Many doctors prescribe low-carb diets to their diabetic patients, but it’s unclear if it helps people with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes whose condition isn’t managed with medication.
New evidence from Tulane University suggests that persons with untreated diabetes or at risk for developing the disease can benefit from a low-carb diet.
This study compared two groups, one of which followed a low-carb diet and the other of which ate normally and the results were published in the journal JAMA Network Open. Hemoglobin A1c levels, an indicator of blood sugar, dropped more in the low-carb diet group than in the control group after six months. Weight loss and decreased fasting glucose levels were also seen in the low-carbohydrate diet group.
Type 2 diabetes, in which the body can not produce enough or appropriately utilise insulin, affects about 37 million Americans. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 90% of these instances are attributable to type 2 diabetes (CDC). Symptoms of type 2 diabetes, such as impaired vision, numb hands and feet, and general fatigue, can have a profound effect on a person’s quality of life. The condition is also linked to major complications, such as heart disease, eyesight loss, and kidney disease.
People with prediabetes, defined as having A1c levels that are greater than normal but lower than those that would be categorized as diabetes, may find the study’s findings particularly relevant. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 96 million Americans have prediabetes, and that more than 80 percent of people with prediabetes do not know it. Prediabetes increases the chance of developing Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and stroke in those who are not currently taking medication to control their blood sugar levels.
Participants’ blood sugar levels ranged from prediabetic to diabetic, and they were not taking any medication for diabetes. Dorans characterized the decrease in A1c levels seen in the low-carb group as “small but clinically important,” while in the standard diet group, it was only 0.16%. The majority of the calories consumed by participants on a low-carb diet came from fats, but these were primarily the heart-healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats found in foods like olive oil and almonds.
The results of this study do not provide conclusive evidence that a low-carb diet can help ward off diabetes. But it does pave the way for more study into non-pharmaceutical approaches to reducing the health hazards associated with prediabetes and diabetes.
