MADRID 23 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Adults with type 2 diabetes who follow a low-carbohydrate diet may see benefits in their beta cell function, allowing them to better control their disease and possibly stop medication, according to new research published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism of the Endocrine Society’ from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (United States).
Beta cells are endocrine cells in the pancreas that produce and release insulin, the hormone that controls blood sugar levels. People with type 2 diabetes have a compromised beta cell response to blood sugar, possibly due in part to eating too many carbohydrates. Beta cell failure or insufficiency, coupled with insulin resistance, is responsible for the development and progression of type 2 diabetes.
“This study shows that people with type 2 diabetes who follow a low-carbohydrate diet can recover their beta cells, a result that cannot be achieved with medications,” said the study’s lead author, Barbara Gower, from the University of Alabama. in Birmingham. “People with mild type 2 diabetes who reduce their carbohydrate intake can stop taking medications and enjoy meals and snacks that are higher in protein and meet their energy needs.”
The researchers collected data from 57 black and white adults with type 2 diabetes, half on a low-carbohydrate diet and half on a high-carbohydrate diet, and examined their beta cell function and insulin secretion at baseline and after 12 weeks. All participants’ meals were provided. People on the carbohydrate-restricted diet ate 9% carbohydrates and 65% fat, and participants on the high-carbohydrate diet ate 55% carbohydrates and 20% fat.
The researchers found that those on a low-carbohydrate diet compared to those on a high-carbohydrate diet experienced improvements in acute and maximal beta cell responses that were two-fold and 22% greater, respectively. Within each racial group, black adults on a low-carbohydrate diet experienced 110% greater improvements in acute beta cell response and white adults had improvements in maximal beta cell response that were 48% greater than their respective counterparts with the high carbohydrate diet.
“More research is needed to determine whether a low-carbohydrate diet can restore beta cell function and lead to remission in people with type 2 diabetes,” Gower says.
