Category Archives: Dietary Protein

Dietary Fat Influences Insulin Requirements in Type 1 Diabetes

Posted on January 8, 2020 | 1 comment

Is this pane di casa?

Everyone with diabetes—whether type 1 or type 2—should know that the amount of carbohydrate in meals has an impact on blood sugar levels and insulin requirements. In general, the more carbs, the more insulin you need, whether that insulin comes from a pharmacy or your pancreas. Less well known is that dietary protein and fat also have an effect on insulin requirements. It’s complicated, and there’s quite a bit of variation from one individual to another. The study at hand involved folks with type 1 diabetes using an insulin pump. The test meal was a piece of bread (pane di casa, 45 g carb) plus avocado and other fats in varying amounts.

From Diabetes Care:

The current study has two important outcomes. First, the type of fat has no statistically or clinically significant impact on postprandial glycemia, but the amount of fat has a significant, dose-dependent effect. Second, the insulin delivery pattern, and in some cases total dose, needs to be adjusted based on the amount of fat in order to minimize the risk of early postprandial hypoglycemia and late postprandial hyperglycemia.

Source: Amount and Type of Dietary Fat, Postprandial Glycemia, and Insulin Requirements in Type 1 Diabetes: A Randomized Within-Subject Trial | Diabetes Care

Steve Parker, M.D.

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Posted in Dietary Fat, Dietary Protein, Drugs for Diabetes

2019 ADA Conference Recommendations on Medical Nutrition Therapy (Diet)

Posted on November 9, 2019 | 1 comment

Shrimp Salad

I’m astounded by how many people with diabetes I meet who pretty much eat whatever they want. Others, when I ask if they’re on a particular diet, say, “I watch what I eat.” Which usually just means avoiding obvious sugar bombs.

The American Diabetes Association in 2019 hosted a conference on nutrition therapy for diabetes. I assume the ADA endorses the panel’s recommendations. The big news is continued movement toward carb-restricted eating. Some excerpts:

Today, there is strong evidence to support both the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of nutrition therapy as a key component of integrated management of individuals with diabetes. This is increasingly relevant as it is evident that “one-size-fits-all” eating plan is not suitable for prevention or management of diabetes, also considering diverse cultural backgrounds, personal preferences, comorbidities, and socioeconomic settings. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is now emphasizing that medical nutrition therapy (MNT) is fundamental for optimal diabetes management, and the new report also includes information on prediabetes.

***

One of the key recommendations is to refer adults living with type 1 or type 2 diabetes to individualized, diabetes-focused MNT [medical nutrition therapy] at diagnosis and as needed throughout the life span, particularly during times of changing health status to achieve treatment goals.

***

The new consensus recommendations consider that a variety of eating patterns are acceptable for the management of diabetes.

In the absence of additional strong evidence on the comparative benefits of different eating patterns in specific individuals, healthcare providers should focus on the key factors that are common among the patterns, including emphasizing non-starchy vegetables, minimizing added sugars and refined grains, and preferring whole foods over highly processed foods.

Reducing overall carbohydrate intake for individuals with diabetes is associated with the most evidence for improving glycemia and may be applied in a variety of eating patterns.

For selected adults with type 2 diabetes who are not meeting glycemic targets or where reducing anti-glycemic medications is a priority, reducing overall carbohydrate intake with low or very low carbohydrate eating plans is also a viable approach.

***

Regarding weight loss in overweight or obese folks with diabetes or prediabetes:

…a low carbohydrate diet is now recognized as a safe, viable, and important option for patients with diabetes, and the other is that greater emphasis is now placed on weight loss in patients who are overweight/obese for the prevention of diabetes and its treatment.

Indeed, in type 2 diabetes, 5% weight loss is recommended to achieve clinical benefits, with a goal of 15%, when feasible and safe, in order to achieve optimal outcomes.

In prediabetes, the goal is 7–10% for preventing progression to type 2 diabetes.

“Metabolic surgery,” better known as bariatric surgery, and medication-assisted weight loss (aka weight-loss drugs) should be considered in some cases.

***

Best approach for optimizing blood sugars:

For macronutrients, the available evidence suggests that there is not an ideal percentage of calories from carbohydrate, protein, and fat for all people with or at risk for diabetes; therefore, macronutrient distribution should be based on individualized assessment of current eating patterns, preferences, and metabolic goals.

[Self-monitoring of carbohydrate consumption is important.]

People with diabetes and those at risk for diabetes are encouraged to consume at least the amount of dietary fiber recommended for the general population; increasing fiber intake, preferably through food (vegetables, pulses (beans, peas, and lentils), fruits, and whole intact grains) or through dietary supplement, may help in modestly lowering HbA1C.

***

What about sugar-sweetened beverages?

Firstly, sugar-sweetened beverages should be replaced with water as often as possible.

Secondly, if sugar substitutes are used to reduce overall calorie and carbohydrate intake, people should be counseled to avoid compensating with intake of additional calories from other food sources.

***

Is alcohol forbidden? No.

…educating people with diabetes about the signs, symptoms, and self-management of delayed hypoglycemia after drinking alcohol, especially when using insulin or insulin secretagogues, is recommended.

To reduce hypoglycemia risk, the importance of glucose monitoring after drinking alcohol beverages should be emphasized.

Steve Parker, M.D.

PS: I note that William Yancy, M.D., was on the expert panel.

PPS: Bold emphasis above is mine.

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Posted in Dietary Carbohydrate, Dietary Fat, Dietary Protein

Dr. Bernstein: Effect of Dietary Protein on Blood Sugar

Posted on September 5, 2012 | 5 comments

The protein in this can raise your blood sugar

I’m considering whether I should advise my patients with diabetes to pay careful attention to the protein content of their diet.  It’s an important issue to Dr. Richard K. Bernstein, who definitely says it has to be taken into account.

Here are some of Dr. Bernstein’s ideas pulled from the current edition of Diabetes Solution:

  • The liver (and the kidneys and intestines to a lesser extent) can convert protein to glucose, although it’s a slow and inefficient process.
  • Since the conversion process—called gluconeogenesis—is slow and inefficient, diabetics don’t see the high blood sugar spikes they would see from many ingested carbohydrates.
  • For example, 3 ounces (85 g) of hamburger patty could be converted to 6.5 g of glucose under the right circumstances.
  • Protein foods from animals (e.g., meat, fish, chicken, eggs) are about 20% protein by weight.
  • Dr. B recommends keeping protein portions in a particular meal consistent day-to-day (for example 6 ounces with each lunch).
  • He recommends at least 1–1.2 g of protein per kilogram of ideal body weight for non-athletic adults.
  • The minimum protein he recommends for a 155-lb non-athletic adult is 11.7–14 ounces daily.
  • Growing children and athletes need more protein.
  • Each uncooked ounce of the foods on his “protein foods” list (page 181) provides about 6 g of protein.
  • On his eating plan, you choose the amount of protein in a meal that would satisfy you, which might be 3 ounces or 6–9 ounces.
  • If you have gastroparesis, however, you should limit your evening meal protein to 2 ounces of eggs, cheese, fish, or ground meat, while eating more protein at the two earlier meals in the day.

Dr. Bernstein wrote:

In many respects—and going against the grain of a number of the medical establishment’s accepted notions about diabetics and protein—protein will become the most important part of our diet if you are going to control blood sugars just as it was for our hunter-gatherer ancestors.

Conclusions

I haven’t changed my thinking on this issue yet, but will let you know if and when I do.  I don’t talk much about protein in Conquer Diabetes and Prediabetes in part because I wanted to keep the program simpler than Dr. Bernstein’s.

As with most aspects of diabetes, your mileage may vary.  The effect of dietary protein on blood sugars will depend on type 1 versus type 2 diabetes, and will vary from one person to another.  So it may be impossible to set rigid guidelines.

If interested, you can determine how much protein is in various foods at NutritionData.

Steve Parker, M.D.

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Posted in Diabetes Complications, Diabetic Diet, Dietary Protein

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