Low-Carbohydrate Diet Trial Reports Higher Diabetes Remission

Key Takeaways

• Six-month remission was reported more often with the calorie-restricted low-carbohydrate diet than with the control diet.
• After multivariable adjustment, the diet was associated with higher odds of remission, with an odds ratio of 4.592, a 95% confidence interval of 1.276 to 16.524, and p = 0.020.
• At 12 months, differences in body mass index, waist circumference, fasting and postprandial glucose, and HDL cholesterol remained after FDR correction, and no severe adverse events were reported.

In a randomized trial in early-stage type 2 diabetes, 62.50% of participants assigned to a calorie-restricted low-carbohydrate diet reached remission at 6 months, compared with 35.29% on a control diet. The trial enrolled overweight adults with early-stage disease and followed them for 12 months, placing the remission finding within a year-long observation period.

Researchers randomly assigned 68 adults with early-stage type 2 diabetes to a calorie-restricted low-carbohydrate diet or a control diet in a 6-month intervention trial. The study included 12 months of follow-up, and analyses included 66 participants after two dropouts in the intervention group. Secondary outcomes covered anthropometric, glycemic, and lipid measures collected during follow-up. The primary outcome was diabetes remission, defined as HbA1c below 6.5% without glucose-lowering medications. That definition made medication-free glycemic status the central endpoint.

At 6 months, remission occurred in 62.50% of the intervention group and 35.29% of the control group. The between-group comparison reached statistical significance, with χ2 = 4.885 and p = 0.027. After multivariable adjustment, the diet group had higher odds of remission, with an odds ratio of 4.592, a 95% confidence interval of 1.276 to 16.524, and p = 0.020. These findings were associated with higher 6-month remission within the randomized comparison.

At 12 months, between-group differences remained significant after false discovery rate correction for several anthropometric, glycemic, and lipid measures. Fasting blood glucose showed the strongest signal, with an FDR-adjusted p value below 0.001 and r = 0.613. Body mass index also differed between groups, with FDR-adjusted p = 0.006 and η2p = 0.150. Waist circumference, 2-hour postprandial blood glucose, and HDL cholesterol each had FDR-adjusted p values of 0.040, with η2p values of 0.085, 0.088, and 0.095. These differences were still present at 12 months.

No severe adverse events were reported during the study period. Within the reported study period, the calorie-restricted low-carbohydrate diet was presented as effective in inducing remission in early-stage type 2 diabetes.