Low-carb diets for overweight diabetics

Sunday, June 01, 2008

Overweight people with type 2 diabetes can keep their weight and blood sugar under control in the long term by following a low-carbohydrate diet.

Researchers from Sweden previously reported superior weight loss and glucose control over a 22-month period among 16 obese patients with diabetes who followed a low-carbohydrate diet compared with 15 similar patients following a diet containing 55 to 60 percent of energy from carbohydrates.

In their current study they reported 44 months of follow up data. Of the 16 patients, five had retained or reduced bodyweight since the 22 months point and all but one have lower weight at 44 months than at start. Furthermore, glucose levels dropped soon after starting the diet and have stayed down over the 44 months period.

The participants in the study limited their carbohydrate intake to 20 percent of total calories. The most significant effect of this low-carb diet is the absence of hunger. The consequent reduction in food intake allows the body to use its own stores of fat for fuel, which results in weight reduction. Moreover, avoiding starch-rich bread, pasta, potatoes, rice, and breakfast cereals, and limiting carbohydrate intake to 80 to 90 grams a day primarily from vegetables, salad, and crisp bread, also minimises the glucose spikes that make it necessary for people with diabetes to take insulinn.

The findings advise obese patients with type 2 diabetes to follow a 20 per dent carbohydrate diet with some caloric restriction for a lasting effect on bodyweight and glycaemic control. The study appeared in journal the, Nutrition and Metabolism.