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McGhori
A low-calorie diet cannot only improve obesity in type 2 diabetics, but may also allow for discontinued use of insulin.
Consuming a low-calorie diet can significantly improve heart function in people who suffer from type 2 diabetes. According to a new study recently presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America, following a calorie-restricted diet for just four months allowed obese diabetics to successfully discontinue the use of insulin.
In fact, 75 percent of these diabetes patients were able to remain insulin-free for more than one year, despite having returned to consumption of their regular diets.
In a news release, lead study author Dr. Sebastiaan Hammer, of Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands, acknowledged, “Our results show that 16 weeks of caloric restriction improved heart function in these patients…. More importantly, despite regain of weight, these beneficial cardiovascular effects were persistent over the long term.”
For their study Dr. Hammer and colleagues measured the body-mass index (BMI) of 15 obese, type 2 diabetes patients, and then used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to evaluate the heart function and pericardial fat of each. (Previous studies have linked pericardial fat to cardiac function, especially among patients having metabolic disease).
The group of study participants included seven men and eight women who followed a 500-calorie-per-day diet for a period of four months. Marked improvement was seen in the patients’ diabetes immediately after starting the diet.
Dr. Hammer noted that the patients were able to discontinue their insulin use on the first day of the diet due to the reduced load of carbohydrates. He stated, “For the first days, coming off insulin is an effect of the diet itself.” He then added, “But afterward, it is an effect of losing weight.”
After the four-month study period, the participants once again had BMI measured and underwent MRIs. The findings revealed that on average, pericardial fat decreased from 39 milliliters (ml) to 31 ml, and BMI dropped from 35.3 to 27.5, a measurement that is below the level of statistical obesity, which begins at a BMI of 30.
Findings also indicated that diastolic heart function decreased to more healthy levels. Having poor diastolic heart function, which refers to the point of the heart beat during which the ventricles are filling with blood, can lead to the development of congestive heart failure.
The heart healthy benefits continued even after an additional 14 months of follow-up, during which time the study participants had returned to consuming a regular diet.
While the average BMI had increased to 31.7, the pericardial fat had only increased to 32 ml. Only four of the patients had returned to insulin use by the end of the 18-month study period.
Dr. Hammer pointed out that although the results of the study indicate that an extremely calorie-restrictive diet for the short term could be more beneficial to the heart health of diabetes patients than medication, people who are obese are not advised to attempt such a dietary change without medical supervision. He also cautioned that such a calorie restriction diet is not recommended for those with kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, or other disorders.
Posted in: HEALTH
