Could a drug that mimics a zero-carb diet help us live longer, healthier lives?

They should have used guinea pigs instead of those poor mice!

dbr10 said:

https://www.theguardian.com/science...carb-diet-help-us-live-longer-healthier-lives

Those poor mice. They must be sick to death of just being used as guinea pigs.

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The article quotes a zero carbs diet!
From what I've read it is virtually impossible to do so!

Lamont D said:

They should have used guinea pigs instead of those poor mice!


The article quotes a zero carbs diet!
From what I've read it is virtually impossible to do so!

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It can be easily done if you only eat aged beef (ok, most people would find that difficult to do). I do have some carbs, since there are very low levels of carbs in eggs and cheese, which I eat in addition to aged beef.

However, this whole article is ridiculous. They fed mice a zero carb diet; they lived longer and were healthier; so they speculated a pill could be developed to mimic the effects of a zero carb diet. Seriously? That's a massive leap to go from a diet that makes mice healthier to a pill for humans. Supposedly people that have university degrees are healthier and live longer - why not a pill that mimics that?

And finally, it's not necessary to go to zero carbs - a very low carb diet will work just as well.

dbr10 said:

That will be where the drugs come in

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Thinking about the idea, that diet only is the best way to treat newbies and only prescribing drugs as a last resort.
Is this a subtle way of persuading patients to put more money into the pharmaceutical deep, deep pockets?

As we become more aware of how diabetes can be controlled by what goes down our throats, I'm being sceptical about who is going to benefit from the drug, because they will hopefully not getting the cash they get from feeding diabetics prescriptions!

My first thought on reading the title was that why we should need a drug when we already have the diet/lifestyle now? The answer is obvious. So big pharma can maintain the status quo of having patients who are a bit dependant on them for drugs but not ill enough to kill them because dead patients don't pay for drugs.
As for zero carb, in real life this is just not possible for any length of time and who would eliminate every carb from their diet anyway? One would lose too many micronutrients alongside.
I'm wondering if the diets gaining ground now are making Big Pharma and Big Food a tad nervous, if so, then good!

Lamont D said:

Thinking about the idea, that diet only is the best way to treat newbies and only prescribing drugs as a last resort.
Is this a subtle way of persuading patients to put more money into the pharmaceutical deep, deep pockets?

As we become more aware of how diabetes can be controlled by what goes down our throats, I'm being sceptical about who is going to benefit from the drug, because they will hopefully not getting the cash they get from feeding diabetics prescriptions!

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It seems we were typing at the same time and from the same hymn sheet.

If you eat low carb you live longer. You don't need a drug to do this, just stop eating carb rich food.

There is a drug called acarbose which slows the digestion of carbohydrates which can help Diabetics ... It has unpleasant side effects (being 'windy' and having diarrhoea) so wouldn't it be more effective to eat a LCHF diet?

Art Of Flowers said:

If you eat low carb you live longer. You don't need a drug to do this, just stop eating carb rich food.

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But there are always going to be people who want their cake and eat it - those who won't or don't want to give up their carbs, but do fancy all the benefits of a low carb diet without the perceived hassle/inconvenience of actually having to eat this way, and I'm sure they'd welcome the instant gratification of a nice simple pill to allow them do this. We just have to look at all the existing magic miracle fix-it diets and pills around now to know this would likely be a profitable business...

Robbity

just wait for the side effects of this zero carb mimicking fantasy drug... could be interesting! lol