Starvation in the Treatment of Diabetic Ketoacidosis

Inclusion Criteria: * Males and females with the diagnosis of diabetic ketoacidosis (defined as blood glucose greater than 250 mg/dL, arterial pH less than 7.3, serum bicarbonate less than 15 mEq/L, and the presence of ketonemia or ketonuria) * Age between 18-89 * Admission to the Medical Intensive Care Unit * Able to provide informed consent Exclusion Criteria: * Pregnant and breast-feeding women * Institutionalized patients or prisoners * Patients unable to eat by mouth, including intubation, presence of any tube used for enteral feeding (nasogastric tube, orogastric tube, PEG tube, etc.), medical conditions requiring parenteral feeding, and a history of a medical condition that prevented oral intake prior to admission, including achalasia, esophageal cancer, stroke with residual deficits preventing oral intake, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or head and neck trauma.