Diet could help diabetes sufferers eat their way to health

A change in diet could be the key to reversing type 2 diabetes in a matter of months, a group of doctors has revealed.

A low-carb diet created by a group of leading doctors is helping people eat their way out of type 2 diabetes in the space of a few months.

Similar programs in Britain and the US have helped adults throw away their medicine and lose significant amounts of weight, with the Defeat Diabetes program showing similar results across Australia.

With about 1000 adults now on the diet, an analysis of the first three months shows more than 60 per cent of participants put their diabetes into remission, all improved blood glucose control and all who were using insulin were able to stop.

More than 80 per cent lost weight, with an average of 2.5kg lost each month.

Founder of the Defeat Diabetes program Peter Brukner, a sports medicine doctor and researcher, said that with one million Australians living with type 2 diabetes and numbers increasing, the standard healthy eating guidance was no longer enough.

“The traditional advice has just been to follow the dietary guidelines, with plenty of starchy carbohydrates. But type 2 diabetes is a disease of carbohydrate intolerance,” Dr Brukner said.

“It’s no wonder people don’t get better and we’re getting fatter and sicker. It needs a mindset change.

“This program gives hope to people.”

As insulin-producing cells in the pancreas wear out, the body is less able to manage blood glucose levels and must rely on medications or insulin.

While type 2 diabetes can often initially be managed with diet and exercise, as the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas wear out the body is less able to manage blood glucose levels and must rely on medications or insulin.

Dr Brukner said a low-carb diet helped lower blood glucose levels by cutting out the trigger that increased glucose.

“When you stop eating carbs, you stop producing insulin. Insulin is a fat storage hormone,” he said.

“People accept that sugar is not good, most people get that. But what we’re saying is starches – potatoes, rice, pasta – they’re basically glucose molecules linked together. The body processes these carbs in a similar way to sugar.”

Research released this week by Diabetes UK, and backed by a position statement from Diabetes Australia, showed that a low-carb diet was more effective than a higher-carb meal plan for weight loss and blood glucose control in the first six months for those overweight or obese.

The Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition study, however, recommended that more research was needed to measure the diet’s long-term effects.

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