http://www.nutritionandmetabolism.com/content/2/1/34

William S Yancy Jr , Marjorie Foy , Allison M Chalecki , Mary C Vernon and Eric C Westman

Nutrition & Metabolism 2005, 2:34 doi:10.1186/1743-7075-2-34

Published 1 December 2005
Abstract (provisional)
Background

The low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet (LCKD) may be effective for improving glycemia and reducing medications in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Methods

From an outpatient clinic, we recruited 28 overweight participants with type 2 diabetes for a 16-week, single-arm, pilot diet intervention trial. We provided LCKD counseling, with an initial goal of <20 g carbohydrate/day, while reducing diabetes medication dosages at diet initiation. Participants returned every other week for measurements, counseling, and further medication adjustment. The primary outcome was hemoglobin A1c.

Results

Twenty-one of the 28 participants who were enrolled completed the study. Twenty participants were men; 13 were White, 8 were African-American. The mean [+ SD] age was 56.0 + 7.9 years and BMI was 42.2 + 5.8 kg/m2. Hemoglobin A1c decreased by 16% from 7.5 + 1.4% to 6.3 + 1.0% (p<0.001) from baseline to week 16. Diabetes medications were discontinued in 7 participants, reduced in 10 participants, and unchanged in 4 participants. The mean body weight decreased by 6.6% from 131.4 + 18.3 kg to 122.7 + 18.9 kg (p<0.001). In linear regression analyses, weight change at 16 weeks did not predict change in hemoglobin A1c. Fasting serum triglyceride decreased 42% from 2.69 + 2.87 mmol/L to 1.57 + 1.38 mmol/L (p=0.001) while other serum lipid measurements did not change significantly.

Conclusions

The LCKD improved glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes such that diabetes medications were discontinued or reduced in most participants. Because the LCKD can be very effective at lowering blood glucose, patients on diabetes medication who use this diet should be under close medical supervision or capable of adjusting their medication.

Erik Westman is the doc that did the VA study. Dr Yancy has been a proponent for a while.

Great to see this kind of article. Small group, too many men, and short term, but it's a start!

Yet another study spending tons of $$$ whose outcome we could have all predicted.

I guess on the other-hand -- doctors have to do these studies to prove what we already know to other "health experts".

To me, this was the important part of the study. The improvement in A1c was not due to the weight loss. One of the arguments thrown out by the high carb proponents when health markers improve on low carb is that it is the weight loss that caused the improvement, not the reduction in carbs. In this study, the researchers showed that the A1c reduction was not due to the weight loss.

I could have told them that. Between May and September when I started low carbing, I lost about 20 pounds. However, my A1C dropped from 11.8 to 5.3 during that time, about half of which I was off medications. My doctor asked me what I was doing because he had never seen an A1C reading drop that fast in such a short period of time. Keep in mind that A1C measures average blood sugar readings for the past 30-90 days, so I dropped into the normal range with my blood sugars fairly fast after starting low carbing.