Best keto resources for clinicians

Keto resources for doctors | Keto CME’s – metabolic syndrome & epilepsy | Keto guidelines | Fasting science | Clinician questions | Deprescribing | Building your practice | Patient education resources |Best resources for a keto overview |

We at Metabolic Multipliers are diet diplomats. If you and your physician feel your metabolic health would benefit from a prescription strength intervention then carbohydrate restriction might be for you. For example, reversing insulin resistance can control diabetes and obesity. Some experience remission. Similarly, the presence of ketone bodies in blood can control neurological conditions such as epilepsy. Knowing where to start makes change less daunting. Here is our curated list of the best the credible keto and metabolic health world has to offer. If you have additions, let us know!

Best keto resources for clinicians

Note: A low-carbohydrate diet is a loose term for restriction of sugar & starches. Similarly, there are many versions of the ketogenic diet for weight loss. A stricter version, the medical/therapeutic ketogenic diet (TKD) requires strict macro-nutrient measurement and strict patient adherence. A TKD uses blood ketone levels as an objective criteria of achievement.

Guidelines for Carbohydrate Reduction & Ketogenic Diet Therapies

Many types of dietary patterns limit carbohydrates to achieve various health outcomes, including weight loss goals. Different dietary patterns are also emerging to treat specific  disorders. Some are elimination diets to treat allergies or reactions to food, others aim at improving irritable bowel or other digestive issues. Other diet versions help with neurological or psychiatric disorders. These require close monitoring and specific design.  For example, carbohydrate restriction and ketogenic diets can be used to control or reverse metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes and these versions also require careful control.  If carbohydrate restriction is used to treat a disorder, it is being used as a medical intervention, and as such it will require medical supervision and strict adherence.

Therapeutic Carbohydrate Reduction Guides

• Obesity, Prediabetes and Type 2 Diabetes – “Low-Carbohydrate Nutrition Approaches in Patients with Obesity, Prediabetes and Type 2 Diabetes Pocket Guide at Guideline Central. 2019. A quicker read than the more complete version below
• General. Therapeutic Carbohydrate Restriction Clinical Guidelines. Focuses on grams of total carbohydrates rather than the ketogenic ratio. Low Carb USA. 3/1/2020. If you prefer, Diet Doctor offers a free, CME 3 hour course on this material.

Medical Ketogenic Diet Therapy Guides

• International Ketogenic Diet Study Group.  Consensus Statement for Optimal clinical management of children receiving dietary therapies for epilepsy. (1) 4/25/2018.
  • Medical ketogenic diets often calculate the ratio of fat grams to grams of carbohydrate and protein. (Ketogenic Ratio). To verify that ketosis is being achieved ketone body measurement using portable devices is often used. 
• American Academy of Neurology. International Recommendations for the Management of Adults Treated with Ketogenic Diet Therapies. 10/30/2020. (Paywall)

If you take prescription medications or suspect you have an underlying condition, then please work with your clinicians to tailor your diet to your specific needs. Of course, there are also many websites, books, podcasts and self-proclaimed experts aimed at weight loss. Buyer beware.

Continuing Medical Education (CME)

Therapeutic Carbohydrate Reduction

Treat metabolic syndrome, diabetes & weight loss by reducing insulin resistance

• Diet Doctor. Low Carb and Keto for Doctors CME – Includes a 3 hour, 16 episode training course. Treating metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and obesity with therapeutic carbohydrate restriction. Free as of February 2021. Great overview for the curious clinician
• Society for Metabolic Health Practitioners
  • Clinical Guidelines for Prescribing Carbohydrate Restriction. Pediatric epilepsy guidelines recommend a stricter version of Low Carb USA’s VLCK diet. (very low-carbohydrate ketogenic).
  • Accreditation Pathways It was developed by the Nutrition Network.
• Virta Health – Currently focused on Type 2 Diabetes and weight loss. Information for healthcare providers.
  • Once you’ve registered with Virta, they also have (free) clinician focused trainings and support groups.
  • COVID-19 + Diabetes – Excellent webinar series.
• American Nutrition Association‘s Ketogenic Nutrition Training Programs
  • Foundational Ketogenic Nutrition – 16 CE’s.
  • Advanced Ketogenic Nutrition – 56 CE’s. Target market includes licensed practitioners. Eligible to sit for their CKNS^SM exam.
  • Certified Ketogenic Nutrition Specialist^SM (CKNS^SM) .
• Virtual Conferences – A variety of low-carb conferences offer CME’s and the opportunity to meet others in the field. Due to COVID-19 inspired physical distancing, these conferences have gone virtual.
  • Low Carb USA Upcoming events. Virtual conference with CME’s.
  • Type 2 Diabetes: Moving from Management to Remission from Canada’s Institute for Personalized Therapeutic Nutrition
  • Upcoming Low-Carb Events

Ketogenic therapies for epilepsy & brain health

• Matthew’s Friends: Keto College for medical professionals. In the UK, Canada and New Zealand. KetoCollege Online Tutorials – Healthcare Professionals ONLY.
• KetoCollege Annual training meeting. Three day in-person course. CPD units. Historically in the UK or Australia.
• Charlie Foundation: trainings for professionals.  Phenomenal if you are really serious and want to create an entire team.  Three day training for your whole team which must include a physician, registered dietitian + others. CME.

Clinician to clinician questions

• Society for Metabolic Health Practitioners hosts a members only forum.
• Virta Health hosts a “Low Carb Clinicians” group on Facebook.  It is a great resource for questions “about the use of low carbohydrate lifestyles and nutritional ketosis in the treatment of metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, obesity and metabolic disease.” Clinicians ONLY. Free.
• Atkins also hosts a new Facebook community for doctors and health professionals

Fasting science (and time restricted eating)

• The Fasting Method. The science of fasting. What are the benefits. Getting started. Type 2 Diabetes. Wellness. Autophagy. Research.
• The Fasting Doctor: Helping women maximize health, wellness and fertility.

Deprescribing on a low-carb or ketogenic diet

• Deprescribing: Ending the Prescription Cascade – Presentation from Brian Lenzkes, MD at Low Carb USA Speaker Series, Boca Raton 2020
• Adjusting medications on a low-carb diet – Diet Doctor
• Starting low carb or keto with diabetes medications – Diet Doctor
• Medications on low-carb – Diabetes.UK.Co

Building your metabolic health practice

Help potential patients looking for a low-carb clinician find you when they are looking for clinician support on their low-carb journey. Consumers might look in anyone of over 20 listings of Keto Doctors and Clinicians near me. If you are a low-carb practitioner building your practice, then we want to provide you tools to help you succeed. This Google sheet, Marketing your low-carb practice, can help. It has links to the submission page for each metabolic health practitioners directory. Let us know how it works for you or if we can help you along the way!

Targeting your approach to your patient’s culture

We all benefit from supportive relationships in our lives. Recognizing a patient’s affinity groups in making lifestyle changes will improve their chance of success, whether your patient is a post-menopausal woman or a member of a particular ethnic group. If you treat patients from a variety of ethnic groups, then you’ll find this podcast from Bret Scher and Tony Hampton a must listen.

Patient education resources

Clever Eats – Progressive steps towards metabolic health. Written & honed by a fellow clinician and Founding Member of the Society of Metabolic Health Practitioners. Vetted by members of their Education Committee.

Diet Doctor‘s guides for healthcare professionals

A collection of PDF handouts and articles you may want to use in your practice: All include Diet Doctor branding and a link to their coaching program. They’re adding resources all the time, so check their website. For example, Blood Tests for Patients on Low Carb

Atkins Health Care Professional Portal

A rich offering of downloadable materials for managing your patient’s medications and tests, and side effect management. Curated summary of research.

Other keto resources from Metabolic Multiplier

• Lifestyle Medicine, the key to metabolic healing
• Keto doctors near me
• How to build my ketogenic therapy treatment team
• Why write medical case reports about unique cases?