Welcome Southport contributor - from low carbers ONLY

How much carbohydrate is in a low-carbohydrate diet?
For a 2000kcal diet, the recommendation for carbohydrate is 225–300g per day (45–60%)
......
In conclusion, low-carbohydrate diets may be effective in facilitating weight loss in people with Type 2 diabetes in the short term, but there is no evidence that this approach is more successful in the long term than any other approach (9). More research is needed to assess the effectiveness of varying degrees of low-carbohydrate diet on weight, glycaemic control, hypertension and lipid profile in people with Type 2 diabetes (18) as well as to investigate the long term effects of these diets (9).
.....
Ref. 18 Worth J, Soran H (2007). Is there a role for low carbohydrate diets in the management of type 2 diabetes? Q J Med 100; 659–663

Click to expand...

This article will review the Atkins diet, compare it with current nutritional recommendations for type 2 DM patients, and discuss the possibility of adopting a modified version of the Atkins diet as an alternative viable dietary approach.
.....
A 16-week pilot diet intervention trial also demonstrated that a low-CHO, ketogenic diet can improve glycaemic control in obese type 2 DM patients (mean BMI 42), such that diabetes medications were discontinued or reduced in 17 of the 21 participants.19 However, to date there has been no randomized controlled trial in type 2 DM patients and health care professionals remain wary of their use, particularly as standard dietary advice from Diabetes UK does not support this approach.
.....
Modified CHO diets
Until long-term safety data are obtained for low-CHO diets, a compromise may be appropriate, with the use of diets with lower CHO and modest protein intake. Such an approach has been trialled in a small-scale study led by the South-West Clinical Diabetes Research Group.23 Obese type 2 DM patients (n = 102) were recruited and randomly allocated to follow either a CHO restriction diet or a low-fat diet; 79 completed the 3 month study, with similar attrition rates in each group. Weight loss was greater in the low-CHO group (−3.55 ± 0.63 vs. −0.92 ± 0.40 kg) and cholesterol: HDL-cholesterol ratio improved (−0.48 ± 0.11 vs. −0.10 ± 0.10 kg), despite a diet containing more protein, saturated fat and less fibre. On the basis of this, a two-year randomized controlled study of CHO-restriction versus a prescribed energy deficit diet, in 300 obese type 2 DM patients has been funded by Diabetes UK. The study is due to report this year, and will provide information regarding the long-term efficacy and any potential side-effects of a low-CHO diet in patients with type 2 DM.

A six-month interim report (abstract only) based on 259 type 2 DM patients revealed greater weight loss in the low-CHO group (−3.77(0.46) vs. −1.34 (0.32), p < 0.0005) with no deleterious effect on glycaemic control, other risk factors or renal safety.24

Conclusion
Overall, there is growing body of evidence that low-CHO diet intervention is more effective, at least in the short term, in reducing weight and improving insulin sensitivity without significant adverse cardiovascular effects. However, more clinical trials need to be conducted to assess the effectiveness of varying degrees of low-CHO diet on weight, glycaemic control, hypertension and lipid profile in patients with type 2 DM, to resolve current controversies.

Click to expand...

Thank you for your interest in our study. My colleagues and I are preparing a paper for submission to a journal and would be delighted to share a copy of the paper with you once it has been accepted.

Diabetes UK have broadened their approach to the carbohydrate content of the diet which does allow for low carb diets.

We have presented our results at 3 national and 1 international meetings. We found no serious adverse effects over 2 years but not everyone is as good at sticking to low carbohydrate diets as you – you’re certainly doing well to keep the tennis going well – I suspect you need extra carbs on tennis days?

We also found that the lower carb group lost more weight initially but the difference between the groups became less over time. Cholesterol and blood pressure were similar.

I trust this is of interest and look forward to sharing the more detailed results in the near future.

Click to expand...