Type 2 diabetes patients are equally likely to control their blood glucose levels and lose weight by following a rigid diet twice a week as they are limited to calories each day.
Researchers from the University of South Australia studied the effects of the 5: 2 diet to control the disease. The study, which the researchers say, is the first long-term clinical trial to compare the diet of people with type 2 diabetes, was published on Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
"Conventional weight-loss diets with everyday energy effects are hard for people to keep, so we need to look for alternatives," said Peter Clifton, a nutritionist at school, in a press release.
Lead author Sharayah Carter, a PhD student, said intermittent fasting could be a solution for people with diabetes.
Researchers conducted a clinical trial of 137 years of age 18 years of age and older with type 2 diabetes, half of whom followed a 5: 2 diet while the others had a daily caloric intake of 1200 to 1500 calories a day from April 2015 to September 2017 .
The researchers found that they consume 500 to 600 calories in two non-consecutive days and a normal diet for the other days resulted in weight loss and improved hemoglobin A1c.
"Periodic energy limitation is an effective alternative diet strategy to reduce the HbA1c level, comparable to the reduction of continuous energy in patients with type 2 diabetes, and may be superior to the reduction of continuous energy for weight reduction," the researchers .
Researchers have warned that diet 5: 2 needs precautions for some people. Those who use insulin and other oral medicines that are likely to cause hypoglycaemic blood glucose levels should be monitored and dose adjustments changed accordingly.