Healthy diet, best choice for diabetics

A British study showed that intensive dietary counseling in the first year after an individual is diagnosed with diabetes is as helpful as modifying both diet and physical activity in controlling blood sugar levels.

The new research was conducted by University of Bristol scientists on 593 newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes cases, who were randomly assigned to receive either usual care or two different models of intensive treatment (nutrition consultation with/without physical activity).

The findings showed a 10 percent improvement in blood sugar, cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the individuals of both intensive treatment groups. They also managed to lose an average 4 percent of their body weight.

Patients in the routine care group, on the other hand, were three times more likely to start diabetes medication, scientists reported in The Lance and at the American Diabetes Association (ADA) meeting.

While most of the participants preferred to get engaged in both exercise and dietary consultation, there was no difference between the weight loss reported in diet alone and exercise-diet group.

The discrepancy may be due to people's wrong expectations about exercise, said author Rob Andrews. "People often make a trade. That is, if they go to the gym, then they feel as if they can have a treat."

"Getting people to exercise is quite difficult, and can be expensive," Andrews added."What this study tells us is that if you only have a limited amount of money, in that first year of diagnosis, you should focus on getting the diet right."

He suggested that future studies are needed to evaluate whether adding exercise to dietary modification would be of a considerable benefit to diabetics.

Blood glucose "control gets worse over time. In the early stages, people tend to make rapid improvements and then it stays the same for a while. Adding exercise later might provide another boost in control whereas it wouldn't early on," Andrews said.