Professor says that low-carbohydrate, high-fat diets are the preferred method for treating type 2 diabetes

This paper was published in the Scandinavian Cardiovascular Journal 2008 Aug;42(4):256-63

Study title and authors:

Carbohydrate restriction as the default treatment for type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

Feinman RD, Volek JS.

Department of Biochemistry, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, 450 Clarkson Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11203, USA. rfeinman@downstate.edu

This paper can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18609058

Professor Richard Feinman reviews the role of low carbohydrate diets in relation to treatment of diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

He found:

• Dietary carbohydrate restriction in the treatment of diabetes and metabolic syndrome is based on an underlying principle of control of insulin secretion and the theory that insulin resistance is a response to chronic high blood glucose levels and high insulin levels.
• This theory has substantial experimental support.
• This theory has generally been opposed by health agencies because of concern that carbohydrate will be replaced by fat, particularly saturated fat, thereby increasing the risk of heart disease as dictated by the so-called diet-heart hypothesis. However recent data shows that, in fact, substitution of fat for carbohydrate generally improves heart disease risk factors.
• Removing the barrier of concern about dietary fat makes carbohydrate restriction the preferred method for treating type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.
• Low carbohydrate, high fat diets are shown to improve blood glucose control, lower HbA1C levels and reduce the need for diabetes medication.

This review find that a low carbohydrate, high fat diet is the preferred method for treating type 2 diabetes.