Very Low-Carb Diet May Greatly Improve Type 1 Diabetes

Consuming a very low-carbohydrate diet may significantly improve glycemic control in children and adults with type 2 diabetes, according to preliminary study findings.

For their study, the researchers administered an online survey to 316 respondents on an international social media group for people with type 2 diabetes following a very low-carbohydrate diet. Of these respondents, 131 were parents of children with type 1 diabetes.
______________________________________________________________________________________

RELATED CONTENT
Pump Therapy Superior to Injections For Children With Type 1
Type 1 Diabetes: Is Real-Time Continuous Glucose Monitoring Effective?
______________________________________________________________________________________

Current hemoglobin A_1c (HbA_1c), change in HbA_1c after self-reported initiation of a very low-carbohydrate diet, total daily insulin dose, and adverse events were recorded. Confirmatory data were also obtained via medical records and diabetes care providers.

For 273 respondents, the researchers used a 3-tier scoring system that accounted for age and weight at diagnosis, pancreatic autoimmunity, insulin requirement, and clinical presentation in order to gather suggestive evidence for type 2 diabetes mellitus.

In this pool of respondents, mean age at diagnosis was 16 years, mean diabetes duration was 11 years, and time following a very low-carbohydrate diet was 2.2 years.

Ultimately, results of the study indicated that children and adults who consumed a very low-carbohydrate diet reported exceptional glycemic control of type 1 diabetes with low rates of adverse events. Mean daily carbohydrate intake was 36 g, and reported mean HbA_1c was 5.67%.

The researchers noted that 7 respondents reported diabetes-related hospitalizations within the past year, of which 4 were for ketoacidosis and 2 were for hypoglycemia.

 “The generalizability of these findings requires further studies, including high-quality randomized controlled trials,” the researchers concluded.

—Christina Vogt

Reference:

Lennerz BS, Barton A, Bernstein RK, et al. Management of type 1 diabetes with a very low-carbohydrate diet [Published online May 7, 2018]. Pediatrics. doi:10.1542/peds.2017-3349

SEE ALSO: Psoriasis, Diabetes, and Other Comorbidities (Podcast)

Dr Joel Gelfand, a professor of dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, discusses his latest research on the interaction between psoriasis and diabetes, as well as other comorbidities.

For more podcasts, click here.