Originally published December 18 2005
High-carb diets cause health problems for diabetics
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, led by Dr. Abhimanyu Garg, have found that a diet high in carbohydrates, if followed for a long period of time, can raise the blood pressure of type 2 diabetics.
Dr Abhimanyu Garg, professor and chief of the division of nutrition and metabolic disease, led a study to investigate the effect of a carbohydrate-rich diet on the blood pressure, compared to one rich in monounsaturated fatty acids.
High blood pressure (130/80 mmHG or more) amongst diabetics is a major cause for concern because it is linked to increased risk of heart attack.
About 73 percent of adults with diabetes have blood pressure, and heart disease and stroke account for about 65 percent of deaths amongst all diabetics.
However the disease can also lead to low blood pressure in some sufferers due to damage to the nerves that supply blood vessels, which can cause faintness and anxiety.
Low blood pressure can cause faintness and dizziness, and there is some suggestion that it may be linked to tiredness, depression and anxiety.
Over an initial six-week period, the 42 participants, all type-2 diabetes sufferers, followed either an isoenergic high carbohydrate diet consisting of 55 percent energy as carbohydrate, 30 percent as fat and ten percent as monounsaturated fat, or a high-monounsaturated fat diet.
The total calories for each diet were the same.
The two groups then switched and received the other diet for a further six week, after which twenty-one patients continued with their second diet for an additional eight weeks.
The eight who continued the high-mono diet for 14-weeks, on the other hand, showed a small reduction in blood pressure of average three mmHg in systolic and four mmHg in diastolic blood pressure, compared to those following the high-carb diet for six weeks.
"Although the exchange of carbohydrates with monounsaturated fats may not affect blood pressure in the short term, long-term consumption of a high-carbohydrate diet may modestly raise blood pressure in type 2 diabetic patients," wrote the researchers in Diabetes Care (28:2607-2612, 2005).
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