Nov 8, 2013 - Correspondence to: Dr D Unwin, The Norwood Surgery,. 11 Norwood Ave, Southport PR9 7EG, UK; email: david.u
Practice point
Low carbohydrate diet to achieve weight loss and improve HbA1c in type 2 diabetes and pre-diabetes: experience from one general practice Dr David Unwin FRCGP, Principal in General Practice, The Norwood Surgery, Southport, UK
Dr Jen Unwin FBPsS, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Southport & Ormskirk NHS Trust, UK
Correspondence to: Dr D Unwin, The Norwood Surgery, 11 Norwood Ave, Southport PR9 7EG, UK; email:
[email protected] Received: 8 November 2013 Accepted in revised form: 6 January 2014
Abstract
Patients with diabetes have long been exhorted to give up sugar, encouraged instead to take in fuel as complex carbohydrate such as the starch found in bread, rice or pasta (especially if ‘wholemeal’). However, bread has a higher glycaemic index than table sugar itself. There are no essential nutrients in starchy foods and people with diabetes struggle to deal with the glycaemic load they bring. The authors question why carbohydrate need form a major part of the diet at all. The central goal of achieving substantial weight loss has tended to be overlooked. The current pilot study explores the results of a low carbohydrate diet for a case series of 19 type 2 diabetes and pre-diabetes patients over an eight-month period in a suburban general practice. A low carbohydrate diet was observed to bring about major benefits. Blood glucose control improved (HbA1c 51±14 to 40±4mmol/mol; p42mmol/mol); even these two had seen an average drop of 23.9mmol/mol. Weight fell from 100.2±16.4 to 91.0±17.1kg (p
