Those living with type 2 diabetes may find relief from daily insulin injections through a low-carb diet, according to a new study.
Just six months on a strict, low-carb diet – meaning less than 26% of daily calories come from carbohydrates – could lower blood sugar to a point where the drug is no longer needed, according to conclusions based on data from over 1,357 participants with metabolic disease.
Moreover, dieting has led to weight loss and fewer episodes of diabetes, compared to people who follow other recommended diets, such as fat poverty.
However, at 12-month intervals, the researchers found a decrease in the benefits of a low-carbohydrate diet. They point out that previous research included in the analysis, published Wednesday in the BMJ, may have had its limitations and suggests that more studies are needed on how low-carb diets could be used to relieve diabetic symptoms.
For example, doctors could prescribe a short-term low-carb diet “for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, while actively monitoring and adjusting diabetes medications as needed.”
The low-carb diet, famous for weight loss guru Robert Atkins, later became controversial, as former starch-free dieters complained that their weight was returning in fury with the re-introduction of carbohydrates. . Studies have finally linked the fad diet to other health problems, such as cardiac arrhythmia and premature death.
However, the regime is popular to this day, with benefits that scientists still do not fully understand. A 2019 study suggested that the diet could strengthen the lungs against the flu, causing a protective mucus in the lining of the organs – a “totally unexpected finding,” a researcher said at the time.