my personal edition > diabetes > news


  E-Mail this DGDispatch to a colleague

DGDispatch

High Protein Diet Helps Control Blood Glucose in Untreated Type 2 Diabetics: Presented at EASD

By Thomas S. May
Special to DG News

BUDAPEST, HUNGARY -- September 5, 2002 -- Switching to a high protein diet, in which 30 percent of calories are derived from proteins (instead of 15 percent) may improve glucose control in untreated patients with type 2 diabetes.

The findings were presented here September 4^th at the 38^th annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD).

Dr. Mary C. Gannon, of the University of Minnesota, Minnesota, United States, and colleagues enrolled 11 patients (nine men, two women) with untreated type 2 diabetes in a randomised study with a crossover design. The patients were required to eat a diet consisting of 15 percent protein for a period of five weeks, followed by a diet containing 30 percent protein for the next five weeks, or vice versa.

The diet contained either 40 percent carbohydrates (high protein condition) or 55 percent carbohydrates (low protein condition). Fat content was kept at a constant 30 percent during both five-week periods. Dietary compliance was determined by measuring the urine urea/creatinine ratio twice a week throughout the trial.

Fasting glucose concentrations were measured after each of the two five-week periods and were found to be relatively constant (mean = 6.3 plus or minus 0.3 mmol/L). However, the 24-hour integrated total glucose area under the curve decreased by 7 percent (from 187 plus or minus 12.5 to 174 plus or minus 7.4 mmol.hr/L) following five weeks on the high protein diet. Furthermore, the overnight fasting triglyceride concentration significantly decreased following the 30 percent versus 15 percent protein diet (1.8 plus or minus 0.3 versus 2.3 plus or minus 0.2 mmol/L, p<0.05).

Although this was a small pilot study, its results show that increasing the protein content and decreasing the carbohydrate content of the diet can lead to improved blood glucose control in people with type 2 diabetes, according to Dr. Gannon.

She also pointed out that the subjects' weight was stable throughout the entire study. "We considered this a critical aspect of the study design, because our primary goal was to determine the effect of the diet, without the confounding effect of weight loss or weight gain."

Based on the weight stability and dietary compliance, the metabolic changes that occurred following five weeks on the high protein diet can be attributed to the increase in protein and/or decrease in carbohydrate content of the diet, rather than to any confounding factors, the researchers concluded.

The study was funded in part by the Minnesota, Colorado, and Nebraska Beef Councils.

E-Mail this DGDispatch to a colleague

To print, use this version