The recent study has found a new eating pattern that may transform the treatment of type-2 diabetes. The researchers found that consuming three determined meals a day can help balance sugar levels and keep them under control. The eating protocol is a substitute to avoid insulin injections any other diabetic-related medications.
The study carried out by scientists from Tel Aviv University was published in the medical journal Diabetes Care. The study suggested that consuming starch-rich food in the morning produces glucose and improves glycemic control of type 2 diabetics patients. This can reduce injections of insulin or even stop the injections. The excess of body weight and lack of physical activity is the major cause of type 2 diabetes.
It was found that metabolism and biological clock are tailored in such a way that eating should be in the early hours of the day and fasting during evening and night when it’s time to be asleep.
However, the traditional diet advised for type 2 diabetes comprises half a dozen smalls meals to be eaten the whole day. That includes three meals and three snacks daily, also one snack before sleeping to bar drop in sugar levels at night. This diet is usually called “6M-diet”.
The patients suffering from type 2 diabetes are injected with insulin for approximately four times a day. Insulin is a hormone that maintains the flow of sugar into the liver, muscle and fat cells.
However, the constant injection of insulin activates the dreadful cycle of higher insulin doses. These injections are linked to continuous weight gain, loss of control of blood sugar levels, cardiovascular diseases and other complications.
The study was conducted on twenty-nine type-2 diabetic people who undergone a newly develop “3M-diet” that is more suitable for the biological clock. The data obtained from people who followed 3M-diet was compared with those following conventional 6M diet.
The 3M diet included a meal of bread, fruits, and sweets in the early morning hours, a basic lunch, and a small dinner avoiding starches, fruits, and sweets.
The comparison gave the result that the group of people following a conventional 6M diet did not show any significant changes. Even they didn’t lose any weight and there was no progress in sugar levels. This ultimately leads to an increase in treatment and insulin doses.
Whereas on the other hand, a group of people that followed a new 3M-diet tend to lose weight and also improved sugar levels. The researchers also observed that the need for diabetic medication dropped gradually and even some of them were able to stop the use of insulin.
The findings reveal that 3M-diet not only benefits to control diabetes but can also prevent many other diabetic-related complications such as aging, cancer, cardiovascular diseases. These all are modulated by the biological clock genes.
The 3M-diet strengthens insulin secretion and ameliorates sugar delivery into muscles that maintain balanced daytime and nighttime glucose metabolism.
The upcoming conference on Diabetes and Endocrinology 2023 will discuss more on such diagnostic approaches taking place in the field of diabetes and endocrinology.