Low-fat diet best for diabetics
The Mediterranean diet may help people with type 2 diabetes stay off blood sugar-lowering medications, as well as help them lose weight and lower their cardiovascular risk.
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The Mediterranean diet may help people with type 2 diabetes stay off blood sugar-lowering medications, as well as help them lose weight and lower their cardiovascular risk.
Type 2 diabetes is fast becoming a pandemic. However, lifestyle changes can help prevent the disease and possibly reverse its course when instigated soon after diagnosis. Regular exercise and changes in diet are among the most important lifestyle changes that can help manage type 2 diabetes.
The Mediterranean-type diet is a diet high in plant foods, such as fruits, nuts, legumes and cereals, and fish, with olive oils as the primary source of monounsaturated fat and low to moderate intake of wine, as well as low intake of red meat and poultry. The diet has been associated with a number of healthful outcomes, including reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer and mortality.
Researchers studied 215 Italian overweight people with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes to compare the effects of Mediterranean-style or low-fat diet on the need for anti-hyperglycaemic drug therapy. They compared 107 people on a low fat diet to 108 who were on Mediterranean diet. Weight, anti-hyperglycaemic drug therapy, haemoglobin levels, heart disease risk factors and blood sugar level controls were measured in all the participants. They were followed for four years.
It was found that consuming a Mediterranean type of diet prevented anti-hyperglycaemic drug therapy in about one-third of patients. Seventy percent of people with type 2 diabetes following a low-fat diet eventually needed diabetes medications; just 44 percent of those following the Mediterranean diet needed such drugs.
After four years, 26 percent fewer people needed to go on diabetes medication in the Mediterranean diet, compared to the low-fat group. That translates into a 37 percent decreased risk of needing medication for the Mediterranean diet group.
At the end of the study, weight as measured by body-mass index (BMI), was down 1.2 points for those in the Mediterranean diet group compared to 0.9 for the low-fat diet group. Cholesterol levels and blood pressure readings were also more improved in the Mediterranean diet group vs. the low-fat group.
The researchers concluded that compared to a low-fat diet, Mediterranean diet is a safe and tasty means to delay the introduction of anti-diabetic drug therapy in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic people.
Type 2 diabetes is fast becoming a pandemic. However, lifestyle changes can help prevent the disease and possibly reverse its course when instigated soon after diagnosis. Regular exercise and changes in diet are among the most important lifestyle changes that can help manage type 2 diabetes.
The Mediterranean-type diet is a diet high in plant foods, such as fruits, nuts, legumes and cereals, and fish, with olive oils as the primary source of monounsaturated fat and low to moderate intake of wine, as well as low intake of red meat and poultry. The diet has been associated with a number of healthful outcomes, including reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer and mortality.
Researchers studied 215 Italian overweight people with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes to compare the effects of Mediterranean-style or low-fat diet on the need for anti-hyperglycaemic drug therapy. They compared 107 people on a low fat diet to 108 who were on Mediterranean diet. Weight, anti-hyperglycaemic drug therapy, haemoglobin levels, heart disease risk factors and blood sugar level controls were measured in all the participants. They were followed for four years.
It was found that consuming a Mediterranean type of diet prevented anti-hyperglycaemic drug therapy in about one-third of patients. Seventy percent of people with type 2 diabetes following a low-fat diet eventually needed diabetes medications; just 44 percent of those following the Mediterranean diet needed such drugs.
After four years, 26 percent fewer people needed to go on diabetes medication in the Mediterranean diet, compared to the low-fat group. That translates into a 37 percent decreased risk of needing medication for the Mediterranean diet group.
At the end of the study, weight as measured by body-mass index (BMI), was down 1.2 points for those in the Mediterranean diet group compared to 0.9 for the low-fat diet group. Cholesterol levels and blood pressure readings were also more improved in the Mediterranean diet group vs. the low-fat group.
The researchers concluded that compared to a low-fat diet, Mediterranean diet is a safe and tasty means to delay the introduction of anti-diabetic drug therapy in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic people.
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