Low carb diet can “reduce medication burden” in type 2 diabetes

Diabetes Digital Media’s (DDM) Chief Medical Officer Dr Campbell Murdoch and Dr David Unwin, who helped develop DDM’s NHS-approved Low Carb Program app, have co-written a research paper published in British Journal of General Practice outlining how a low carb diet can decrease the amount of medication used by people with type 2 diabetes.

The review, entitled ‘Adapting diabetes medication for low carbohydrate management of type 2 diabetes: a practical guide’, details how a low carb diet can lead to medication cessation as a result of blood glucose levels normalising. The benefits of a low carb diet also include weight loss and improved heart health. Drs Murdoch and Unwin, who co-authored the paper with Mark Cucuzzella from West Virginia University School of Medicine in the US, and Mahendra Patel, from the University of Sheffield, UK, wrote:

“The LCD [low carb diet] is an increasingly popular option for managing T2D that can lead to improvements in the condition, reduced medication burden, and (where needed) weight loss. Primary care clinicians need to be competent in adjusting diabetes medications to achieve safe and effective care.”

The guidance has been produced in response to the improved health of users who signed up to DDM's Low Carb Program, an award-winning digital health programme. Over 415,000 people have enrolled to date since November 2015.

The Low Carb Program has been clinically demonstrated to improve glycemic control and reduce hypoglycemic medications in people with type 2 diabetes. Peer-reviewed, published health outcomes demonstrate patients with type 2 diabetes who complete the programme sustainably lose an average of 7.4kg at one-year and reduce HbA1c by 1.2%. Four in 10 people eliminate at least one medication and one in four people are classified as being in type 2 diabetes remission

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