Building lean mass as a Type 1 diabetic following a Ketogenic diet.

[River83]

I'm interested to hear from any other T1 diabetics who are following (or have followed in the past) the Ketogenic diet. I use a pump and have been eating this way for around 9-10 months with great success. My diabetes is under much better control, I feel better overall and I have seen numerous health benefits as a result. The one problem that I am struggling with is gaining a decent amount of lean muscle mass on such a low carb diet.
Since going very low carb, my bolus requirements for carbs have changed a lot and as my body is now fully fat adapted. I think that cycling between carbs and no carbs is likely to be challenging as I no longer use any sort of standard carb:insulin ratio, it's all based around meals at macro's consistent with the keto diet.
Has anyone tried the Targeted Keto Diet or the Cyclical Keto Diet? I have experimented with TKD using around 20g dextrose monohydrate before or after a gym session however I have only tried this a few times as I am unsure whether;
a) the amount of carbs is significant enough to make a difference to muscle growth;
b) I am going to kick myself out of ketosis if I increase the carb intake too much.
The few times that I have accidentally kicked myself out of ketosis, I have been able to get back in relatively fast - the speed has increased over the last few months.
I think that the CKD may be necessary to get the results I am looking for and if anyone has any first hand experience of this, it would be much appreciated.

 

[nickm]

Speaking as a 57yo with long-standing T1, who is still very successful in a range of power sports - including track sprinting, skating, bouldering and sport climbing, I would not recommend any of the strategies you have mentioned above.

 

[tim2000s]

The key to build muscle mass is the resistance training program you use. Carbs are not really that important - it's a combination of the damage done by the resistance training and protein consumed that really drives muscle growth. What you use carbs for in this context is to replenish glycogen stores for the purposes of an energy boost in lifting.

Most ketogenic diets won't have you consuming enough protein to help with muscle growth, indeed, while I was training and low carb, I was far from low protein, consuming 200g per day of protein. Keeping Ketogenic at that stage is very difficult.

You can check out ketogenic bodybuilding sites, but it is much harder if you remain in that state.

 

[River83]

Speaking as a 57yo with long-standing T1, who is still very successful in a range of power sports - including track sprinting, skating, bouldering and sport climbing, I would not recommend any of the strategies you have mentioned above.

Interesting. Is there a particular reason you would not recommend this? Is it from having tried these methods previously without success or just that you have managed to be successful in your aims following a more ‘traditional’ way of eating?
I’m also a long term T1 and have found no better way of controlling BG than the Keto diet.

 

[River83]

The key to build muscle mass is the resistance training program you use. Carbs are not really that important - it's a combination of the damage done by the resistance training and protein consumed that really drives muscle growth. What you use carbs for in this context is to replenish glycogen stores for the purposes of an energy boost in lifting.

Most ketogenic diets won't have you consuming enough protein to help with muscle growth, indeed, while I was training and low carb, I was far from low protein, consuming 200g per day of protein. Keeping Ketogenic at that stage is very difficult.

You can check out ketogenic bodybuilding sites, but it is much harder if you remain in that state.

Thanks. My thoughts were that the carbs in a TKD would be beneficial as not only do they replenish glycogen stores but the additional insulin along with the carbs will assist with muscle growth.
I’ve found that I can maintain around 1g protein per lb of lean body mass whilst staying in ketosis, sometimes slightly higher/lower depending on the day and the amount of training.

 

[tim2000s]

It kind of depends. You need insulin to handle amino acids, but as you're already administering insulin to your musculature rather than your liver (as a T0 would) then you're muscles are already getting way more insulin than a non-T1 person, so you don't really need to take carbs to have more insulin getting to the muscles.

 

[JoeT1]

I'm also very interested in this as I am into my weight training and general "feel good" objective. I have been eating keto, and at a calorie deficit to lose some weight. I'm probably going to cut this a little as I am also intermittent fasting and am struggling with feeling weak and hungry by mid morning. I have no problem with cheese, ham, nuts, eggs in the morning, but am slightly worried about weight gain again, has anyone seen anything that supports the suggestion if you eat the higher fat content then you should not put on weight (unless you eat a full block of cheese etc).

It all makes sense, but you still question is slightly lol