July 25, 2023 – Losing weight is An essential part the treatment of type 2 diabetes – it could help lower blood sugar and reduce the necessity for some diabetes medications. To shed the additional kilos, recent research published Monday shows that intermittent fasting is an efficient solution to burn calories for individuals with Type 2 diabetes.
Intermittent fasting refers to eating only inside a limited time window. In this study, presented on the annual conference of the American Society of Nutrition, patients on this group were only allowed to eat between noon and eight p.m. day by day – a practice also often called time-restricted eating – with a one-hour grace period. The people within the Calorie restriction The first group was asked to cut back their calorie intake by 25%, and the control group continued to eat as usual.
In total, the outcomes included 57 obese and obese individuals with Type 2 diabetes which were randomly assigned to the person groups.
After six months, participants within the intermittent fasting group lost about 4.3% of their body weight—reminiscent of a weight reduction of about 4.5 kg for a 104 kg person—and participants within the calorie restriction group lost about 2.5% of their body weight.
Statistical evaluation showed no significant difference between the 2 groups by way of weight reduction. This implies that one eating regimen method just isn't necessarily higher than the opposite.
“We should not think that this approach is better than calorie restriction,” said Dr. William Yancy, an internist and weight management specialist on the Duke Lifestyle and Weight Management Center in Durham, North Carolina. “It's an alternative approach to calorie restriction.”
The reason for the small percentage difference could also be that low-calorie diets are likely to be harder to follow and other people have probably tried to chop calories before, says study writer Vasiliki Pavlou, a registered dietitian within the Chicago area.
“People with type 2 diabetes have already been to the doctor and have already been told to count calories,” said Pavlou, a doctoral student on the University of Illinois Chicago. There were many weeks, she said, when study participants didn't log their eating regimen as instructed, and “we would have to encourage them to start again.”
Adhering to the eating regimen appeared to be a much bigger problem for the calorie-restricted group—a couple of third didn't stay inside 200 calories of the goal, in accordance with Pavlou. The intermittent fasting group reported adhering to the eating regimen 6 out of seven days every week.
That meant the fasting group saved about 100 calories more per day than the calorie-restricted group, which was reflected of their weight reduction, Pavlou said.
A1c The scores—a measure of an individual's average blood sugar levels over time—fell by about 1% in each the intermittent fasting group and the calorie-restricted group.
Up to 90% of individuals with type 2 diabetes are obese or obese, and losing a few pounds is a important part of careStudies have shown that even a 5% weight reduction can lower blood sugar, and Remission of type 2 diabetes can occur after a weight reduction of 10% – but this will depend on the person.
“It depends on the person, their metabolic situation, how long they've had diabetes, what treatment approach they're taking and what medications they may be taking,” Yancy said. “There are many different factors that play a role in remission.”
For the best person, intermittent fasting could work well — but it surely will depend on the person's eating habits and whether their meals often fall outside the time-restricted window, or how well the person follows rules, Yancy says.
“Some people don't eat much after 8 a.m. and some people skip breakfast,” he said. “And if that's the case, it probably won't have a big impact on their weight.”
The people within the study generally had advanced type 2 diabetes and were taking various medications, so the outcomes will not be applicable to individuals who have only recently been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
It's also essential to think about the impact of eating regimen on medications. Not eating may be dangerous for patients taking short-acting insulin or sulfonylureas, Yancy said.
These results show that intermittent fasting is an alternative choice for patients with type 2 diabetes who are attempting to shed extra pounds. “If you've tried counting calories and it's not working for you or if you're kind of burned out, this is something you could try,” he said.