- Adhering to a low-carb diet can lead to remission of type 2 diabetes after six months.
- A review of studies has confirmed that the carbohydrate diet is the best option, but the benefits may diminish after a year.
- More research needs to be done on the long-term effects of the diet.
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A strict low-carbohydrate diet may be the best option to enter patients with type 2 diabetes remission, according to a new study.
The findings of the meta-analysis, published in BMJ on Wednesday, are in line with the official recommendation of the American Diabetes Association that cutting carbohydrates is the best way to lower blood sugar.
In the analysis, the data were summarized from 23 randomized controlled trials involving more than 1,300 participants with type 2 diabetes. Most of the studies compared a low-carbohydrate or a low-carbohydrate diet – defined as less than 26% or 10% of the daily calories from carbohydrates – with a low-fat diet.
In general, patients who followed a low-carbohydrate diet for six months achieved higher remissions than those who tried other dietary changes.
Dr. Mark Cucuzzella, a professor at West Virginia University School of Medicine who has published several studies on dietary changes and diabetes, said reducing carbohydrate intake and eating more nutritious foods can help patients reverse the course of the disease. .
“The good news about diabetes is that it is a nutritional disease. It is therefore reversible with lifestyle measures targeting the carbohydrates,” Cucuzzella, who was not involved in the study, told Insider. “This meta-analysis is just another collection of studies showing that it is possible.”
People with type 2 diabetes are “carbohydrate intolerant”
While the term doctors commonly use to describe type 2 diabetes is ‘insulin resistance’, Cucuzzella said another way to look at it is that people with the condition are ‘carbohydrate intolerant’.
“Their bodies do not metabolize and do not respond well to carbohydrates, and the end result is high insulin levels, which precede high hyperglycemia or high blood sugar levels,” Cucuzzella explained.
Fats and proteins do not cause blood sugar levels to rise like carbohydrates, so reducing sweets and starch can help patients keep their diabetes under control, along with medication.
Other options for dealing with diabetes include bariatric surgery – removing the stomach and intestines – or the existence of an 800-calorie shake a day, so reducing carbohydrate intake is a relatively simple solution, Cucuzzella said. said.
This is the hard part of sticking to the low carb lifestyle
Most benefits of a low-carb diet seen after six months – such as weight loss, improved body fat and reduced medication use – are reduced by the 12-month mark.
The decline in benefits may occur due to the fact that patients do not stick to the diet over time, the authors suspected, but more research needs to be done to investigate the long-term compliance and effects. Some participants also reported a lower quality of life and worse cholesterol levels after 12 months.
Keeping diabetes in remission is like keeping a beach ball under water, Cucuzzella said. If patients let their diet changes slip, the disease can easily bounce back. However, he said the short-term benefits for the overall effectiveness of the diet are well predicted and pointed out that the patient is supported as the next step.
“If you can show for six months that something works, if nothing else works but not eating and taking out your stomach, we need to find out how we can help people continue this plan.”