Low-carb diet good for diabetics

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

Reducing carbohydrates gives better blood sugar control to people who have diabetes.
Low carbohydrate diets are popular and it is said they help to increase insulin sensitivity. So could these diets help people with diabetes, who are resistant to insulin? Yes, say researchers in Sweden. They report upon a follow-up study of 16 obese diabetic patients who were put on a 20 per cent carbohydrate diet over six months.

After 22 months, the patients continued to show improvement in blood sugar and reported a reduced need for medication. The study also reports that another seven patients who switched to a 20 per cent carb diet from a low fat diet showed similar improvement. This was just a small study but is the longest one of its kind, and suggests that a low carb approach may have real benefit for people with diabetes.

Source
Nutrition and Metabolism 14th June 2006

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