Scientists from Fujian Medical University and elsewhere found that the keto diet could benefit overweight people with type 2 diabetes, but it may be hard to adhere to for a long time.
The ketogenic diet (keto diet) is characterized by fat as a substitute for carbohydrates as the primary energy source.
Unlike other low-carb diets, which focus on protein, a keto diet focuses on fat, which supplies as much as 90% of daily calories.
The keto diet is primarily used to help reduce the frequency of epileptic seizures in children. While it also has been tried for weight loss, only short-term results have been studied, and the results have been mixed.
Many overweight or obese people suffer from type 2 diabetes. Dietary habits play an important role in the development of type 2 diabetes.
For people with type 2 diabetes, there is reliable evidence that lower-carb eating can be safe and useful in lowering average blood glucose levels in the short term.
It can also help reduce body weight and help manage heart disease risk factors such as raised cholesterol and raised blood pressure.
The current study aimed to examine the effect of the keto diet on overweight or obese people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
The researchers examined a total of 60 overweight or obese patients newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
These people were assigned to two groups: the Keto diet group, which was given a keto diet, and the control group, which was given a routine diet for diabetes.
Both diets lasted 12 weeks, and during the period, the team examined the blood sugar, blood cholesterols, body weight, insulin, and uric acid before and after an intervention.
The team found for both groups, the weight, BMI (body mass index), Waist, triglyceride, cholesterol, LDL (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, or bad cholesterol), HDL (high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, or good cholesterol), fasting glucose, fasting insulin, HbA1c were decreased after the intervention.
But the decrease in the KD group was much stronger than in the control group.
However, serum uric acid in the KD group showed an increase, while in the control group was not changed.
The willingness to adhere to the keto diet over the long-term was weaker than to the routine diet for diabetes.
Based on these findings, the team suggests that among the overweight or obese people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, a ketogenic diet can not only control the body weight, but also control blood sugar and fats, but long-term persistence is difficult.
The research was published in BMC Endocrine Disorders and conducted by Sumei Li et al.
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