In the clinical trial, whose results are now being published in the journal Annals of Medicine, a low-carbohydrate diet was compared with a traditional low-fat diet in 61 patients with type 2 diabetes. Only patients in the low-carbohydrate group exhibited reduced levels of inflammatory markers in blood, despite the fact that weight loss was similar in both groups.
The trial was conducted over a two-year period and was led by Dr Hans Guldbrand and Professor Fredrik H Nyström. The effects on blood glucose, blood lipids and weight were recently published in the journal Diabetologia 2012. To examine the effects of diets on inflammation they have, in collaboration with cardiologist Professor Lena Jonasson, analysed the level of inflammation in the blood. It is known that patients with type 2 diabetes have higher levels of inflammation than those who do not have the disease, and it is believed that this may contribute to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and other complications.
The patients were randomly assigned to a low-carbohydrate diet or a traditional low-fat diet and were given menu suggestions and advice by a dietician during three occasions of the first year.
Inflammatory markers in the blood were analysed in the beginning of the study. Compared with healthy individuals without diabetes, the patients exhibited significantly higher levels. New analyses were performed after six months, i.e. when adherence to the two diets was greatest and the weight loss had reached maximum. Weight reduction in both groups was similar, around 4 kg, whereas glucose levels decreased more in the low-carbohydrate group. After six months, inflammation was significantly reduced in the low-carbohydrate group while no changes were observed in the low-fat diet group.
In summary, the clinical trial resulted in a similar weight loss comparing low-carbohydrate diet and low-fat diet, but only the low-carbohydrate diet had a favourable impact on inflammation in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Article: Advice to follow a low-carbohydrate diet has a favourable impact on low-grade inflammation in type 2 diabetes compared with advice to follow a low-fat diet by L Jonasson, H Gullbrand, A K Lundberg and F Nyström. Annals of Medicine May 2014 Vol. 46, No. 3 (doi:10.3109/07853890.2014.894286).Related links
Lena Jonasson http://www.hu.liu.se/forskning/lena-jonasson?l=en&sc=true
Fredrik Nyström http://www.imh.liu.se/kardiovaskular-medicin/staff/fredrik-nystrom?l=en&sc=true
Åke Hjelm 2014-05-06