The Diabetes Prevention Program was a major multi-center clinical research study aimed at discovering whether modest weight loss through dietary changes and increased physical activity or treatment with the oral diabetes drug metformin (Glucophage) could prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes in study participants. At the beginning of the DPP, participants were all overweight and had blood glucose, also called blood sugar, levels higher than normal but not high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes—a condition called prediabetes.
The DPP found that participants who lost a modest amount of weight through dietary changes (10% fat diet) and increased physical activity sharply reduced their chances of developing diabetes.
This was the first time I heard fat being associated with insulin resistance. Until this point, I believed it was all about carbohydrates. And I thought that ALL carbohydrates affected blood sugar in the same way.
Then, along came Dr Neal Barnard, who documented that a low-fat plant based diet, was three times more effective than the American Diabetes Association dietary guidelines at controlling blood sugar.
In medicine, we are often wrong. It turns out that excess fat is THE driver of dysglycemia or altered blood sugar. And eating carbohydrates just perpetuates the problem. But as most with diabetes can attest to, removing carbohydrates does not cure the root cause. And I know several who exercise and eat a very low carb diet, but are having blood sugar issues.
There’s more to the story, but I’m here to today to help you get over your fear of fruit. Time and time again, I see patients reduce fat significantly and increase fruit carbs, and their A1c’s improve.