In a study published in the journal Nutrition, Wendy Pogozelski, Distinguished Teaching Professor and chair of Geneseo’s Department of Chemistry, describes evidence from clinical and experimental studies that supports a carbohydrate-restriction approach to treatment of type 2 diabetes.
According to the study, evidence in favor of a low-carbohydrate diet as a first line of attack on the disease is so overwhelming that waiting for results from long-term randomized clinical trials on the effectiveness of such an approach could heighten the incidence of the disease.
Pogozelski and her co-authors contend the evidence merits a re-evaluation of current recommendations for treating diabetes, already at epidemic levels in the United States. The second lead author on the study is Richard Feinman, professor of cell biology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center. A group of 24 additional physicians and researchers from around the world are co-authors of the publication.
“My co-authors and I believe that resistance to carbohydrate restriction is partly due to the erroneous belief that high fat intake is more detrimental than high carbohydrate intake,” Pogozelski says. “Reducing fat leads patients to compensate with the intake of more carbohydrates, which we now see has exacerbated the diabetes problem, leading to less glycemic control, more complications and increased and oftentimes unnecessary treatment through medication.”
The authors of the study recommend that government or private health agencies conduct open hearings on the carbohydrate restriction approach in the treatment of diabetes.