Diabetes is a rapidly growing health issue in the United States, with reportedly over 37 million Americans living with it on a daily basis. According to the CDC, the majority of these cases are Type 2 diabetes, specifically. Although this disease mostly occurs in those over the age of 45, its cases among children and teens are also increasing.
There are uncontrollable factors that may increase your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, like age and genetics, but lifestyle factors including movement and diet play a significant role. New research from Tulane University has found that when it comes to your diet, limiting your daily intake of carbohydrates may help reduce your risk or manage existing diabetes.
These are certainly not the first findings on the potential benefits of a low-carb eating pattern on those with diabetes or prediabetes. For example, researchers at Stanford Medical Center say that low-carb diets like the keto or Mediterranean diet may help with management because of their ability to lower blood sugar levels.
However, these recent findings from researchers at Tulane are unique because they’ve discovered that a low-carb diet may be able to help unmedicated individuals with existing diabetes or prediabetes lower their blood sugar levels.
What the study found
someone with diabetes
Researchers divided 150 participants into two groups: a low-carb diet group and a group with a “usual” diet. Each participant was between the ages of 40 and 70, and had either diabetes or prediabetes. In addition, they could not be on any sort of medication for lowering their blood sugar.
After six months, the group who ate a low-carb diet had lower levels of hemoglobin A1c, which is a common marker for measuring blood sugar levels. This means that this eating habit may potentially be able to help those with both diabetes and prediabetes manage their blood glucose.
It was also discovered that the low-carb group lost more total weight, as well as had lower fasting blood sugar levels than the “usual diet” group. Fasting blood sugar levels are another measurement for blood sugar but are measured after an individual fasts overnight.
Story continues
“Considering how so many…