Diabetes Health Talk

Atkins Diet

Here’s the study, in a nutshell: low carb diets reduce blood sugar. Here’s the long explantion.

Dr. Eric C. Westman, of Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, and colleagues compared the effectiveness of the two diets in 84 obese patients with type 2 diabetes. They were assigned to a low carbohydrate (less than 20 grams per day) ketogenic diet or to low-glycemic reduced-calorie diet for 24-weeks. Those on the low-carb ketogenic diet had no restrictions on their daily calorie intake.

The participants on the low-carb ketogenic diet had greater improvements in A1C, a measure of long-term blood glucose control, than those in the low-glycemic reduced-calorie diet group.

Those in the low-carb ketogenic diet group also lost more weight and had an increase in “good” HDL cholesterol compared with those in the other diet group.

It was possible for 95.2 percent of those in the low-carb ketogenic diet group and 62.1 percent on the low-glycemic reduced-calorie diet to eliminate or reduce their diabetes medications.

“Lifestyle modification using low carbohydrate interventions is effective for improving and reversing type 2 diabetes,” the researchers conclude.

The most popular low-carb ketogenic diet is Atkins. David Draper has the best advice and I would submit this for those who are wanting to lose weight, lower their blood sugars. His number one rule for proper nutrition.

RULE # 1- Stay away from fats, excessive salt and simple sugars. This eliminates 99% of the fast foods, munchies and soft drinks. Who needs them? In a few short weeks, you won’t want them, wonder why you ate them and feel sick if you do!

Measure of glucose levels fell more compared to high-fiber diet

For people who have type 2 diabetes, a low-glycemic index diet is significantly better than a high-fiber diet for keeping blood glucose levels down, researchers report.

Glycemic index, or GI, refers to how rapidly a food causes blood sugar to rise. High-GI foods, like white bread and potatoes, tend to spur a quick surge in blood sugar, while low-GI foods, such as lentils, soybeans, yogurt and many high-fiber grains, produce a more gradual increase in blood sugar.

The current study in this week’s Journal of the American Medical Association involved 210 individuals with type 2 diabetes treated with anti-diabetes medications who were randomly allocated to go on to either a low-GI diet or a high-fiber diet for 6 months. The main outcome measured was the change in A1C in the blood, which reflects glucose levels over the long term.

A1C fell 0.50 percent on the low-GI diet compared with only 0.18 percent on the high-fiber diet, Dr. David J. A. Jenkins, from the University of Toronto, and co-researchers report.

Furthermore, levels of HDL (”good”) cholesterol levels rose with the low-GI diet but they fell with the high-fiber diet.

“Low-glycemic index diets may be useful as part of the strategy to improve glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes taking (glucose-lowering) medications,” the researchers conclude.

SOURCE: Journal of the American Medical Association, Dec. 17, 2008.