Popular weight loss diet increases risk of type 2 diabetes by 20%
A low-carb, high-fat diet that is good for weight loss also increases the risk of type 2 diabetes by 20%. The research team argues that it is more important to maintain a balanced diet.
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Type 2 diabetes as an epidemic?
The prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) continues to grow gradually worldwide, despite public health measures. The link between the lack of a culture of eating behavior and the risk of T2DM has long been known, but what effect does the consumption of a low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet have on T2DM? To this question researchers from Monash and RMIT universities responded in Melbourne as part of a large-scale long-term study.
We know that the high-carbohydrate diet, which is quite common in the world, is harmful to the body. Such products contain little fiber, are rich in refined sugars, and lead to weight gain. Moreover, highly refined carbohydrates lead to increased insulin secretion and subsequent resistance to the hormone. And this entails type 2 diabetes. To date, scientists have focused only on studying a low-carbohydrate diet as a tool for controlling the general condition and / or remission in a person with type 2 diabetes. A new study shows that a low-carbohydrate diet can increase the long-term risk of type 2 diabetes due to obesity, and the reason lies in the increased consumption of fats and low-fiber foods.
Professor Barbora De Courten, from the Monash School of Medicine and the School of Health and Biomedical Sciences at RMIT, and co-author of the study.
Existing studies on the links between low-carbohydrate diets and diabetes treatment are conflicting, and most have been conducted in European and Asian populations. So the researchers obtained data from the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study (MCCS) for 39,185 adults aged 40 to 69 years. Participants were recruited into the MCCS between 1990 and 1994, then followed for 17 years.
What the study showed
Using the data they obtained, the researchers analyzed the relationship between a low-carbohydrate diet (LCD) and the incidence of type 2 diabetes later in life. The LCD index was calculated as the percentage of energy that participants got from the carbohydrates, fats, and proteins they consumed. A high LCD index corresponded to a low-carbohydrate, high-protein, high-fat diet. It would be a good idea to also take into account the role of the microbiomealso responsible for the absorption of food.
The researchers found that a low-carb, high-fat diet was positively associated with diabetes risk. Specifically, participants who got 38% of their energy from carbohydrates had a 20% greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes than participants who got 55% of their energy from carbohydrates. The scientists also found that the association between a low-carb diet and type 2 diabetes was largely mediated by obesity, with body mass index accounting for 76% of the association.
In this study, we showed that a low-carbohydrate diet may increase the long-term risk of type 2 diabetes, and this association was mediated by obesity. This is mainly due to the high fat content of the diet (especially unsaturated fat), so trying to simply stick to one diet is ill-advised. Alternatives or other dietary products should be considered.
From the research materials
The Optimal Diet for Great Well-Being
Based on the results, the researchers confirmed the importance of a balanced diet and suggested that the Mediterranean diet remains optimal for the prevention of type 2 diabetes.
A weakness of the study is that the data used was 16 years old, and the dietary data was self-reported. However, the researchers insist that the findings are valuable. These factors should be considered alongside the study’s strengths: a large sample, followed over a long period, and adjustments for many possible confounding factors.
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