More than one third of all adults living in the United States over the age of 20 are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Obesity is a primary risk factor for another common chronic disease, type 2 diabetes. Weight loss is an important component of type 2 diabetes management. Even losing 5 percent of your body weight is enough to see a difference in your blood sugar levels, the Mayo Clinic reports. However, losing 5 percent of your weight isn't always easy. A low-carbohydrate diet may help you lose weight and improve your blood sugar levels.
Atkins Diet
The Atkins Diet may have been the original low-carb diet, originating in the 1970s by the physician Dr. Robert Atkins, Vanderbilt University reports. Since then, it's become very popular among dieters as a way to drop pounds without counting calories. The Atkins Diet advises its followers to eat large quantities of protein and limiting carbohydrates such as fruits, grains and dairy. Guenther Boden of the Temple University School of Medicine put the Atkins diet to the test by giving obese type 2 diabetic patients a very low-carb diet. After just two weeks, the low carb dieters lost about 4 lbs. and improved their blood glucose management. The results were published in the March 2005 issue of "Annals of Internal Medicine."
Paleo Diet
The Paleo diet is an eating plan modeled after the people that lived in the Paleolithic hunter-gatherer era of humanity. The diet forbids consumption of modern day foods like sweets, processed food and grains. Paleo dieters are instructed to eat plenty of fish, vegetables, legumes, fruit and meat. A July 2009 research study published in "Cardiovascular Diabetology" compared the effects of a Paleo Diet to a Mediterranean Diet over six months. Led by Lund University's Tommy Jonsson, the Paleo dieters lost significantly more weight and reduced their blood glucose levels more than the Mediterranean dieters.
ADA Diet
The American Diabetes Association diet is an eating plan that emphasizes eating low-fat, fibrous foods. Fresh produce forms the foundation of the ADA eating plan, especially non-starchy vegetables like broccoli, kale and tomatoes. When following the diet, diabetics should eat fatty fish like salmon at least twice per week. Fatty fish like salmon and tuna are rich in omega-3 fats which may aid in blood sugar management and decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease.
References
- CDC: Obesity and Overweight
- MayoClinic.com: The Scale, Friend or Foe?
- Cardiovascular Diabetology: Beneficial effects of a Paleolithic diet on cardiovascular risk factors in type 2 diabetes: a randomized cross-over pilot study
- MayoClinic.com: Low-Carb Diet
- Vanderbilt University: The Atkins Diet--Is It All Its Cracked up to Be?
- Annals of Internal Medicine: Effect of a Low-Carbohydrate Diet on Appetite, Blood Glucose Levels, and Insulin Resistance in Obese Patients with Type 2 Diabetes
