people with type 1 diabetes and their loved ones, people come together to learn more about type 1 diabetes and share their stories with others who understand life with the condition.

If you have type 1 diabetes and have looked into a new or trendy diet, share your experience in the comments below.