Following a low-carbohydrate diet may reduce the risk of dying earlier in people with type 2 diabetes, including dying from cancer and cardiovascular disease, according to a new study published in the journal Diabetes Care.
There has been ongoing debate about whether following a low-carb diet is beneficial or sustainable for people with diabetes — an answer that may depend, in part, on what kind of low-carb diet you follow. There is now evidence that at least some kinds of low-carb diets offer potentially huge health benefits. Recently, a study found that following a low-carb vegan diet led to weight loss and improved blood glucose control in people with type 2 diabetes. Following a low-carb diet has also been shown to help improve blood glucose control in people with predicates, and may help prevent progression to diabetes. Another study found that following a low-carb, high-fat diet led to improved measures of liver disease and better blood glucose control in people with type 2 diabetes. Following a low-carb diet has also been shown to potentially help improve kidney function in people with type 2 diabetes, and it may help support diabetes remission (having normal glucose levels without taking any glucose-lowering drugs). Even just eating a low-carb breakfast may help improve blood glucose control throughout the day, according to one study.
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For the latest study, researchers looked at dietary patterns among participants in a large general health research called the Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study. Each of the 10,101 participants with type 2 diabetes was given an overall low-carb diet score based on the percentage of total calories they got from carbohydrate, as shown by dietary recall surveys. They were also given separate vegetable, animal, healthy, and unhealthy low-carb diet scores based on their intake of various foods. The researchers then calculated the relationship between these scores and the risk of dying during an average follow-up period of 13.8 years, adjusting for differences among participants other than diet (such as age, sex, and health history).
Plant-based, low-carb diet linked to lower early death risk
During the follow-up period, 4,595 participants died, with 1,389 deaths linked to cardiovascular disease and 881 deaths linked to cancer. The researchers found that for every 10-point improvement in participants’ overall low-carb diet score (indicating a lower carbohydrate intake), they were 13% less likely to die during the follow-up period. When it came to the more specific low-carb diet scores, a 10-point improvement was linked to a 24% lower risk of dying for vegetable low-carb diet score and a 22% lower risk of dying for healthy low-carb diet score — with similar reductions seen in the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease or cancer. No significant relationship was seen between animal low-carb diet score or unhealthy low-carb diet score and the risk of dying during the follow-up period.
The researchers concluded that following a low-carb diet — and more specifically, a healthy low-carb diet that emphasizes plant foods — was linked to a lower risk of dying earlier among adults with type 2 diabetes, including dying from cardiovascular disease or cancer. “Our study provides the first empirical evidence on how low-carb diets can help manage the progression of existing diabetes,” said study author Yang Hu, a research associate in the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, in a news release on the study, adding that avoiding highly refined carbohydrates may be the most important aspect of a healthy eating pattern for people with type 2 diabetes.
Want to learn more about low-carb diets and diabetes? Read “Low Carb Myths and Facts,” “Low-Carb for Diabetes,” and “Scrumptious Lower-Carb Lunches.”
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