Atkins succeeds where GI fails (again)
Some time ago I had another gripe about the failure of the GI diet to control blood sugar in diabetics. If you or a relative have diabetes and are following this diet to control your blood sugar, you need to think again. The airheads who push this diet on the public as some sort of panacea need a lesson in endocrinology.
Someone posted a link to this on the LCHF yahoo group a couple of days ago. It’s an article about a study comparing the usefulness of a low carbohydrate ketogenic diet compared to a low GI calorie restricted diet in the treatment of diabetes:
At the end of the first three months of the study, the the mean HgbA1c for the LCKD [low carb ketogenic diet] group who saw a greater improvement when it dropped from 8.7% (1.8) to 7.1% (1.2) while the LGID [low GI calorie restricted diet] group only fell from 8.0% (1.8) to 7.5% (1.7).
Additionally, weight loss in the LCKD group was 8.3 kg in the first three months while the LGID group lost 5.6 kg.
Regarding diabetic medication usage rates at the conclusion of the study, Dr. Westman found that 79 percent of the LCKD group had either greatly reduced or eliminated their need for drugs to manage their diabetes compared with 66 percent of the LGID group. Diabetes Treatment Shocker: The Atkins Diet
This has to be the biggest understatement of the year:
“Sadly, confusion generated in the media over the past couple of years by competing business interests has misled Americans and caregivers,” Dr. Vernon said. “As a result many have turned away from what is likely the most effective means to not only control diabetes with fewer medical interventions and reduced medications, but actually reverse the course of the epidemic: The Atkins Diet.” Dr Mary C. Vernon
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