The current traditional diet prescribed to diabetics involves eating half a dozen small meals spread throughout the day. Now, a new study has identified an eating protocol that may revolutionise the treatment of type-2 diabetes for many people. Researchers have found that eating three specific types of meals daily may balance blood sugar and help keep it under control.
The study was conducted by scientists from Tel Aviv University (TAU) (Israel) and published in the journal Diabetes Care. It reports that a starch-rich breakfast consumed early in the morning, coupled with a small dinner, could replace insulin injections and other diabetes medications for many diabetics.
Prof Daniela Jakubowicz, of TAU’s Sackler faculty of medicine and Wolfson Medical Center’s diabetes unit, explained, “Our research proposes shifting the starch-rich calories to the early hours of the day. This produces a glucose balance and improved glycemic control among type 2 diabetics. We believe that through this regimen it will be possible for diabetics to significantly reduce or even stop the injections of insulin, and most of anti-diabetic medications, to achieve excellent control of glucose levels.”
Those suffering from type-2 diabetes are dependent on injections of the hormone insulin which works to regulate blood sugar levels. The drug has been effective in saving lives but can have serious downsides, namely, the triggering of a vicious cycle which results in patients becoming dependent on increasingly higher doses. Weight gain and the development of cardiovascular diseases are also common in such patients.
The research has found that our metabolism and biological clock are optimised for eating in the morning and for fasting during evening and night s, when we are supposed to be asleep. “But the usual diet recommended for type 2 diabetes consists of several small meals evenly distributed throughout the day—for example, three meals and three snacks daily, including a snack before going to sleep to prevent a drop in sugar levels during the night,” added Prof Jakubowicz.
This type of diet is commonly known as the ‘6M-diet’ and researchers of this study have found that it is not effective for sugar control, requiring diabetic patients to undergo additional medication and insulin treatment. Here the vicious cycle starts, as insulin injections lead to weight gain which further increases blood sugar levels.
For the study, researchers gathered data from 29 type-2 diabetic participants after having them undergo a new ‘3M-diet’ which is more aligned to our biological clock. The data from these participants was compared to a control group who were subjected to the traditional 6M-diet. The experimental 3M-diet comprises a meal of bread, fruits and sweets in the early hours of the morning; a substantial lunch; and a small dinner specifically lacking starches, sweets and fruits.
Analysis of the data showed that the control group on the traditional 6M-diet did not lose weight and did not experience any improvement of sugar levels, thus, requiring an increase in medication and insulin doses. Conversely, the group on the 3M-diet not only lost weight but also experienced substantially improved sugar levels.
Commenting on the results, Prof Jakubowicz said, “Their need for diabetic medication, especially for insulin doses, dipped substantially. Some were even able to stop using insulin altogether. In addition, the 3M-diet improved the expression of biological clock genes. This suggests that the 3M-diet is not only more effective in controlling diabetes. It may also prevent many other complications such as cardiovascular disease, aging and cancer, which are all regulated by the biological clock genes.”
At this stage, the researchers believe that the up-regulation of the biological clock gene in the 3M-diet might be the mechanism behind its success, as it enhances insulin secretion and improves sugar delivery into the muscles, creating a balanced daytime and nocturnal glucose metabolism. To further substantiate their claims, researchers are now investigating the role certain proteins may play in breakfast food consumed by diabetic patients.
He needed to do two things to loose weight. I.e. eat less and be more active.
So i asked him to
1. Skip breakfast (intermittent fasting for 18 Hrs (I had consulted doctors and they were fine with it.) & i myself follow it.
2. He liked walking, so i asked him to climb up a hill besides our house at our hometown. just to make it more intense in same amount of time.
He gradually lost weight & his sugar started to drop . he enjoyed the feeling of being light so much that he's started taking other physical activities and gave up Sugar completely.
He is Diabetic free for past 2 years. We get his sugar level checked up every three months.
He enjoys occasional Alcoholic drinks, eats almost everything, just makes sure he compensate it the next few days by either being more active or eating less. :)