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Eucaloric Carbohydrate-Restricted Diet Improves β-Cell Function in T2DM

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on Oct 25, 2024.

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

FRIDAY, Oct. 25, 2024 -- A eucaloric carbohydrate-restricted (CR) diet improves β-cell response to glucose in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D), according to a study published online Oct. 22 in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Barbara A. Gower, Ph.D., from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and colleagues examined whether a eucaloric CR diet would improve β-cell response to glucose compared with a eucaloric higher carbohydrate diet in participants with T2D. Data were included for 57 African American and European American adults with T2D not using insulin. The acute and maximal C-peptide response to glucose was assessed at baseline and after 12 weeks of controlled diet therapy.

The researchers found that diet had a significant effect on acute C-peptide response at 12 weeks (twofold greater with CR diet). A significant effect of diet was observed for maximal C-peptide (22 percent greater with CR diet). There was also a significant diet-by-race interaction, with the diet effect specific to European Americans (48 percent greater with CR diet). A significant effect of diet was seen on disposition index at 12 weeks in the oral glucose tolerance test results (32 percent greater with the CR diet).

"With the caveat that CR may be difficult for some patients, such a diet may allow patients with mild T2D to discontinue medication and enjoy eating meals and snacks that meet their energy needs while improving β-cell function, an outcome that cannot be achieved with medication," the authors write.

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Posted October 2024

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