Tuesday, Sep. 01, 2009 Study: Diet Can Help Avoid Diabetes Drugs By Shahreen Abedin
In the longest-term study of its kind, researchers pitted two popular diets head to head — a low-fat American Heart Association–style diet and a carb-controlled Mediterranean diet, each combined with regular physical activity — in a population of overweight patients who had Type 2 diabetes.
Researchers found that over the four-year study, patients who adhered to the Mediterranean-style eating plan maintained lower blood-sugar levels for a longer time than those in the low-fat-diet group. On the basis of their findings, the study's authors suggest that some diabetes patients may be able to substitute diet and exercise for blood-sugar-lowering medications.
