A common problem that arises in patients with diabetes is that of kidney disease or “nephropathy.”  Nephropathy is defined as damage to or disease of the filtering system of the kidney.  In diabetic patients, they commonly begin to loose the ability to adequately filter and retain microscopic protein needed in the body. As the blood sugar and insulin levels progressively rise over time, damage to the delicate filtering system of the kidneys occur.
Very impressive results revealing improved kidney function were found in both Type I and Type II diabetic mice placed on a low carbohydrate, or ketogenic, diet in just and 8 week period of time. The nephropathy (reduced passage of protein through the kidneys) was completely reversed in all the mice. This is the first in what I suspect will be a series of articles showing that ketogenic diets have significant effect on reversal of age related and diabetic tissue damage.  See the article here.