Macro partitioning
The Low-Carbohydrate (LC) diet is ranked as the most effective approach for reducing HbA1c, while the Mediterranean diet is ranked as the most effective for reducing fasting glucose.
If your primary goal is lowering HbA1c, a Low-Carbohydrate diet may offer the greatest benefit. If your primary goal is lowering fasting glucose, the Mediterranean diet may be the most effective choice. Both are superior to a control diet, but they optimize different glycemic markers.
For reducing HbA1c, the low-carbohydrate diet was ranked as the best dietary approach (SUCRA: 84%), followed by the Mediterranean diet (80%) and Palaeolithic diet (76%)... For reducing fasting glucose, the Mediterranean diet (88%) was ranked as the best approach, followed by Palaeolithic diet (71%) and Vegetarian diet (63%).
Why this rating
Based on NMA of 56 trials, but credibility rated 'very low' due to inconsistency, particularly for LC comparisons.
Source
A network meta-analysis on the comparative efficacy of different dietary approaches on glycaemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus
Lukas Schwingshackl et al. · European Journal of Epidemiology · 2018
DOI 10.1007/s10654-017-0352-x
More from this paper
- Low-Carbohydrate diets are more effective in reducing HbA1c in the short term (<12 months), in smaller studies, and in patients aged 60 years or older.Moderate
- All dietary approaches (low-carbohydrate, Mediterranean, Palaeolithic, Vegetarian, etc.) significantly reduce HbA1c and fasting glucose compared to a control diet in patients with type 2 diabetes.Limited
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