People being treated for diabetes are often advised to follow a low-carbohydrate diet, although until now there has been little evidence on the effects of this type of diet on blood sugar regulation in people with the disease or with prediabetes who are not receiving drug treatment.
A study carried out by members of Tulane University (USA) has provided new evidence of why following a low-carbohydrate diet – similar to the ketogenic diet – could be an extra help for patients with diabetes without medication and for people with prediabetes or who are at risk of developing the disease, as they have confirmed that it does help reduce blood sugar levels.
To carry out this research, they had the participation of 150 adults between 40 and 70 years old with blood sugar figures at prediabetic and diabetic levels, who were divided into two, one group had to follow a low-carbohydrate diet and another group that he had no restrictions, so he could follow his usual diet. They were followed up after six months of these interventions, taking blood samples and taking into account their body weight before and after.
Lower blood glucose levels and less weight
The results, which have been published in the journal JAMA Network Open, indicated that after half a year the low-carbohydrate diet group had greater drops in hemoglobin A1c, a marker that reflects blood sugar levels, all compared to the group with no dietary restrictions. The average levels of hemoglobin A1c was 6.16%.
Participants who followed a low-carbohydrate diet lost almost six kilos of weight and reduced 10.3 mg / dl less fasting glucose
Specifically, A1c levels fell 0.23% more in the low-carbohydrate group than in the usual diet group. Although it may seem like a very low figure, the researchers declare that it is modest but clinically relevant. In addition, they reported that fats accounted for half of the calories consumed by participants in the low-carbohydrate group, although most were healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, such as those found in olive oil or nuts.
Another result discovered in this study was that the participants in the group that followed a low-carbohydrate diet lost 5.9 kg of weight and had lower fasting glucose levels –10.3 mg/dl less– than the of the group that had followed their usual diet without limitations.
“The key message is that a low-carbohydrate diet, if maintained, could be a useful approach to prevent and treat type 2 diabetes, although more research is needed,” said lead author Kirsten Dorans. These results could be especially important for people with prediabetes, since they have higher A1c levels but do not reach those marked by diabetes as such.
Dorans acknowledges that his results do not prove that this type of low-carb diet is capable of preventing diabetes, but it does indicate that it may be the first case for further research to mitigate health risks in patients with prediabetes and diabetes. who are not under drug treatment.
“We already know that a low-carb diet is a dietary approach used among people who have type 2 diabetes, but there is not as much evidence about the effects of this diet on blood sugar in people with prediabetes. Future work could be done to see if this dietary approach can be an alternative approach for the prevention of type 2 diabetes”, concludes Kirsten Dorans.
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