Low-carb vs standard “diabetic diet”:
The most significant fact to emerge is that those who follow the advice of Dr [David] Unwin are so often successful.
In a paper published in 2016, Dr Unwin presents the results for 68 out of 69 patients who had completed an average of 13 months, in which they had complied with the lifestyle advice:
(1) Patient satisfaction was high from reports of feeling better and having more energy. Mean body weight fell by 9.0 kg, waist circumference fell by 15 cm, blood glucose (BG) control measured as HbA1c, fell by 10 mmol/mol or 19%, liver function measured as serum glutamyl transferase (GGT) improved by 39% and total cholesterol (TC) fell by 5%. Systolic and diastolic BPs dropped significantly too. Plasma triglycerides were not measured, but in common with prior observations for low-carbohydrate diets a significant improvement would have been anticipated.From the perspective of the practice, there has been a huge saving in the expenditure on drugs used for the treatment of diabetes. The actual figure is about £38,000 per year against the regional average, which represents the lowest spend per 1000 patients in any of the 19 surgeries in the surrounding Southport (UK) and Formby area for which information was available. This saving should be seen against the extra costs of the Norwood Surgery diabetes intervention at just under £9,000 per year.
(2) There has also been an improvement in the obesity prevalence as determined by BMI. This has dropped from 9.4% before the initiative commenced to 8.4%. The National Health Survey for England shows that for adults there has been a steady increase in the prevalence of obesity in England between 2010 and 2015 (Table 1).
RTWT for diet details.
Diabetic Mediterranean Diet 