GASTRONOMIC AND ATOMIC ISRAEL RESEARCH ON 3 POPULAR DIETS LOW CARB LOW FAT DIFFERING RESULTS IN DIABETES

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It's gastronomic as well as atomic! Israeli researchers at the Israel Nuclear Investigation Facility compared results in a group of workers for 3 types of well know diets and found differing results between men, women and people with diabetes. Which diet works and which is better for you? Which diet works better for people with diabetes? The Mediterranean Diet seemed to have a greater impact on fasting blood sugar than the other diets. But on the other hand, Hemoglobin A1c which is a measure of blood sugar over a longer time interval was lower in the Low Carbohydrate Diet group for people with diabetes.







In the 2 year trial published in the New England Journal, diet researchers randomly assigned 322 moderately obese people to one of three diets: low-fat, restricted-calorie; Mediterranean, Restricted Calorie; or Low Carbohydrate, non–restricted-calorie. The three types of diets were a Low Fat diet with about 30 percent fat, based on the American Heart Association guidelines; a Mediterranean diet; and a Low Carbohydrate diet based on the Atkins diet plan. The study was partly financed by the Atkins Research Foundation.

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The Mediterranean-diet group consumed the largest amounts of dietary fiber and had the highest ratio of monounsaturated to saturated fat. The low carbohydrate group consumed the smallest amount of carbohydrates and the largest amounts of fat, protein, and cholesterol and had the highest percentage of participants with detectable urinary ketones. Men did better on the Low-Carbohydrate diets, losing 11 pounds compared with about 9 pounds for the Mediterranean diet. Women fared best on the Mediterranean diet, with women losing about 14 pounds compared with about 5 pounds on the low-carbohydrate plan. Also people with diabetes had lower blood sugar on the Mediterranean Diet but the Hemoglobin A1C went down more on the Low Carb Diet.

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"People on low-carb diets saw the greatest improvements in their HDL cholesterol and in a key ratio of total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol that is used to assess cardiac risk. That ratio fell 20% in low-carb dieters, 16% in those on a Mediterranean diet and 11.5% in low-fat dieters. Every 1% decline in the ratio represents a 2% drop in overall odds of developing cardiovascular disease, said lead author Dr. Iris Shai of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, which also funded the study. "It is easy to identify the enemy -- it is bread, potatoes, pasta and rice," she said".



"Although the study ended in June 2007, participants are being tracked to see how well they follow their diets without special workplace meals and counseling, Shai said. Kelly Brownell, director of the Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders, who was not involved in the study, said that it should not be taken as a victory for low-carb diets because the people on the Mediterranean diet showed similar benefits. They also had an easier time maintaining their weight loss during the course of the study, he said".

"Among the 36 participants with diabetes only those in the Mediterranean-diet group had a decrease in fasting plasma glucose (blood sugar) levels, this change was significantly different from the increase in plasma glucose levels among participants with diabetes in the low-fat group. There was no significant change in plasma glucose (blood sugar) level among the participants without diabetes



In contrast, insulin levels decreased significantly in participants with diabetes and in those without diabetes in all diet groups, with no significant differences among groups in the amount of decrease. Among the participants with diabetes, the proportion of glycated hemoglobin (hemoglobian A1C) at 24 months decreased by 0.4±1.3% in the low-fat group, 0.5±1.1% in the Mediterranean-diet group, and 0.9±0.8% in the low-carbohydrate group. The changes in the Hemoglobin A1C were significant only in the low-carbohydrate group.








"The similar caloric deficit achieved in all diet groups suggests that a low-carbohydrate, non–restricted-calorie diet may be optimal for those who will not follow a restricted-calorie dietary regimen. The increasing improvement in levels of some biomarkers over time up to the 24-month point, despite the achievement of maximum weight loss by 6 months, suggests that a diet with a healthful composition has benefits beyond weight reduction".

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