One study found that a low-carb diet promotes weight loss and improves fasting glucose levels in people at risk of developing T2D.
The study said the link between carbohydrates and type 2 diabetes is well established, but new research suggests that reducing carbohydrates may help lower the risk for those who may be at risk of developing the condition, Medical News reported. Today, citing JAMA Network Open. Endocrinology.
common clinical term
“Lowering blood sugar by following a low-carbohydrate diet,” said researcher and epidemiologist Kristen Dorans, of Tulane University in New Orleans, Los Angeles, noting that “glycosylated hemoglobin,” or A1C, is a widely used clinical term. long-term blood sugar levels by identifying the rate of plasma glucose concentration.
Pre-diabetes
According to the American Diabetes Foundation, a person with prediabetes has A1C levels between 5.7 and less than 6.5 percent, and higher levels may indicate diabetes. Dr. Dorans explained that study participants had a hemoglobin A1C range of 6.0 to 6.9%.
“This range chosen as the lower limit corresponds to the WHO lower limit point for diabetes and the upper limit to the American Diabetes Association’s hemoglobin A1C goal of 7.0%,” he said.
60 grams of carbohydrates less
The experiments at the Academic Center in New Orleans lasted 6 months from September 2018 to June 2021. The participants were aged between 40 and 70 and were divided into two groups.
The first group was instructed to reduce their daily carbohydrate intake to less than 40g in the first three months and to less than 60g from the third month until the end of the study. In fact, “the low-carb diet group lost significantly more weight than the group of people who continued their usual diet.”
At the end of the 6 months, Dr. Dorans and her research team found A1C levels were 0.23% lower in the low-carb group than in the regular diet group.
ketosis systems
Low-carb diets, such as the ketogenic diet, can initiate the metabolic process known as ketosis, which occurs when the body burns stored fat for energy instead of glucose.
But ketosis doesn’t usually occur on a low-carb diet. According to the researchers, “a small number of participants had detectable urinary ketones, suggesting that ketosis is unlikely to be responsible for the results.”
But Dr. Samuel Klein, a professor of cell biology and physiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, who was not involved in the study, expressed concern that study participants are meeting their carbohydrate goals, explaining that the data “show that there is poor adherence to the diet”.
side effects
“We don’t have good evidence of long-term adverse effects,” said Dr. Jason Ng, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center who was not involved in the study. “We know a lot of people are on the Atkins diet and we don’t see any real problem reports.”
“When you reduce your carbohydrate intake and increase your fat intake,” added Dr. Klein, “it tends to raise LDL cholesterol, which was not the case in this study, but it lowers triglycerides and raises HDL cholesterol, which is a good thing. low carbohydrate diet mainly depends on the individual and his overall health.
