Millions of readers rely on HelpGuide for free, evidence-based resources to understand and navigate mental health challenges. Please donate today to help us protect, support, and save lives. But you do need to pay attention to some of your food choices—most notably the carbohydrates you eat. While following a Mediterranean or other heart-healthy diet can help with this, the most important thing you can do is to lose a little weight. Losing weight and eating healthier can also have a profound effect on your mood, energy, and sense of wellbeing. People with diabetes have nearly double the risk of heart disease and are at a greater risk of developing mental health disorders such as depression. But most cases of type 2 diabetes are preventable and some can even be reversed.
It remains uncertain which diet is best for people with type 2 diabetes T2D. We compared the effects of dietary carbohydrate restriction with fat restriction on markers of metabolic syndrome and quality of life in people with T2D. Two investigators independently selected studies, extracted data, and assessed risk of bias. Glycated hemoglobin declined more in people who consumed low-carbohydrate food than in those who consumed low-fat food in the short term MD: —1. At 1 y, the MD was reduced to —0. There is low to high majority moderate certainty for small improvements of unclear clinical importance in plasma glucose, triglycerides, and HDL concentrations favoring low-carbohydrate food at half of the prespecified time points. There was little to no difference in LDL concentration or any of the secondary outcomes body weight, waist circumference, blood pressure, quality of life in response to either of the diets very-low- to high-certainty evidence.
Unclear risk performance bias, attrition bias The heterogeneity between studies for fasting HDL cholesterol was fully attributable to the slight reduction in HDL cholesterol in response to low-carbohydrate food in 2 of the studies 67, What does Dr. Individual insulin levels were tested before weight loss to determine the relationship between insulin secretion and diet, as predicted by the carbohydrate-insulin model. Jones, 77 not included in results; see Supplemental Table 4. Hemoglobin A1c HbA1c is a form of hemoglobin a blood pigment that carries oxygen that is bound to glucose. Enjoy dairy in moderation. Weight loss with a low-carbohydrate, Mediterranean, or low-fat diet. Fasting plasma glucose; HbA1c; mean amplitude of glycemic excursions; mean h urine loss of glucose; insulin requirement exogenous.