Happy Thanksgiving!
In the United States, about one in ten people have diabetes. About 90-95% of those people have Type 2 Diabetes, which means they develop it later in life rather than as children, who are considered Type 1 Diabetics. According to the National Institutes of Health, that amounts to about 38.4 million Americans with Type 2 Diabetes.
That’s a lot of people! But now there is good news for these people. Huey Freeman, writing for The Epoch Times, tells us there is new information that suggests a low carbohydrate diet can make a real difference in their lives.
Freeman says, “Type 2 diabetes patients who went on a low-carbohydrate diet saw their insulin production double, potentially eliminating their need for medication, according to a new study published on October 22 in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.”
Type 2 diabetes occurs when insulin-producing pancreatic beta cells become less effective. Insulin is needed to regulate blood sugar levels, and when there is not enough being produced, blood sugar levels rise, causing various diseases linked to Type 2 diabetes.
No conventional drug for Type 2 diabetes has been shown to improve beta cells’ immediate insulin secretion. Beta cell function usually declines despite treatment with anti-hyperglycemic agents, the researchers wrote in the study.
“This study shows people with type 2 diabetes on a low-carbohydrate diet can recover their beta-cells, an outcome that cannot be achieved with medication,” Barbara Gower, lead author and professor of nutritional science at the University of Alabama–Birmingham, said in a statement. “People with mild type 2 diabetes who reduce their carbohydrate intake may be able to discontinue medication and enjoy eating meals and snacks that are higher in protein and meet their energy needs.”
Carbohydrates are converted into sugars in the liver. That means a high carbohydrate diet produces more sugar which increases the burden on the pancreas to produce insulin to regulate the levels of sugar in the blood. A low-carb diet reduces the demand on the pancreas to produce insulin, which is in low supply in diabetics.
Insulin Production Doubled
Researchers conducted a randomized clinical trial with 57 Type 2 diabetes patients who weren’t using insulin treatments. The trial was designed to determine whether a change in diet alone would affect the beta cell function in people with Type 2 diabetes.
After discontinuing participants’ medications for one to two weeks, researchers divided participants into two groups: a low-carb group eating 9 percent carbohydrates and 65 percent fat and a high-carb group eating 55 percent carbohydrates and 20 percent fat.
After 12 weeks, participants whose diet was low in carbohydrates experienced a twofold increase in activity in the insulin-producing cells. Those served the higher-carbohydrate meals had a 32 percent increase in beta cell activity.
The researchers concluded that a carbohydrate-restricted diet “has beneficial effects on [beta cell] function in patients with mild [Type 2 diabetes]. ”The new research could be very beneficial for diabetes patients, Dr. Jason Fung, a physician and the author of “The Diabetes Code: Prevent and Reverse Type 2 Diabetes Naturally,” told The Epoch Times.
“People with Type 2 diabetes need to know that a dietary intervention, reducing carbohydrates, has the potential to reverse their disease without the need for medication,” Fung wrote in an email. While medication can help manage Type 2 diabetes, it cannot reverse the condition on its own, as it does not address its root cause: diet, according to Fung.
Improved Beta Cell Activity May Halt Diabetes Progression
Beta cells’ insulin secretion immediately after meals, known as first-phase secretion, is important in removing excess glucose from the blood.
The researchers noted that inadequate first-phase secretion leads to high blood sugar levels, which initiates the development of Type 2 diabetes. The study showed that low-carb dietary interventions could increase beta cell activity, suggesting that this dietary approach may be able to stop diabetes before it takes hold. “This result reinforces the results of many other studies that showed the same thing: that reducing carbohydrates could reverse Type 2 diabetes,” Fung said.
This is great news for diabetics and for older adults who may yet develop diabetes. This should be very comforting as you prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving!
