EASD:
High Protein Diet Helps Control Blood Glucose in Untreated Type 2
Diabetics
Switching
to a high protein diet, in which 30 percent of calories are derived
from proteins (instead of 15 percent) may improve glucose control in
untreated patients with type 2 diabetes.
The findings were presented 38th annual meeting of the
European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD).
Dr. Mary C. Gannon, of the University of Minnesota, Minnesota, United
States, and colleagues enrolled 11 patients (nine men, two women) with
untreated type 2 diabetes in a randomized study with a crossover
design. The patients were required to eat a diet consisting of 15
percent protein for a period of five weeks, followed by a diet
containing 30 percent protein for the next five weeks, or vice versa.
The diet contained either 40 percent carbohydrates (high protein
condition) or 55 percent carbohydrates (low protein condition). Fat
content was kept at a constant 30 percent during both five-week
periods. Dietary compliance was determined by measuring the urine
urea/creatinine ratio twice a week throughout the trial.
Fasting glucose concentrations were measured after each of the two
five-week periods and were found to be relatively constant (mean = 6.3
plus or minus 0.3 mmol/L). However, the 24-hour integrated total
glucose area under the curve decreased by 7 percent (from 187 plus or
minus 12.5 to 174 plus or minus 7.4 mmol.hr/L) following five weeks on
the high protein diet. Furthermore, the overnight fasting triglyceride
concentration significantly decreased following the 30 percent versus
15 percent protein diet (1.8 plus or minus 0.3 versus 2.3 plus or
minus 0.2 mmol/L, p<0.05).
Although this was a small pilot study, its results show that
increasing the protein content and decreasing the carbohydrate content
of the diet can lead to improved blood glucose control in people with
type 2 diabetes, according to Dr. Gannon.
She also pointed out that the subjects' weight was stable throughout
the entire study. "We considered this a critical aspect of the
study design, because our primary goal was to determine the effect of
the diet, without the confounding effect of weight loss or weight
gain."
Based on the weight stability and dietary compliance, the metabolic
changes that occurred following five weeks on the high protein diet
can be attributed to the increase in protein and/or decrease in
carbohydrate content of the diet, rather than to any confounding
factors, the researchers concluded.
The study
was funded in part by the Minnesota, Colorado, and Nebraska Beef
Councils.
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FACT
Nationally,
7.2 percent of the population is diabetic or in a pre-diabetic
condition, according to the National Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
The
CDC estimates that by the year 2010 between 18 and 20 million
Americans will be either pre- or wholly diabetic. That translates to
some 40 million Americans with abnormal blood sugars.
Overall
the condition is the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S., the
third highest cause of accidental death.
