- More than 462 million adults suffer from type 2 diabetes worldwide.
- Although type 2 diabetes has no cure, the condition can sometimes be reversible with medication and lifestyle changes, such as diet.
- Researchers from the University of Southern Denmark say that a low-carb, high-fat diet can help people with type 2 diabetes lose weight and control glucose levels.
More than 462 million adults are currently living with type 2 diabetes worldwide. And over a million people die of diabetes each year.
While there is no cure for type 2 diabetes, the condition is sometimes reversible through a combination of medications and lifestyle changes, including diet.
Researchers from the University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark, found new evidence that a low-carb, high-fat, and calorie-free diet helps people with type 2 diabetes lose weight and keep glucose levels under better control than a high-carb, low-fat diet.
The study appears in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.
Type 2 diabetes and dietary habits
Of the two types of diabetes, type 2 diabetes is the most common — more than 95% of diabetics suffer from type 2 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes occurs when a person’s body becomes insulin-resistant and no longer responds properly to insulin. The hormone insulin regulates the amount of glucose that enters the body’s cells and gives them energy.
Unlike type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes occurs through a combination of genetics and certain lifestyle factors, including obesity, age, lack of exercise, and family history.
In the United States, research shows that certain ethnic groups, including African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and Alaska natives, are at higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Treatment for type 2 diabetes may include medications and lifestyle changes, including weight loss, exercise, and diet changes.
Benefits of a low-carb, high-fat diet
For this study, the researchers conducted a study involving 165 people with type 2 diabetes. Participants were randomly assigned to either a low-carb, high-fat diet or a high-carb, low-fat diet for six months. The researchers also asked participants to eat the same number of calories equal to the amount of energy they burned each day.
After completing the study, researchers found that people who followed a low-carb and high-fat diet lowered their hemoglobin A1c levels by 0.59% compared to people on a high-carb, low-fat diet. And those on a low-carb diet also lost more body fat and reduced their waist circumference compared to the high-carb group.
“Diet is very important for treating type 2 diabetes,” said Camilla Dalby Hansen, doctor and doctoral student at the Department of Clinical Research at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense, Denmark, and the Department of Medical Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Odense University Hospital. Hansen is also the first author of this study.
“Patients have the option to control their diet themselves. It gives them a sense of control and the feeling that they can do something themselves when treating their illness,” Hansen told Medical News Today.
“We were very surprised to see that participants on the (low-carb, high-fat) diet improved their blood sugar control by 9.5 mmol/mol (0.88%) and lost 5.5 kg, even though they were eating the same amount of calories as they were used to.
This will hopefully result in long-term regulatory compliance being more successful, as patients are full and don’t have to starve to death.”
— Camilla Dalby Hansen
“We were very surprised to see that participants on the (low-carb, high-fat) diet improved their blood sugar control by 9.5 mmol/mol (0.88%) and lost 5.5 kg, even though they ate the same amount of calories as usual,” she told Medical News Today. “This will hopefully result in long-term regulatory compliance being more successful, as patients are full and don’t have to starve to death.”
Type 2 diabetes and lifestyle changes
At the end of the study, the researchers also found that participants were unable to maintain the changes they had experienced during the study once they returned to their typical eating habits.
“This shows us that this dietary approach is considered a long-term lifestyle choice and must not only be maintained for a short period of time,” said Hansen.
Lauren Pelehach Sepe, clinical dietician at the Kellman Wellness Center in New York, agreed: “For people
When it comes to diabetes, it is important to make life-long diet and lifestyle changes. There is plenty of research showing that diet and lifestyle often allow [people with type 2 diabetes] to control their blood sugar, even without medication. However, these changes must be sustained.
The
Managing our health is a life-long process — there are no short-term solutions.”
Dietary recommendations for type 2 diabetes
In reviewing this study, Sepe explained that she was not surprised by the results, as people with diabetes are often recommended to follow a diet focused on low carbohydrate intake as well as increased protein intake.
“When we consume carbohydrates, our body breaks them down and turns them into sugar molecules or glucose,” she explained. “This causes blood sugar to rise, which stimulates the body to release insulin to make it easier to store glucose in cells, where it can be used as an energy source when needed.”
“In diabetics, this process does not work properly, which means that they continue to maintain high blood sugar levels despite insulin secretion,” continued Sepe. “Therefore, lowering carbohydrate intake naturally helps control blood sugar levels.”
Referring to the high fat content of the low-carb, high-fat diet that some study participants followed, Sepe mentioned that conventional research has only recently given rise to the idea that higher fat intake is beneficial, particularly for diabetics.