Low-carb diet improves sugar control in diabetics

High sugar consumption is probably how these people got diabetic in the first place. Obviously, a restriction of refined sugars and processed carbs is a step in the right direction.

• Following a high-protein, low- carbohydrate diet for five weeks led to a marked reduction in blood sugar levels in patients with untreated type 2 diabetes, according to the results of a small study published in the September issue of Diabetes.
• This could potentially be a way for diabetes type 2 patients to control their blood sugar, or "glucose," without drugs, co-authors Dr. Mary C. Gannon and Dr. Frank Q. Nuttall, from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, note.
• However, further studies are needed to evaluate the long-term effects of such a diet, they add.
• The findings stem from a study of eight men with type 2 diabetes.
• For five weeks, the subjects consumed a diet with a carbohydrate to protein to fat ratio of either 20:30:50 (test diet) or 55:15:30 (comparison diet).
• After a five-week break, the subjects then switched to the other diet for five weeks.
• At follow-up, the average 24-hour glucose level and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) percentages were lower after the test diet than after the control diet.
• HbA1c levels, a marker for long-term increases in blood sugar, were still falling at the end of the test-diet phase.
• Another change associated with the test diet included decreased insulin levels.
• However, no changes in cholesterol levels were observed.
• Overall, the study findings suggest that this high- protein, low-carbohydrate diet can "dramatically reduce" 24-hour glucose concentrations people with type 2 diabetes, the investigators conclude.
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