Research
Hormonal
The rapid improvement in fasting plasma glucose induced by caloric restriction is closely correlated with a reduction in basal hepatic glucose output (HGO), suggesting that restraining HGO is a major mechanism of action.
Reducing caloric intake works partly by telling the liver to stop producing so much sugar. This metabolic shift happens quickly, often before significant fat loss occurs.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
a major mechanism by which VLC diet therapy reduces fasting glycemia is by restraining HGO... a strong correlation (r = 0.84; P < 0.001) exists between the change in FPG and the change in HGO.
Why this rating
Strong correlation data (r=0.89, r=0.84) with statistical significance.
Source
Glycemic Effects of Intensive Caloric Restriction and Isocaloric Refeeding in Noninsulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus*
Robert R. Henry et al. · The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism · 1985
DOI 10.1210/jcem-61-5-917
clinical_trial · n=30Cited 244×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Intensive caloric restriction (330 kcal/day) rapidly and significantly lowers fasting plasma glucose in obese NIDDM patients, with maximal glycemic improvement occurring within 10 days, largely independent of the total amount of weight lost.Good
- Isocaloric refeeding after a Very Low Caloric Diet maintains significantly lower fasting plasma glucose levels compared to pre-diet baselines, even after discontinuation of antidiabetic medications, although glucose levels rise from the nadir achieved during the diet.Good
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