If you are diabetic, you should read this carefully. Restricting your carbohydrate intake and a low-carb diet would be very beneficial for patients with type 1 diabetes. suggests a new study. Led by Belinda Lennerz of Boston Children’s Hospital, the study suggests that the diet can improve blood sugar control in type 1 diabetes, with low rates of hypoglycemia and other complications.
The patients were drawn from TypeOneGrit, a Facebook community of people with type 1 diabetes committed to a very-low-carb diet as recommended by the book Dr. Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution (Richard Bernstein, MD, is a co-author on the study).
Of 493 people who took the survey, 316 provided enough information to be included in the analysis. For 138 of these participants, the researchers were able to confirm diabetes diagnosis, blood-sugar control measures, metabolic health measures and other outcomes with health care providers or through review of medical records. 42% of participants were children.
Participants reported an average daily carbohydrate intake of 36 grams, or about five percent of total calories (for comparison, the American Diabetes Association recommends about 45% of calories come from carbohydrates). Self-reported hemoglobin A1c values – the primary measure of blood-sugar control – averaged in the normal range, at 5.67% (the target is below 7% and prevailing levels average 8.2%).
Participants required lower-than-average doses of insulin (mean, 0.40 U/kg/day), and those for whom data were available had favourable measures of insulin sensitivity and cardiometabolic health, such as low triglyceride levels and high HDL cholesterol levels.
Safety concerns have been raised about very-low-carb diets in type 1 diabetes, primarily that they increase the risk of hypoglycemia, or dangerous drops in blood sugar. However, in the study, rates of hospitalisation for hypoglycemia (1%), diabetic ketoacidosis (2%) and other diabetes complications were lower than those generally reported for type 1 diabetes populations.
More than 80% of survey respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with their diabetes management. Yet about a quarter said they did not discuss the very-low-carb diet with their diabetes care providers, some citing concerns about being criticized or even being accused of child abuse.
