- Type 2 diabetes can severely impact quality of life with symptoms such as blurred vision, numb hands and feet, and overall tiredness and can cause other serious health problems like heart disease, vision loss and kidney disease
A low-carb diet might be the answer to reduce your blood sugar level if you have uncontrolled Type-2 diabetes, researchers in Tulane University have found in their study. The study, published in the journal JAMA Network Open, says that reducing carbohydrate intake throughout the day will reduce the risk of developing diabetes for the at-risk patients.
The research that compared two groups-
-One assigned to a low-carb diet
-Another continued with their usual diet
and noticed significant changes in their blood sugar level.
The researchers found that after six months, the low-carb diet group had greater drops in hemoglobin A1c, a marker for blood sugar levels, when compared with the group who ate their usual diet.
Further, it was also observed that the low-carbohydrate diet group also lost weight and had lower fasting glucose levels.
“The key message is that a low-carbohydrate diet, if maintained, might be a useful approach for preventing and treating Type 2 diabetes, though more research is needed,” said lead author Kirsten Dorans, assistant professor of epidemiology at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.
The estimates in 2019 have showed that 77 million individuals in India had diabetes, which is expected to rise to over 134 million by 2045.
Diabetes is a condition that occurs when the body doesn’t use insulin properly and can’t regulate blood sugar levels.
Type 2 diabetes, which accounts for majority of the cases, can lead to multiorgan complications. These complications are a significant cause for increased premature morbidity and mortality among individuals with diabetes, leading to reduced life expectancy and financial and other costs of diabetes leading to profound economic burden on the Indian health care system.
Type 2 diabetes can severely impact quality of life with symptoms such as blurred vision, numb hands and feet, and overall tiredness and can cause other serious health problems like heart disease, vision loss and kidney disease.
The study’s findings are also important for those with prediabetes whose A1c levels are higher than normal but below levels that would be classified as diabetes.
Those with prediabetes are at increased risk for Type 2 diabetes, heart attacks or strokes and are usually not taking medications to lower blood sugar levels, making a healthy diet more crucial.
The study involved participants whose blood sugar ranged from prediabetic to diabetic levels and who were not on diabetes medication. Those in the low-carb group saw A1c levels drop 0.23% more than the usual diet group. Importantly, fats made up around half of the calories eaten by those in the low-carb group, but the fats were mostly healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats found in foods like olive oil and nuts.
Dorans said the study doesn’t prove that a low-carb diet prevents diabetes. But it does open the door to further research about how to mitigate health risks of those with prediabetes and diabetes not treated by medication.
Download the Mint app and read premium stories
Log in to our website to save your bookmarks. It’ll just take a moment.
You are just one step away from creating your watchlist!
Oops! Looks like you have exceeded the limit to bookmark the image. Remove some to bookmark this image.
Your session has expired, please login again.
You are now subscribed to our newsletters. In case you can’t find any email from our side, please check the spam folder.
This is a subscriber only feature Subscribe Now to get daily updates on WhatsApp