Hormonal
Adhering to a low carbohydrate diet (LCD) for six months significantly increases the rate of type 2 diabetes remission compared to control diets, with moderate certainty evidence.
If you have type 2 diabetes, switching to a low carbohydrate diet (less than 130g carbs per day) for six months can significantly increase your chances of reversing the condition. This benefit is most pronounced if you are not currently using insulin, though improvements are still seen in insulin users. Work with your doctor to monitor your progress and adjust medications as needed.
Compared with (mostly low fat) control diets, on the basis of moderate certainty evidence at six months, LCDs were associated with a large (32%) increase in remission of diabetes
Why this rating
Moderate certainty evidence based on GRADE assessment of 8 RCTs.
Source
Efficacy and safety of low and very low carbohydrate diets for type 2 diabetes remission: systematic review and meta-analysis of published and unpublished randomized trial data
Joshua Z. Goldenberg et al. · BMJ · 2021
DOI 10.1136/bmj.m4743
More from this paper
- Very low carbohydrate diets (VLCDs) are less effective for weight loss than less restrictive LCDs, but this is explained by lower adherence rather than the diet itself.Moderate
- The efficacy of low carbohydrate diets for diabetes remission is markedly reduced in patients who are using insulin.Moderate
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