Low glycemic index diet reduces body fat and attenuates inflammatory and metabolic responses in patients with type 2 diabetes

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to verify the effects of glycemic index (GI) on body composition, and on inflammatory and metabolic markers concentrations in patients with type 2 diabetes. Subjects and methods: In this randomized controlled parallel trial, twenty subjects (aged 42.4 ± 5.1 years, BMI 29.2 ± 4.8 kg.m -2 ) were allocated to low GI (LGI) (n = 10) or high GI (HGI) (n = 10) groups. Body composition, inflammatory and metabolic markers were assessed at baseline and after 30 days of intervention. Food intake was monitored during the study using three-day food records completed on two non-consecutive weekdays and on a weekend day. Results: Body fat reduced after the LGI intervention compared with baseline (P = 0.043) and with the HGI group (P = 0.036). Serum fructosamine concentration (P = 0.031) and TNF-α mRNA expression (P = 0.05) increased in the HGI group. Serum non-esterified fatty acids were greater in the HGI than in the LGI group (P = 0.032). IL-6 mRNA expression tended to decrease after the consumption of the LGI diet compared to baseline (P = 0.06). Conclusion: The LGI diet reduced body fat and prevented the negative metabolic and inflammatory responses induced by the HGI diet. Arch Endocrinol Metab. 2017;61(2):137-44.

The Effect of a Low GI Diet on Truncal Fat Mass and Glycated Hemoglobin in South Indians with Type 2 Diabetes—A Single Centre Randomized Prospective Study

“…A study conducted by Gomes [21] showed that consuming a low GI diet for 30 days in overweight patients with type 2 diabetes caused a significant reduction of approximately 2% in body fat. In the present study, there was a reduction of 2.9% body fat in the LGI group, which showed a greater reduction in our study population compared to the above study.…”

Food groups in dietary prevention of type 2 diabetes

“…In study by Jenkins et al [23] low-GI diet over 6-month period in type 2 diabetic participants resulted in lower HbA1c levels and higher HDL levels in blood. In randomized study by Gomes et al [24], low-GI diet over 1-month period in type 2 diabetic participants resulted in slightly reduced inflammatory response (by lower levels of IL-6 mRNA and TNF-α mRNA expressions) and reduced body fat. Randomized study by Ma et al [25] also indicates that low-GI diet can be an alternative to American Diabetic Association (ADA) dietary guidelines in diabetes management, as it was just as good in controlling HbA1c levels with concomitant less diabetic medication than in participants with ADA diet.…”

Relevance of the Glycemic Index and Glycemic Load for Body Weight, Diabetes, and Cardiovascular Disease

“…Several dietary interventions were designed to compare low GI or GL diets with their high GI or GL counterparts using crossover [ 18 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 ] or parallel [ 24 , 38 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 ] randomized designs ( Table 7 ). Among these studies, those with a crossover design were shorter in duration (10 days to 5 weeks per intervention phase), whereas parallel design interventions ranged from 45 days to 12 months in duration.…”

“…Among these studies, those with a crossover design were shorter in duration (10 days to 5 weeks per intervention phase), whereas parallel design interventions ranged from 45 days to 12 months in duration. Studies included adults with type 2 diabetes [ 66 , 67 , 68 , 70 ], healthy adults with diverse weight status [ 65 ], or overweight and/or obese but otherwise healthy adults [ 18 , 24 , 38 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 69 ]. Reports from interventions involving nutrition education in which the use of GI was compared to current dietary recommendations for patients with type 2 diabetes (e.g., American Diabetic Association guidelines [ 71 ]) were excluded from this review because participants in different treatment arms were given different diet recommendations, which resulted in diets with multiple incomparable factors aside from the GI or GL of the diet.…”