For diabetics, controlling their blood glucose remains a top priority.
Yet other problems that often occur with this disease, such as increased body pain and poorer health in general, often go unaddressed as the disease progresses.
Researcher say they’ve found a way to improve a diabetic’s quality of life while keeping their blood glucose under control, however. According to their study, now featured in the health journal Diabetologia, diabetics who consumed a low-carbohydrate diet with an emphasis on wholesome foods had lower blood glucose and improved general health than those who ate a different diet–such as those who sustained a low-fat diet.
For lead researhcer Dr. Hans Guldbrand, the findings further suggest the benefits of eating a low-carbohydrate diet.
“The result is interesting; it provides an additional argument that a low-carbohydrate diet is beneficial in diabetes,” says Guldbrand, who works at the Department of Medical and Health Sciences at Linköping University in Sweden. “We also found no adverse effects on mental health with the low-carbohydrate diet, which an earlier study had indicated.”
In the study, Guldbrand wanted to find out which diet improved a diabetic’s quality of life the most: a low-carbohydrate diet or a low-fat diet. To find out, he recruited 61 adults diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and split them into two groups. For the first group, they followed a standard low fat diet, whereas the other group lowered their carbohydrate intake instead. Then, for the next two years, he tracked the participants to see if any changes occurred with their physical health and blood glucose.
While both groups lost weight and had improved glucose control, the diet that made the most significant change was the low carbohydrate group.
“At 12 months the physical function, bodily pain and general health scores improved within the LCD [low carbohydrate diet] group while there was no change within the LFD [low fat diet] group,” say researchers. “Weight-changes did not differ between the diet groups while improvements in HRQoL [health-related quality of life] only occurred after one year during treatment with LCD. No changes of HRQoL occurred in the LFD group in spite of a similar reduction in body weight.”
In conclusion, researchers say if you want to live a better and healthier life, low carbohydrate diets are your best bet–especially if you’re diabetic.
“At 12 months improvement of physical domains of health related quality of life was found in the low-carbohydrate group while no changes occurred in the low-fat group,” say researchers.
What You Should Do
Have diabetes or at risk of developing diabetes? Eating a low-carbohydrate diet could help you live a healthier life, especially when combined with other healthy lifestyle measures, such as maintaining a healthy weight and regular exercise.
Readers: Which diet do you prefer more, a low-carbohydrate diet or a low-fat diet?
Sources:
How Does Diabetes Affect the Body? – Diabetes.co.uk
Study: Low-Carb Diet Improves Quality of Life in Type 2 Diabetics – DiabetesResearchClinicalPractice.com
Study Shows That Low-Carb Diets Better Than Low-Fat Diets for Diabetics – ScienceDaily.com
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