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Low carb, high fat diet may help manage weight, A1c

Low carb, high fat diet may help manage weight, A1c

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Research suggests that a low carb, high fat diet is more beneficial for people with type 2 diabetes to help manage weight and glucose. Joscha Malburg/EyeEm/Getty Images
  • More than 462 million adults around the world have type 2 diabetes.
  • Although type 2 diabetes is not curable, the condition is sometimes reversible through medications and lifestyle changes, such as diet.
  • Researchers from the University of Southern Denmark say low carb, high fat diet can help people with type 2 diabetes lose weight and control glucose levels.

More than 462 million adults globally are currently living with type 2 diabetes. And over one million people die each year from diabetes.

While there is no cure for type 2 diabetes, the condition is sometimes reversible through a combination of medications and lifestyle changes, including diet.

Researchers from the University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark, found new evidence suggesting a low-carbohydrate, high fat, calorie-unrestricted diet helps people with type 2 diabetes lose weight and keep glucose levels under control better than a high-carbohydrate, low fat diet.

The study appears in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.

Of the two types of diabetes, type 2 diabetes is the most common — more than 95{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of people with diabetes have type 2 diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes occurs when a person’s body becomes insulin resistant and no longer responds to insulin correctly. The hormone insulin regulates the amount of glucose allowed into the body’s cells, giving them energy.

Unlike type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes happens through a combination of genetics and certain lifestyle factors, including obesity, age, sedentary lifestyle, and family history.

In the United States, research shows certain ethnic groups, including African American, Latinx, American Indian, and Alaska Native, are at a higher risk for developing type 2 diabetes.

Treatment for type 2 diabetes may include medications and lifestyle changes, including weight loss, exercise, and dietary changes.

For this study, researchers conducted a study with 165 people with type 2 diabetes. Participants were randomly assigned to follow either a low-carbohydrate, high fat diet or a high-carbohydrate, low fat diet for six months. Researchers also asked the participants to eat the same number of calories equal to the energy they burned each day.

Upon conclusion of the study, researchers found people on the low-carbohydrate, high fat diet lowered their hemoglobin A1c levels by 0.59{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} compared to those on the high-carbohydrate, low fat diet. And those on the low carb diet also lost more body fat and reduced their waist circumference compared to the high carb group.

“Diet is very important in the management of type 2 diabetes,” said Camilla Dalby Hansen, an MD and Ph.D. student at the Department of Clinical Research at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense, Denmark, and the Department of Medical Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Odense University Hospital. Hansen is also the first author of this study.

“The patients have the possibility to control the diet themselves. This gives them a feeling of control and the feeling that they can do something themselves in the management of their disease,” Hansen told Medical News Today.

“We were very surprised to see that participants on the (low-carbohydrate, high-fat) diet improved their glycemic control by 9.5mmol/mol (0.88{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}) and lost 5.5 kg even though they were eating the same amount of calories as they were used to.

This will hopefully mean that long-term compliance will be more successful because patients will be full and do not have to starve.”

– Camilla Dalby Hansen

“We were very surprised to see that participants on the (low-carbohydrate, high-fat) diet improved their glycemic control by 9.5mmol/mol (0.88{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}) and lost 5.5 kg even though they were eating the same amount of calories as they were used to,” she told Medical News Today. “This will hopefully mean that long-term compliance will be more successful because patients will be full and do not have to starve.”

At the conclusion of the study, the researchers also found participants did not sustain the changes they experienced during the study once they went back to their typical eating patterns.

“This shows us that this diet approach needs to be considered as a long-term lifestyle choice and not only sustained for a short period of time,” Hansen said.

Lauren Pelehach Sepe, a clinical nutritionist at the Kellman Wellness Center in New York, agreed:

“It is important for people who are dealing with diabetes to implement lifelong diet and lifestyle changes. There is a significant amount of research out there to show that diet and lifestyle can often allow [people with type 2 diabetes] to control their blood sugar, even without medications. However, these changes need to be sustained.

Managing our health is a lifelong process — there are no short-term fixes.”

Upon reviewing this study, Sepe commented she was not surprised by the results as people with diabetes are often recommended a diet focused on low carbohydrate intake, as well as increased protein.

“When we consume carbohydrates, our body breaks them down and converts them into sugar molecules or glucose,” she explained. “This results in an increase in blood sugar, which stimulates the body to release insulin to facilitate the storage of glucose into the cells, where they can be used as a source of energy, as needed.”

“For diabetics, this process is not functioning properly, meaning they continue to maintain high circulating levels of blood sugar despite the release of insulin,” Sepe continued. “Therefore, lowering the intake of carbohydrates naturally helps to control blood sugar levels.”

In regards to the high fat portion of the low-carbohydrate, high fat diet some study participants were on, Sepe mentioned conventional research has only recently opened up to the idea of a higher fat intake is beneficial, particularly for diabetics.

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Green Mediterranean diet is best for reducing harmful visceral fat

Green Mediterranean diet is best for reducing harmful visceral fat

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A modified Mediterranean diet program, so-identified as the environmentally friendly Mediterranean diet may possibly deliver the most positive aspects to all those seeking to get rid of visceral fat. Picture credit rating: kolderal/Getty Illustrations or photos.
  • A modern research appeared at the wellbeing effects of a new version of the Mediterranean diet plan termed the environmentally friendly Mediterranean diet regime.
  • The eco-friendly Mediterranean diet program is extra powerful than the initial at reducing the amount of visceral unwanted fat about inner organs.
  • Visceral unwanted fat has been connected to early mortality and a host of other significant healthcare concerns.
  • A crucial element of the new eating plan is the inclusion of walnuts, which are prosperous in polyphenols.

A new huge-scale clinical intervention demo observed that a modified Mediterranean diet regime — identified as the eco-friendly Mediterranean diet program — is extra successful at lowering visceral body fat that can encompass and damage organs than the common Mediterranean eating plan or a frequently healthy eating plan.

All a few diet plans resulted in a reduction of visceral excess fat, but the eco-friendly Mediterranean diet plan doubled the advantage of the “traditional” Mediterranean diet regime.

The examine was executed by the Immediate-In addition trial investigation crew. It was led by Prof. Iris Shai of Ben-Gurion College of the Negev, Israel, and Dr. Hila Zelicha, now at the College of California, Los Angeles, aided by colleagues from Italy, Germany, and the United States.

The review appears in BMC Medicine.

The eco-friendly Mediterranean diet regime differs from the initial Mediterranean diet regime in its emphasis on polyphenols.

Polyphenols are plant compounds that have been connected to defense from form 2 diabetes, some cancers, and coronary heart sickness. They also seem to assist mind overall health and digestion.

Polyphenols are located in darkish chocolate, berries, purple wine, and tea, as effectively as some nuts, these types of as walnuts.

On the inexperienced Mediterranean diet, as envisaged in this analyze, a person consumes 28 grams of walnuts — about 7 nuts — 3 to 4 cups of environmentally friendly tea, and 100 milligrams of the aquatic plant Wolffia globosa (Mankai) — also acknowledged as “duckweed” — in a smoothie or shake every working day. All are abundant in polyphenols.

Otherwise, the diet plan is the same as the unique Mediterranean eating plan, but without the need of the consumption of crimson and processed meats.

For the 18-month randomized managed demo, scientists divided the 294 participants into three teams:

  • just one team followed a conventional Mediterranean (MED) food plan
  • one particular followed a eco-friendly Mediterranean (inexperienced-MED) diet regime
  • a final group a person strictly followed healthy dietary rules (HDG).

All groups have been made available life-style academic classes and physical activity suggestions, together with a no cost gym membership.

Scientists provided the walnuts, tea, and Mankai, along with recipes for inexperienced smoothies.

Dr. Aaron Cypess, of the National Institutes of Health’s Countrywide Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Illnesses, was not associated in the research. He praised the analysis to Clinical Information Right now:

“The clinical demo was done nicely, and these types of extended-time period diet regime interventions are very difficult to execute. The research has produced quite a few hypotheses that can now be tested regarding the mechanism by which polyphenols have an effect on VAT mass.”

“VAT” stands for “visceral adipose tissue,” which is a further term for visceral extra fat. “Adipose” describes a physique tissue that merchants excess fat.

At the conclude of the trial, reductions in visceral unwanted fat ended up assessed via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). All three teams missing a equivalent total of general human body body weight.

Contributors on the green Mediterranean diet regime reduced their visceral unwanted fat by above 14{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}. People on the Mediterranean eating plan dropped 6{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}, and the balanced food plan group shed 4.2{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}.

Whilst one’s in general pounds and visual appearance are usually the metrics by which persons judge meal plans, visceral fat is a considerably extra really serious issue.

Dr. Zelicha instructed MNT that “in phrases of the health risks associated with extra fat, visceral adipose tissue is considerably much more unsafe than the additional ‘tire’ all-around your waistline.”

“VAT,” stated Dr. Zelicha, “has been joined to several wellness issues, these kinds of as superior blood strain, weight problems, dyslipidemia, and diabetes. It also boosts mortality threat, building it a lot more significant to continue to keep an eye on.”

Visceral excess fat is deep in the physique and found close to inside organs, contrary to the floor layer of extra fat that we can see.

“Most interventions presently offered do not target deep adipose tissue particularly,” pointed out Dr. Cypess, “yet gains of fat mass reduction, in standard, are even now useful.”

Because it are not able to be noticed, deciding if 1 has VAT is not a straightforward endeavor. While Dr. Zelicha famous that waistline circumference is a reasonably good indicator of the existence of VAT, MRI and computer tomography (CT) scans are the gold benchmarks for detection.

“However, CT requires ionizing radiation, and MRI has emerged as a effective non-invasive prediction tool, but it is pretty high priced and time-consuming,” she cautioned.

There is however a want, Dr. Zelicha claimed, for a better, conveniently available, and validated software for assessing VAT.

As of the time of crafting, the environmentally friendly Mediterranean diet is the routine that most appreciably reduces visceral excess fat, in accordance to the new research.

As Dr. Cypess noted: “Most diets direct to a reduction in the adipose tissue about organs. Even in this review, the HDG regulate arm led to visceral fats reduction, just not as substantially as the [green Mediterranean] diet plan.”

Considering the fact that helpful diets will commonly supply at least some reduction in VAT, Dr. Cypess asserted, “the finest eating plan and exercising system is the a single that the man or woman can adhere to for months and yrs into the long run.”

Dr. Zelicha reported that cardio workouts these types of as working or biking have “been shown to be a strong approach for visceral adipose tissue reduction.“

In Prof. Shai’s before study, these work out together with walnut consumption amplified the result of the normal Mediterranean food plan in lowering VAT, claimed Dr. Zelicha.

“Eating a lot more plant-primarily based fat,” advised Dr. Zelicha, “such as olive oil, avocados, nuts, and seeds, and avoiding easy carbohydrates and trans-fatty acids can assistance lessen VAT.”

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Can body fat affect brain aging?

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A current study investigates no matter whether body excess fat may possibly affect cognitive overall performance. BSIP/UIG Via Getty Visuals
  • Being overweight and overweight enhance the chance of numerous health and fitness conditions.
  • A new examine from Canada has identified that surplus overall body pounds might also affect cognitive function, with inflammation maybe actively playing a purpose.
  • Persons with excess fatty tissue gained decreased scores for processing speed in cognitive exams.
  • Bodily training, which raises blood move to the brain, may perhaps aid limit cognitive impairment even in these with a superior physique mass index (BMI).

It is broadly recognised that extra physique weight is involved with lots of wellness disorders. Now, scientists have uncovered an association among adiposity — obtaining way too a lot fatty tissue in the human body — and cognitive impairment.

At the commence of a new review, which appears in JAMA Community Open up, Canadian scientists identified the adiposity of a lot more than 9,000 individuals. They calculated both of those complete entire body body fat and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) — the excess fat that predominantly sits all around organs in the stomach cavity.

Former studies have affiliated VAT, or visceral unwanted fat, with enhanced morbidity and a better mortality danger. Visceral excess fat raises the danger of several conditions, this kind of as:

This most recent review implies that excessive extra fat could have psychological as nicely as actual physical results.

All contributors undertook two cognitive tests — the Electronic Symbol Substitution Test (DSST) and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) — to evaluate a selection of cognitive functions.

The scientists altered the scores for cardiovascular risk factors, academic degree, and MRI-detected vascular brain injuries, which is identified to be linked with cognitive impairment.

The scientists discovered that bigger total body extra fat and better VAT have been both equally noticeably connected with reduced DSST and MoCA scores. The association was larger on the DSST, which assesses processing velocity, than on the MoCA, which is a multidimensional cognitive examination.

Compared with all those in the lowest quartile (25{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}) of adiposity, the efficiency of all those in the optimum quartile was equal to an supplemental 3 yrs of cognitive aging.

These outcomes are not unforeseen, as Dr. Anton Porsteinsson, professor and director of the Alzheimer’s Sickness Care, Analysis and Education Method (Advert-Treatment) at the University of Rochester Healthcare Heart, informed Health care Information Right now:

“It is well-identified that increased adiposity and body fats are linked with increased cardiovascular threat factors and that these are connected with increased danger of cognitive drop. This cross-sectional research observed that extra adiposity was a risk issue for reduced cognitive scores, unbiased of cardiovascular possibility aspects, instructional stage, and MRI-detected vascular brain damage.”

This review reinforces conclusions from a prior analyze of more mature grownups in Dublin, which located an affiliation among adiposity, notably central adiposity, and reduced cognitive operate.

This review can not verify a causative link among adiposity and cognitive impairment, as Dr. Eamon Laird, a senior study fellow at Trinity University Dublin in Ireland, pointed out to MNT:

“It is cross-sectional, and it can be difficult to tease out the associations and detect if visceral adiposity is causative and not just correlated with lowered cognitive scores. But the association is clear.”

The researchers controlled for cardiovascular risk and vascular mind damage, both of those of which investigate has revealed to induce cognitive impairment. So, what else may possibly be dependable for the website link?

The authors counsel that irritation could play a role in cognitive impairment in individuals with over weight or being overweight. Just one current examine involving a lot more than 15,000 people discovered large concentrations of plasma C-reactive protein, an inflammatory marker, in those people with a superior BMI and a superior midsection-hip ratio.

Dr. Porsteinsson agreed with this recommendation, stating, “Systemic swelling and glucose intolerance arise as guide suspects.”

Dr. Laird also supports inflammation getting a role. He said, “Pro-inflammatory cytokines from adipose tissue could also perhaps be contributing to tissue damage by way of swelling.”

There are also other prospective mechanisms. For case in point, “Adiposity can generally go hand in hand with other serious conditions, these types of as hypertension, which could be a individual mechanism,” Dr. Laird explained to MNT.

“Obesity could be linked with lowered blood movement to the mind, which may possibly enhance the threat of vascular microcellular injury, which could direct to [a] reduction in cognitive exam rating,” he additional. In yet another analyze, which Dr. Laird co-authored, scientists uncovered that a 1-centimeter raise in midsection measurement gave the exact same reduction in blood circulation as 1 calendar year of growing older.

This examine confirms former findings that obese and being overweight are involved with cognitive impairment, so what can people do to enable battle this?

Dr. Porsteinsson recommended numerous measures that may well aid: “Weight loss, exercising (the two aerobic and resistance teaching), handle of diabetic issues/glucose intolerance, or speed of processing cognitive schooling are a number of that appear to brain.”

Citing research findings that those with a large BMI or higher waistline-hip ratio who did little physical activity had substantially lower cerebral blood movement, Dr. Laird additional:

“Since physical exercise could likely average weight problems/blood circulation associations, this [increasing physical activity] may well be a price powerful and rather easy way to assistance mitigate the damaging influence of obesity.”

“There are nevertheless several unanswered issues right here, such as why a job of processing velocity (DSST) is additional impacted than a multidimensional cognitive test, so this research begs for more study.”

– Dr. Anton Porsteinsson

In summary, sustaining a reasonable weight could advantage the brain as very well as the system.

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Losing visceral fat more important than overall weight

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According to a small study, even people of moderate weight can reverse diabetes by losing visceral fat. EMS-FORSTER-PRODUCTIONS/Getty Images
  • Researchers have shown that for people with overweight or obesity, losing weight can reverse type 2 diabetes.
  • In a small study, the team found that weight loss reversed type 2 diabetes in participants, even though their body mass index (BMI) was in a moderate range.
  • The study authors believe that lowering levels of fat around the organs may be more important than lowering BMI.

In a small, preliminary study, researchers have found that people with type 2 diabetes who also have a BMI that falls within a moderate range can reverse their diabetes by losing weight.

The researchers reported their findings at the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of diabetes, accounting for around 91.2{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of diabetes cases in the United States.

The condition occurs when a person’s body does not produce enough insulin or if the insulin no longer works effectively. Insulin normally helps glucose enter the cells of the body. In the absence of insulin, glucose stays in the blood, where it can damage organs and tissues.

This means that a person with type 2 diabetes has an increased risk of several health issues, including stroke, heart disease, issues with their feet, kidney disease, dental issues, and bladder problems.

According to researchers writing in the journal Nutrients, scientists for a long time believed that type 2 diabetes was incurable, so they primarily focused on how people should manage symptoms of the condition.

However, evidence now suggests that if individuals who are overweight or have obesity achieve and maintain weight loss, they can reverse type 2 diabetes.

In the present small, preliminary study, researchers have gone one step further and examined whether weight loss might reverse type 2 diabetes even in those whose weight falls within the moderate BMI range.

Medical News Today spoke with the study’s first author, Dr. Ahmad Al-Mrabeh, a Transitional Research Fellow at the Centre for Cardiovascular Science at Queen’s Medical Research Institute at the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom.

He explained that they decided to explore whether weight loss could be effective at reversing type 2 diabetes for people with moderate BMI after looking at the results of their previous research.

“We observed that the metabolic profile changed markedly after following a low calorie diet even when the change in body weight was […] minor. We, therefore, wanted to test whether inducing modest weight loss could achieve remission in those who are non-obese,” said Dr. Al-Mrabeh.

According to the principal investigator of the study, Prof. Roy Taylor, Director of the Newcastle Magnetic Resonance Centre at Newcastle University, U.K., “[o]ur previous research has shown that weight loss of 10–15{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} can achieve remission in people with type 2 diabetes who are overweight or obese.”

“Doctors tend to assume, however, that type 2 diabetes has a different cause in those who aren’t overweight. This means that, unlike those who are overweight, those who are of [moderate] weight aren’t usually advised to lose weight before being given diabetes drugs and insulin.”

“Instead, there’s a tendency to start them on insulin and other medication at a much earlier stage.”

“What we’ve shown is that if those of [moderate] weight lose 10-15{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of their weight, they have a very good chance of getting rid of their diabetes.”

“This should be a wake-up call to doctors, and, with 1 in 10 of the 4.5 million people with type 2 diabetes in the U.K. of [moderate] weight at diagnosis, there is no time to be lost in getting the message across.”

– Prof. Taylor

The study involved just 23 people. Of these, 12 individuals had a type 2 diabetes diagnosis with an average age of 58.3 years and an average BMI of 24.5. The remaining 11 did not have diabetes and were of similar age and BMI. This group acted as the control.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) classify BMI scores of 18.5–24.9 as “healthy.”

All participants followed a low calorie diet for 2 weeks, consuming no more than 800 calories each day. The researchers then supported them to maintain their new weight for 4–6 weeks.

They completed this cycle two or three times until all participants had reduced their body weight by 10–15{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}.

The researchers measured each participants’ visceral fat and insulin sensitivity before, during, and after the study.

At the end of the study, the researchers matched the people with diabetes with control participants of the same age, sex, and BMI. The scientists found that the individuals with diabetes lost more than twice as much fat in their liver compared with the controls.

In the diabetes group, fat in the pancreas reduced from 5.1{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} to 4.5{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}. Also, their average triglyceride levels fell from 1.6 millimoles per liter to 1.0 millimoles per liter — a significant reduction similar to the control group.

Most significantly, two-thirds of the participants found that their type 2 diabetes went into remission and could stop taking their medication.

Prof. Taylor says that “[t]hese results, while preliminary, demonstrate very clearly that diabetes is not caused by obesity but by [carrying too much weight] for your own body. It’s due to having too much fat in your liver and pancreas, whatever your BMI.”

“In the liver, this excess fat prevents insulin from working normally. In the pancreas, it causes the beta cells to stop producing insulin.”

Dr. Al-Mrabeh said to MNT that the results may be reproducible in larger studies, “however, it is important to understand the mechanisms of excess fat buildup within these vital metabolic organs (liver and pancreas) in non-obese people.”

Speaking with MNT, Prof. Pål R. Njølstad, Leader of the Center for Diabetes Research at the University of Bergen, Norway, said that “[t]he findings are interesting and indicate that weight loss is also important in non-obese individuals with type 2 diabetes.”

Prof. Njølstad added that “[m]ore studies are needed with an increased number of study participants and increased time of follow up, in addition to investigating the effect of other factors, such as age, sex, and ethnicity.”

Dr. Al-Mrabeh said to MNT that he will continue developing the initial findings.

“I have recently moved to the University of Edinburgh to establish an independent research program looking into the mechanisms of how excess fat causes damage to the pancreas in type 2 diabetes. My aim is to dissect these mechanisms using both human and animal studies.”