American Diabetes Association Endorses Low-Carb for Type 2s

A landmark decision this week—the American Diabetes Association (ADA) has decided to back low-carb diets for type 2 diabetics.

Diabetes.co.uk reported the announcement this week. The charity has produced a report, ‘Nutrition Therapy for Adults with Diabetes or Prediabetes: A Consensus Report (Consensus Report)‘, published in the journal Diabetes Care.

Last year, the ADA acknowledged the low-carb approached as beneficial for treating type 2 diabetes. The new report goes further, stating that diabetes-focused nutrition therapy is a crucial part of overall diabetes management.

Previous high-carb recommendations

Previous dietary guidelines have focused on high-carb diets for people with or without diabetes.

The report says: “Reducing overall carbohydrate intake for individuals with diabetes has demonstrated the most evidence for improving glycemia and may be applied In a variety of eating patterns that meet individual needs and requirements.

“For select adults with type 2 diabetes not meeting glycemic targets or where reducing antiglycemic mediations is a priority, reducing overall carbohydrate intake with low- or very low-carbohydrate eating plans is a viable approach.”

Non-starchy vegetables

The report also says it is important to eat non-starchy vegetables, minimise the intake of added sugars and refined grains, and choosing whole foods instead of highly-processed foods.

As one of the authors of the paper, Dr Laura Saslow from the University of Michigan was also the author of a research paper published last year which revealed that 26 percent of users of Diabetes Digital Media’s Low Carb Programme put their type 2 diabetes into remission after a year. Remission was defined as reducing HbA1c to normal levels while taking no glucose-lowering medications or just metformin.

If you’re a low-carb enthusiast (type 2 diabetes or not), you’ll find lots of recipe ideas on this website and you can also buy our book, The Diabetes Diet as a paperback or e-book on Amazon. The book has recipes, meal plans and suggestions for how to adjust insulin when starting on a low-carb eating plan.