[Radii]

Originally Posted by CrescentMoonie

Low carb diets are garbage.

If you claim that lowering carbohydrate totals is universally garbage... again, for type 2 diabetics, then you are just proving yourself to be truly ignorant.

The case for low carbohydrate diets in diabetes management

This article references 88 studies done on low carb diets as it relates to diabetes, glycemic control, insulin resistance, and cardiovascular disease.

Postprandial hyperglycemia is a risk factor for CVD, particularly in diabetic patients. Many studies including the Nurses Health Study [36] have suggested a link between dietary carbohydrates (measured in terms of glycemic load) and CVD risk. Furthermore, control of postprandial hyperglycemia has been shown to provide cardiovascular benefits, and to contribute to the overall decrease of hemoglobin A1c, something that has been clearly shown to reduce microvascular disease in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Dietary carbohydrates are the major determinants of postprandial glucose levels and LoCHO diets have been reported to lower postprandial glucose levels directly and indirectly by way of weight loss and may have beneficial effects on CVD risk factors. Significant reductions in postprandial plasma glucose and plasma insulin levels with LoCHO diet have been demonstrated in many studies. Furthermore, control of postprandial hyperglycemia with acarbose, an α-glucosidase inhibitor, has been demonstrated to significantly decrease the risk of diabetes in patients with impaired glucose tolerance.

Boden et al. demonstrated significant improvement in insulin sensitivity, up to 75%, with a low carbohydrate diet as measured by euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp method [9]. In another study [29], significant decreases in insulin to glucose ratio were seen in the LoCHO group suggesting improved insulin sensitivity, especially in subjects with insulin resistance and higher baseline insulin levels. Similar improvement in insulin sensitivity was reported by Gannon, et al [45]. In the studies by Samaha et al. [10] and by Foster et al [8], carbohydrate restriction was associated with a significant increase in insulin sensitivity at 6 months (measured only in non-diabetic subjects) although the difference between the low fat and low carbohydrate groups was not statistically significant at 1 year [27]. Notably, again, these studies allowed increasing carbohydrate in the LoCHO group with time thereby reducing the effectiveness of this group. Reduction in visceral obesity and omental fat may be important since LoCHO diets have been reported to reduce fat mass including truncal fat over long term in many studies. Finally, a recent study showed that effectiveness of low carbohydrate diets was more visible in a group that was insulin-resistant

Conclusion:

Low carbohydrate diet compares more favorably, at least over the short term, to traditional low fat for improving glycemic control, insulin sensitivity and dyslipidemia of diabetes with reduction in triglycerides, increase in HDL cholesterol and modification of LDL to less atherogenic form. The need of the hour is to accept the benefits of carbohydrate restriction with reservation and to establish guidelines for its use, especially emphasizing use of mono and polyunsaturated fats as the way to achieve caloric balance since these have been inversely linked with CVD risk in various studies.