Late last week, the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee released their report which is used to form the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. These guidelines have a long and controversial history beginning in the late 1970s, with a Senate committee headed by George McGovern seeking to improve the health of Americans. I say controversial because the 35 years which have passed since the initial food guide pyramid was released have taught us, principally, that studying the human diet is really hard to do.
The exciting news in this current batch of recommendations is that there are no longer explicit recommendations to limit dietary cholesterol, and that there is a clear directive to lessen consumption of red and processed meats, sugar-sweetened beverages, and refined grains. While most of us with a mind to nutrition find these recommendations to be sound, that doesn’t stop those on the extreme edges of the nutrition world from gloating or complaining about their food of choice getting short shrift.
I found the blog on the Joslin Diabetes Center’s site to be particularly interesting and loud, with the title, Nutrition Revolution: The End of the High Carbohydrate Era for Type 2 Diabetes Prevention and Management. While the author, Dr. Osama Hamdy, undoubtedly has had success with a lower-carbohydrate diet for diabetes and weight management, as have many in the diabetes world, it is hardly reason to dismiss evidence in support of carbohydrate consumption.
“WAIT!”, You might say, “CARBOHYDRATES TURN INTO SUGAR! AND SUGAR CAUSES BLOOD SUGAR!”
While you would generally be correct, that does not mean for the whole of us that carbohydrates lead to elevated blood sugar. And there is ample evidence that the “quality” of the carbohydrate plays a role in whether a food will contribute to a disease process. Going forward, I am going to be speaking to and referencing research primarily on those with type 2 diabetes, but there are interesting lessons here for type 1 as well.
This paper, published last year (and brought to my attention through the Carbsanity blog), utilizes a macrobiotic diet in a group of type 2 patients. Macrobiotics is a high carbohydrate way of eating that relies heavily on whole grains, legumes, and vegetables. And in this particular trial, those in the macrobiotic diet group had improved blood sugar measures (fasting, post-prandial, and Hba1c) and lipid profiles as compared to a control group receiving standard dietary advice.
A very large review published in 2012 in Diabetes Care found that high carbohydrate diets show mixed results for blood glucose control and blood lipid levels. However, the review showed mixed results for most dietary interventions they looked into, and the authors were unable to definitively identify a “best” diet for diabetes. Add to that, the American Diabetes Association, in this position statement, state that “The optimal macronutrient distribution of weight loss diets has not been established.”
YOUglycemia feels that a diet for health needs to be able to sustain exercise. We also believe that there is no generic diet that will work for everyone in every situation. We all have different goals, preferences, and challenges. As such, we are working with some of the best Registered Dietitians in the business. Many of them have diabetes themselves, or are Certified Diabetes Educators, and all are athletes who understand how to fuel for exercise. We believe that these nutrition professionals are the most capable people to work with you in creating a diet that works for you and your goals.
Let us know in the comments section if you have tried any diets that have worked well for both blood sugar management and supporting your lifestyle.