>
> NEW YORK, Jan 04 (Reuters Health)
>
> A low-carbohydrate, calorie-restricted diet can help people with
> type 2 diabetes get their blood sugar under
> control when standard dietary changes and drug treatment have failed,
> according to California researchers. At least in the short run, the diet
may
> help patients avoid having to take insulin to control their disease.
>
> After 8 weeks on a diet with 25% of calories from carbohydrates,
> type 2 diabetics had a significant improvement in blood sugar levels
> compared to those seen with a diet with 55% of calories from
carbohydrates,
> the authors report in the December issue of the Journal of the American
> College of Nutrition.
>
> Of the 28 patients in the study, 9 were treated with a standard diet
> containing 55% carbohydrates, and 19 with
> sulfonylurea agents, but none of the subjects were able to achieve target
> glucose levels with those therapies, according
> to Dr. Lois Jovanovic and colleagues at Sansum Medical Research
> Foundation in Santa Barbara, California.
>
> After 8 weeks on the 25% diet, the subjects had a drop in hemoglobin A1c,
a
> marker for blood sugar control. When placed on the 55% carbohydrate diet
for
> another 12 weeks, hemoglobin A1c increased, a marker of worsening blood
> sugar control.
>
> Patients who had previously taken sulfonylurea drugs also lost
> weight while on the 25% diet, but the benefits of the diet were not
> dependent on this loss, according to the report.
>
> The benefit of insulin treatment in type 2 diabetes is controversial
> and the data "suggest that dietary therapy may
> sustain remission for an interim and allow the reintroduction of oral
> hypoglycemic therapy in the event that low-carbohydrate diet therapy alone
> is not successful," the authors note.
>
> Sources: Journal of the American College of Nutrition
> 1998;17:595-600.
>
>
>
>
> NEW YORK, Feb 18 (Reuters Health)
> The extremely carbohydrate-restricted Atkins diet is a safe,
> effective way to lose weight, according to studies
> presented at the Southern Society of General Internal Medicine in New
> Orleans.
>
> A study of the diet conducted at the Durham VA Medical Center in
> North Carolina showed that on average, mildly obese people lost about 21
> pounds in four months on the diet, and had positive changes in heart risk
> factors such as
> reduced cholesterol and increased HDL or "good cholesterol." These
> results are supported by a second study from
> researchers at the Atkins Center for Complementary Medicine in New York.
>
> The Durham study included 41 mildly obese, healthy people who attended an
> outpatient clinic. The study participants followed a program that reduced
> carbohydrate intake to less than 20 grams per day, and included vitamin
> supplements, fish oil supplements and 20 minutes of exercise at least
three
> times per week.
>
> Over four months on the diet, the participants lost an average of
> 21.3 pounds, and showed a 6.1% drop in cholesterol, and almost a 40% drop
in
> the level of triglycerides in their blood. In addition, their HDL levels
> increased by about 7%.
>
> In a press release, the researchers also say that their study did
> not find any of the safety concerns voiced by the
> American Dietetic Association, such as potentially dangerous effects on
> liver and kidney function.
> "In four short months on the Atkins Diet, we were able to confirm
> scientifically what Dr. Atkins states he has seen in his practice over the
> past decades. The diet lowers cholesterol and triglycerides and raises
> HDL... which may represent an entirely new approach to the control and
> prevention of heart disease," said lead researcher Dr. Eric C.Westman,
> assistant professor of medicine at North Carolina's Duke University.
>
> The study is continuing in order to assess the long-term effects of
> the diet. By J. Raloff,
>
>
> http://home.beseen.com/healthcare/lowcarbing/News_Research.html
http://lowcarber.org/lowcarb.html
> You are a disgrace!
> Julie Westly
> Sioux City, Iowa
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