New Study Challenges Conventional Diet Recommended for Diabetic Patients

Lisa Franchi September 10, 2015

Each day, 400 people in the UK are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes - a condition wherein the blood sugar levels become exceedingly high unless managed properly. There is no cure to the disease. Much of the interventions and treatments available are geared towards managing it. And apart from medications, diet and exercise are two major components of ensuring that people with type 2 diabetes live a normal life.

Now, a new study challenges the traditional diet advice for this debilitating condition, suggesting that it’s making it harder for type 2 diabetics to keep their condition in check.

Type 2 diabetes occurs when fats clogs the liver, affecting insulin production. According to the researchers, such fats can be eliminated, enabling normal insulin production to resume, by losing around 15 per cent of body weight (on average 2½ st). This allows the blood glucose levels to return to normal immediately, an effect that lasts at least two years.

’We now know that once people with type 2 diabetes successfully lose weight and go below their personal fat threshold, the diabetes will disappear,’ explains Professor Roy Taylor of Newcastle University, one of the researchers.

But the current guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) recommend loss of up to 10 per cent of body weight. According to Nice, anyone with type 2 diabetes should be encouraged to eat ’a healthy, balanced diet that’s applicable to the general population’ - in other words, meals containing a balance of protein, vegetables and, crucially, plenty of tarchy carbohydrates including bread, rice and pasta.

But some health experts contend that this diet can actually contribute to type 2 diabetes. Dr Aseem Malhotra, consultant clinical associate to the Academy of Royal Colleges, challenged the existing guidelines, saying that starchy foods get easily converted into glucose. According to him, the best long-term intervention for type 2 diabetes is to restrict carbohydrates by cutting back on sugar and starch and replacing it with non-starchy (green) veg, with some fatty foods such as cheese and full-fat, unsweetened yogurt along with calorie-dense protein.

Also, researchers say most diabetic patients are prescribed with medications but not given advice on diet.

Being physically active matters too

While diet helps big time, physical activity is equally important. A review of studies published in the Annals of Internal Medicine last year suggests that sitting for more than eight hours a day raises the risk of type 2 diabetes by 90 per cent. And doing vigorous workouts doesn’t seem to offset the risk tied to sitting for long hours.

Source of this article: Are diabetics being given diet advice that just makes their problems WORSE?