The Effect of a Low GI Diet on Truncal Fat Mass and Glycated Hemoglobin in South Indians with Type 2 Diabetes—A Single Centre Randomized Prospective Study

Abstract

Background: There has been no previous study that has investigated the effect of a low glycemic index (LGI) diet with local recipes of South Indian cuisine on the body fat composition using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Truncal obesity has been associated with the risk of metabolic disorders and cardiovascular diseases. Aim: The aim of this study was to examine the effect of a low GI diet on glycemic control and body composition in people with type 2 diabetes in South India. Method: This was a prospective and randomized controlled study that was conducted over a period of 24 weeks. A total of 40 participants were recruited from the Department of Endocrinology and Diabetes Outpatient in Kerala, South India. All the patients had type 2 diabetes and were randomly assigned and given advice and instructions to follow either a low GI diet plan (n = 18) or their usual diet, which served as control (n = 18). The advice was reinforced throughout the study period. Dietary compliance was evaluated based on a 24 h dietary recall at weeks 3, 11, 12, 18, 23, and 24. The age of the subjects ranged from 35 to 65 years. Anthropometric, body composition, and cardio-metabolic parameters were measured according to standard procedures. T-tests were conducted to compare differences between intervention and control groups and the Pearson correlation coefficient was used to evaluate associations between the variables. Results: There were significant reductions (p < 0.05) in the low GI diet compared to the control group with respect to weight, body mass index (BMI), and triceps skinfold thickness. Similarly, significant reductions were observed in the low GI diet group with respect to region, total fat, android, and gynoid fat mass and the differences between the groups were significant at p < 0.05. There was also a positive correlation between BMI and android fat mass (r = 0.745), total fat mass (r = 0.661), total truncal mass (r = 0.821), and truncal fat (r = 0.707). There was a significant reduction in glycated hemoglobin in the low GI diet group compared to the control group at p < 0.05. Conclusion: This study has demonstrated that there was a significant reduction (p < 0.05) of truncal obesity and glycated hemoglobin in patients with type 2 diabetes on a local diet of South Indian cuisine with low GI compared with the control.

Low-Glycemic Index Diets as an Intervention in Metabolic Diseases: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…The present systematic review and meta-analysis show that an LGID is superior to a number of other diets in the control of body mass, which is consistent with the results of previous studies [15,32,40,43,47]. Furthermore, stratified analyses of the duration of the intervention showed that studies with a duration of ≥24 weeks generated more consistent results and larger reductions in body mass and BMI.…”

Effect of low glycaemic index or load dietary patterns on glycaemic control and cardiometabolic risk factors in diabetes: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

“…These benefits are recognised by major international clinical practice guidelines in Canada, USA, Australia, UK, and Europe,117181920 with low GI/GL dietary patterns recommended for those with diabetes. Despite this recognition, the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) last updated their clinical practice guidelines in 200418 and the last comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis in diabetes was published in 2010,78 with numerous randomised controlled trials published after the census for these syntheses 2122232425262728293031. To inform the update of EASD clinical practice guidelines for nutrition treatment, the Diabetes and Nutrition Study Group (DNSG) of EASD commissioned a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials to summarise the effect of low GI/GL dietary patterns on glycaemic control and other established cardiometabolic risk factors in people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes and assess the certainty of the evidence using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) approach.…”

Destigmatizing Carbohydrate with Food Labeling: The Use of Non-Mandatory Labelling to Highlight Quality Carbohydrate Foods

“…From a scientific perspective, the GI has been successfully used as part of a diet-based approach to manage blood glucose levels in individuals with diabetes [ 86 , 87 , 88 , 89 , 90 , 91 ]. Guidelines for the management of diabetes in Canada, Australia, Europe, the UK, and the US acknowledge that low GI dietary patterns can be used to assist with blood glucose management [ 92 , 93 , 94 , 95 ].…”